The Ultimate Guide to Columbia SC Arts, Concerts & Broadway Shows with Nate Terracio

What makes Columbia, SC more than just a college town?

In this episode of The Soda Citizen Podcast, Brad Allen and Mary Lane Sloan sit down with Nate Terracio, Director of the Koger Center for the Arts, to discuss the growing arts, music, and entertainment scene in Columbia and why it plays such an important role in the city's quality of life. 

From Broadway productions like Wicked and Beetlejuice to free outdoor concerts, local arts initiatives, and the future of cultural experiences in the Midlands, Nate shares an inside look at what goes into bringing world-class entertainment to Columbia. 

The conversation also explores:

•  The new free outdoor concert series at the Koger Center 
•  How Broadway tours make their way to Columbia 
•  Why arts and culture matter when choosing where to live 
•  Columbia's parks, museums, trails, and outdoor attractions 
•  The city's evolving entertainment and food scene 
•  What makes Columbia a unique place to call home 

Whether you're a longtime local, considering a move to Columbia, or simply looking for new ways to experience the city, this episode highlights some of the people and organizations helping shape Columbia's future. 

🎙️ The Soda Citizen Podcast explores the people, places, businesses, and stories that make Columbia, South Carolina a great place to live, work, and play.

The Koger Center

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, y'all. So welcome back to our newest episode of the Soda Citizen podcast. I guess it could also be like a video series, but whatever. We'll talk about that later. Um, I'm your co-host, because this is a real host, Mary Lane Sloan, Brad Allen, right? So uh the art of real estate team at EXP that has changed from the art of real estate. You can watch other episodes about that. Um, but we've got somebody really cool here, somebody that knows what's going on, somebody immersed into the arts of Columbia, and that's why we wanted to have Nate Tracio here, who is a double alumnus from USD.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

How many credits do you have?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Too many.

unknown 0:29

Too many.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

But he is the director of the Coger Center for the Arts, which um is our our I think it's our premier venue, right, for the Arts Center. Well, it is actually. I think it's in the name. Um, but yeah, so we're gonna just dive in and kind of rabbit trail, and you're gonna tell us why Wicked came back in six years. I'm just kidding, we're not yes, we're already had that conversation.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

So good. Did you go to Beetlejuice? I didn't make it to Beetlejuice, and I regret it because uh the person I gave my tickets to said it was like her favorite shows all the season. So it was really good.

SPEAKER_05 0:57

Yeah, I watched it uh on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 0:59

It was a lot of fun. You have special seats. Where do you watch it from? I I tend to watch things from the grand tier. Okay, um, except if it's the symphony, and then I watch it from the balcony.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:10

Yeah. I think the balcony is the best place for symphony.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Well, and I you know, I like with these big Broadway shows because a lot of them have, you know, really big, impressive sets. And I kind of like to be up so I can see the whole stage. Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:23

You feel like you're missing something if you sit too close because you're sort of low and you're looking up. Um and then you can sort of like peek into the orchestra pit and see what's going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'd like to sit upstairs at all possible.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

It's gonna be lonely in the orchestra pit, by the way. I was like, I went to whatever one recently. I'm just like there you can't see them and they're all down there playing. Like, that's the point. I think they love that.

SPEAKER_05 1:42

They love that. Who knows what they're wearing, don't they? Right, right, right. Yeah, like the symphony has to put on the tuxedo or the or the gown that the uh musicians in Broadway can wit wear kind of whatever they like.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Bedroom shoes, yeah.

unknown 1:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Um, so one thing I want to make sure we talk about is y'all just got a really cool grant from the Levitt Foundation for free outdoor concerts. Yes. And this is like, I think we're outdoor concert central in Columbia now. I feel like there's a lot of things going on.

SPEAKER_05 2:07

Yeah, I think it's really exploded. Yeah. Um the Levitt Foundation has this goal of putting as many sort of outdoor uh concerts across the country as possible. They they seem to have uh been mandated to spend the money that they've got hanging around. Um and their goal is to get rid of it all by like 2040. So it seems like every year they um like double the number of cities they're funding. They used to take the money and build permanent amphitheaters and then fund sort of year-round concerts. So they would do you know 50 concerts one a week for 50 weeks at these amphitheaters. But the cost of building and running the amphitheater, um, they realized that if they took that, they could fund instead of 50 concerts at one location, they could fund 50 locations with the same amount of money. Um so they've really started to step up and try to get the idea of concert series, so not just not just like a one-off, not just, you know, we're gonna do a festival and have a weekend, but something that is recurring so that you can build a community. Uh it gives people the opportunity to sort of meet their neighbors.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

Um I think the really cool thing about the concept that they have in mind is that they insist that you don't have seating, so they don't put it in amphitheaters where there's seating. They want the uh audience to sit on the lawn because it sort of forces interaction. Yeah. Um and uh the idea is to create an atmosphere that sort of like, you know, Soda City, you know, uh uh farmers market atmosphere of you go in order to like get something to eat and um check out the vendors. Yeah. And the kids can run around and you can bring your dog. So it's gonna be on like the front lawn or something.

SPEAKER_04 3:48

So it's on the it's on the front lawn of the Coger Center.

SPEAKER_05 3:50

Okay. And while the focus is the music, I think the goal is to convince people to come for the atmosphere. Yeah. Because if I tell you the name of the band and you go, I I don't know them, right? Then you go, I don't want to see that. Sure. But the hope is that you say, Oh, this is fun, I will come, because our goal is to have every band be great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

So you won't, the premise is you won't know who's performing.

SPEAKER_05 4:13

No, we we announce but but if I just try to sell you that Sunny War is coming on Saturday and you don't know who Sunny War is, then like you're out. Right. But if I tell you, hey, there's this really great atmosphere, this really great event, bring the family, bring the dog, bring all of it, come have fun, meet your neighbors, bring friends, yeah, pack a picnic. Yeah, then you suddenly go, oh, this is the atmosphere, I guess. Right. The sunny war is good, uh huh. Right? Because I it is so hard to keep up with music. Oh, right. I mean, yes, yes, yes. Um the great thing about streaming is that it gets lets people uh reach everyone. Everyone, right. But at the same time, um we don't have that atmosphere when we were growing up. I mean, wait for the single. I'm gonna lump us all together and age here because some of us are younger than others. Um we all listen to the radio. So like you didn't get to choose so much as you were told what to listen to. Uh but in today's day and age, everyone gets to choose. So um we're the one of the goals is to make sure that we do a wide variety of genres. So we want to make sure that people get a little taste of a bunch of different things because I feel that uh when you see things live, um, you may think I I don't want to listen to jazz, but if you I take you to a jazz band live, you will go, oh well this is fun. Why don't I listen to this at home? And the answer is, well, it is more fun to listen to it live. 100%. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

So do you get to pick the the axe or is that tied to the grant?

SPEAKER_05 5:42

Well, the grant they have um some stipulations and they sort of have to approve, but they don't suggest anything. So you get to curate. All right. And then they sort of say, yes, we like that this fits the mission.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_05 5:55

Uh if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

And then will there be like a stage? So there's a stage.

SPEAKER_05 5:59

We we built a permanent stage in front of the building just post-COVID. During during COVID, we um built a temporary stage in front of the building so that School of Music and some community groups could perform outside. And uh it was very successful. And then when we took the raised temporary stage away, people were like, well, what are we gonna do now?

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 6:20

So we built a permanent structure outside. Um, and now we're just taking advantage of having it there to do these uh the the grant funds 10 weeks of concerts. So we started um this past Saturday. Oh, okay. Should have known that.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

I was at Highlander.

SPEAKER_05 6:39

And uh we're gonna our our goal for the next three years, because it's a three-year grant, and which I think is another thing that the foundation does really well is instead of saying here's one year's worth of money, good luck to you.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Yeah, because then you build up that momentum. Correct.

SPEAKER_05 6:52

Their their point to us is it will start small, it will get big. You just have to like give it time. You have to build word of mouth, you have to build a community. Um, but by the end of three years, you should really see a change from the first one uh to the last one. And then it does seem like they are funding a lot of communities over and over. So I hopefully we do a good job, we'll get another three years of funding and so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

You you mentioned making it like a uh a feel, right? Like a like uh the Soda City like Soda City market, like if it's an event. So what other than um music are we having? Are you have you gotten that far yet?

SPEAKER_05 7:32

So we so uh for the first one, um, which was really a you know jumping off point, you gotta you start somewhere and everyone's really nervous about it. And I was like, hey, listen, we will do one and then we will sit down and say what worked, what did we do? Like it doesn't the first one does not have to be perfect. We've we've got 30 of them to come. Yeah. So we we don't want it, uh I don't want we don't want to be too cavalier about it, but you also don't have to like stress and say, like, how do we make this perfect? Um, because you like you gotta listen to the community, see what works, what doesn't work. Um for like the musicians, we we were under a time crunch. So the first year we we booked all the bands, but we've got a bunch of partners, and so our goal is that for years two and three, we're gonna sit down with partners, people in the community to say, like, who would you like to hear? So that we can try to book things that speak to Columbia. Yeah. Um, similarly, we we started with offering uh our partners the opportunity to come out and meet the audience. Um this works I hopefully both ways. Um our partners help generate audience. Yeah, right. Uh they they market for us, but also um it's an opportunity for them to reach uh arts, arts, uh, you know, people who are passionate about the arts. So, for example, the uh Vista Guild is a partner. Um, it was the middle of Artista Vista. So that was they were they came out and had people make lanterns for the lantern parade. That was that evening. So you have all these people like making lanterns and then going, Oh, I could just walk on over and be a part of the lantern parade. So that's an example of like synergy. Right. Um and uh City Columbia is a partner. They came out with their um, you know, uh photo booth to try to like you know get get people taking pictures and so that they can use it in you know, social media for about like kind of like this podcast. We're selling Columbia, right? Right, right. But here's an example of something fun that's happening. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Uh what are the time like what is there, I guess it's a set time every time, or like one to three?

SPEAKER_05 9:28

So we we do uh five to seven. Oh, okay. Um uh the goal is that it we do it during the time of year where five to seven is not sweltering.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 9:37

Um, this past weekend was a little bit of an exception. But to be honest with you, um, you're in the shade mostly. That's good, right? Which helps. Uh that's part of the goal of the time period, is the end of the day, we get shade because the sun sets behind the building. Gotcha. So that's part of the reason why we pick that. Um and uh so yeah, we're doing Saturdays five to seven. Um, the last two Saturdays in April, the first two Saturdays in May. And then we pick back up on September 10th, and we're gonna do Thursdays in the fall. Okay, okay. Because we had a conversation about football. Oh, yeah. That we did not want to be doing concerts on football games. We don't want to compete with that. Um, and then of course, uh Finley Parks got Friday night concerts. We were like, so we'll we'll make it a whole weekend. So we're gonna do Thursday evenings. Um, and then we had a big debate about the time, but but the but we picked five to seven because what we wanted people to do is be able to get off work, whether you get off at work at five or five thirty, whatever, but just swing by, pick up food, yeah, um, enjoy a little music on your way home. Um because I think if you're like me, the second you get home, yeah, the chances of you for getting back out, right? Yeah. So go go way back. So weather delays just go inside or perfect. Yeah, so we've also scheduled it so that we can do the concerts inside if there's rain issues.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Okay, great.

SPEAKER_05 10:56

Because a lot of the artists that we're bringing in, our our our goal with this is to pair a local artist as the opening act.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_05 11:04

And then bring in somebody from out of town. But of course, if you're coming in from out of town, it's not so simple just to say, could you do this next weekend? They got a whole tour schedule or um so yes, it is a rain or shine event. And and uh uh we're not so worried about that because uh like a lot of times you go to a festival and the stage is covered, but you're standing in the rain. Right. And I'm like, you have to really want to see this band to stand in the rain. For sure. Um so our thought is like we'll just move everyone inside. That's great. Um that way if it's weather is questionable, even if it ends up not raining for the concert, if it's questionable, then you know, just come out and you'll be inside where it's air conditioned and dry.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Yeah. All right. So that's awesome. And I'd like to find out either now or later how we can help support in that. Because this is, I mean, music is her love language for sure. Right. Um, and sitting on a lawn and drinking beer is my love language. So I think I can figure this out. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:55

We're yeah, we're we're all in the same space. Right, good.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Um, but yeah, let's talk about the coger center a little bit because y'all are slammed, busy. I feel like you're always busy. My daughter's recitals are coming up there, I think, in three weeks, four weeks. I got a look at that.

SPEAKER_05 12:08

So like we're getting into recital season.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

So what yeah, what what are your is there a seasonality to your to the coger center, or is it just wide open all the time?

SPEAKER_05 12:16

Um I I somebody was asking me when we had a couple of weeks off so they could do a maintenance project. And I said we've got two weeks off in August. And that's basically it. Um we we we do have cycles. Um most performing arts centers uh follow a uh calendar, like a like not a calendar year, a school cycle. Um we're part of the University of South Carolina, so it of course makes perfect sense that we follow that cycle. So things really ramp up in September, October, and then we're very busy, November, December, and then January is a little quieter, but then February, March, April, May are slammed. And it really, as a result of that, things have started to creep into June. Dang. Um, our last Broadway show of the season, Clue, is the first weekend in June, for example.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Yeah. And so that's uh both of you all asked a question. Like, you there's like season tickets, you could there wasn't there like a season ticket for Broadway that you can buy? You can be a subscriber to Broadway. Yeah, that's happening right now.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Yes, okay. I am just so proud of the Broadway series that is that comes through the Coker Center. I mean, I've I've grown up here my whole life, and the very first uh Broadway show I saw was Cats that came. I think I was in the sixth grade.

SPEAKER_03 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

And my mind was just like, oh my gosh. Like I was just enamored with Broadway shows after that. And it took a while before they started coming back through Columbia. And I mean, the quality, I tell everybody, I was like, I na as an adult now, I've actually been to see shows on Broadway, and I am telling you, like the level of talent that comes through these traveling shows is is top notch. It is just like seeing a Broadway show.

SPEAKER_05 13:55

Yeah. It is. Yeah. And you don't have to drive anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

No, you don't. And it, I just, I'm so excited when I go and it's packed out. And it's just the to be able to take my children and my friends to see that caliber of show and that talent is just um, it's it's a gift, I think.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

When I uh I'm I grew up here as well. Um when I moved back, um, I got the classic Columbia thing. I'm sure everyone you you all you know, which is you're so lucky to be in Columbia because you can go to Charleston and you can go to Charlotte and you can go to the rainbow. And you know, like uh why do we have the all roads leave from Columbia mindset instead of all roads lead to Columbia mindset? Um, but yes, my my goal in is to try to create a world in Columbia where you don't have to leave to have the things that you want.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 14:44

Right. Um, so yes, we have tried very hard to make the improvements to the facility that are required in order to be able to host uh big shows so that you don't have to go to Charlotte or Atlanta to see um, you know, that a show uh or to New York.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Absolutely the it like the set I was a little nervous when Lion King came because I was like, how are they gonna do this? Because you know, part of that production is the animals coming down the island. Yes, but let's do it. You did the best you could.

SPEAKER_05 15:11

Yeah, I feel like we did it.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

We pulled it off. You did it, yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

So like with Wicked, because I've seen Wicked and Lion King there. How long does it take them to set up that stage? That thing was crazy big.

SPEAKER_05 15:21

So uh Wicked loads in on Monday morning. Uh we're in from roughly 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, and then 8 to 5 on Wednesday, and the first show is what?

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Wow. Two and a half days. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_05 15:36

That's and then we loaded it out in just under six hours. It's amazing how that works, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Just put it in a box. Maybe that's why it takes so long to set it up the next time. Wow. What? Yeah.

unknown 15:50

Good.

SPEAKER_05 15:50

All right. So not all the shows are quite that big. Right, right. That's another age. At Lanking similarly, is huge. I would bet, yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

So what you may not want to answer this, but like, what's the most weirdest or unique thing that the Coger Center has been used for? Like, I don't know, it's just off the wall. Maybe you won't think the Coger Center is used for it.

SPEAKER_05 16:08

We I mean, I think right from the beginning, uh, there was a sense of it being a space for the community. So uh w while it it uh branded itself as an art center, which it very much is, um I didn't want it to just be you know touring shows or local arts organizations who wanted people to be able to use it. So in the early days, uh I before I started working there, um the thing that I think probably is the oddest is we used to hold the state bodybuilding championships. Um I took that year off. Yeah, so my apologies. Um so but yeah, you know, we we have uh as you were talking about, your daughter is uh a dancer. So like we we host lots of dance recitals. Uh we used to host more um high school graduations than we currently do because I think as high schools have gotten larger, like we they we're just not big enough to to hold the number of students. But for example, the South Carolina Virtual Charter School um has their graduation with us, which is in part because just a camera and a screen. No, it's the like one time. They all get to come together. The like the whole of the four years. They come to the graduation.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

Uh but I've even been to some art shows, like gallery art gallery shows. Right.

SPEAKER_05 17:21

So we uh very much the focus in naming the building was Coker Center for the Arts and not Coker Center for the Performing Arts. So we we have a permanent art collection and then we have actually three gallery spaces that we rotate art. Um and sometimes we take down the permanent collection and put up something. So right now we've got part of the permanent collection up. We've got a temporary collection of Laura Spong's work uh on the main floor. We've got uh our Nook Gallery, which is uh partnership with Jasper Project, uh who put out Jasper magazine. Um they have a number of spaces around town, so they uh co-curate that space. Uh we have our main gallery, and then um uh almost six months ago now, eight months ago, um Preach Jacobs was running Soul House um on Lincoln Street, but uh decided that it wasn't worth the rent to continue paying the rent on the gallery and the vista. Um and so we took, he was like, I don't know what like I'm gonna have to store all this in my you know spare bedroom. We're like, no, we'll put it up here. So we created a rotating gallery space that he helps curate. Um we've got three uh rotating gallery spaces at government and collection. So the visual art is a huge part of I mean right from the beginning it's uh always been part of the plan, but we've really sort of leaned into trying to support uh local visual artists in the same way that we've been supporting the local local performing arts at Open.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Very cool. How many seats is the I didn't I never asked that question before uh 2256. What's the worst seat in that? Is it like is there like one seat? Like, don't I read that one?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

No, I mean the Well, if you have to go to the bathroom, the worst seat is right in the middle.

SPEAKER_05 19:05

So um uh in in talking to the very first director of the building, he said that 50% of every planning meeting um and planning the building was spent on the aisles versus no aisles. Yes, absolutely. And then 50% of it was spent on everything. Everything else, right? Yes. Um the the thing about no aisles, uh also known as continental seating, um, it's it's more common than you think. Um for example, the Peace Center Greenville is also a continental seating house. Um the what it does for you is it takes the best location, which is usually like near the center and puts seats there rather than putting aisles there. So instead of losing a whole bunch of seats, um uh you you have seats there. The other thing that it does is that um uh it it forces you to have more room between your knees and the seat back in front of you. So if you've ever been to a Broadway house, you know that your knees press up against the seat. Yes, right? I mean, the reason for that is because the economists require you to have so many seats in the building. Um so but the safety requirements require you to have more space between the seat. So you can like cross your legs, you can slouch, all of these things. So it creates a more comfortable seating environment, and then people always worry about how you uh get out in an emergency. But I always tell people that the the survival of the fittest no, no, it's when you have aisles, whenever you have aisles, uh anytime you reach the aisle, you have a decision to make. Do you go right or left? Right. But in continental seating, um, every row is an aisle, so it doesn't you go which whether you go right or left, you hit an exit. So there's no confusion of I'm trying to get to the exit in the front, but the people in on the row in front of me are trying to get the exit in the back, and you have these bottlenecks. All you do is follow the seats, and then you will end up in the lobby.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 20:59

So it's so in some respect, if it's pitch black and full of smoke and there's chaos, you you can't help but end up in the lobby. Yes. Like there's no decision making, there's no people trampling you in the aisle. It's so in some ways it's much safer. Now, it does not solve the problem of the weak bladder who in the middle of a show have to say, excuse me, pardon me to like 35 of their closest friends to get out. That is the downfall. Um, but you know, the reverse is is that you have uh there are no bad seats in the house because the furthest seat from the stage is about 108 feet. Um so in a lot of time a lot of spaces like ours, you would either have to have a deeper auditorium or less room between you and the seat, you'd have to cram more rows into the same amount of space to make it economically viable.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

So and a quick plug for the uh the membership packages is if you like your seats and you keep them, you really start to make friends with the people that sit around you.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

You know, find seats?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yeah, you can you pay to keep your seats and you can trade up, but you can I like I've had my same seats for three years.

SPEAKER_05 22:00

And you know the people around you. You know the people around you. But you see them at every table. They want the guy that talks the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

So but you get to know them, and so then it's not as awkward when you're like, oh, I'll go to the bathroom, move. You know, but if you were Harold who talked the whole, you gotta know Harold's name. So you can be like, zip it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

How about cell phones? How much of a pain in the ass are those during like why don't we get you gonna get those little bags and you can put people's phones in? Yeah, I know. I'll pay for some actually.

SPEAKER_05 22:25

I've been to concerts like in uh on other venues where the artist requires you to put your bag, you know, phone in a bag.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:31

Um and uh yeah, there is a certain sense of like relief where you're like, I cannot check my messages during this show.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

No, it's it's the old lady behind me that's trying to videotape her daughter in the recital, but the damn lights on. Oh, and nobody tells her, and like you just lit up the whole stage.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Now, I I think in like the Broadway shows, people really behave themselves. I don't see cell phones out. Now, randomly you'll hear one ring and you're like, oh shoot, Karen didn't turn her silence on, you know, but I don't see them out like filming.

SPEAKER_05 23:01

But but you know, the recital, it uh it's a tough ask to say to people put your phone on. Um, you've come here to see your granddaughter on stage for 17 seconds. Uh jellyfish up there.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

Well, dance moms is a whole different podcast topic.

SPEAKER_05 23:18

Yeah, for sure. Although I I will say, um, controversially or not, um, when we stopped serving alcohol, um, the audience at the dance recitals got a whole lot nicer.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Oh, I bet. Oh, they got nicer to each other. Oh yeah. Well That's because they smuggled in their own.

SPEAKER_05 23:34

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

No, I don't.

SPEAKER_05 23:37

Once in a while, you're like when you're cleaning up after your words, you're like, oh, there you go. Look at you. Um Bronzi box, a whole box of them. Yeah, how'd she get that in here? But uh yes, that I I hate to say it like that, but um uh we did have on occasion some um uh interesting conversations between the audience members about like, you know, where because those tend to be not assigned seating. So there's you know, there's some like I want to be here and whatever, and then people standing up to photograph and sit down. Yep, yeah, Mary, what are you doing over there? You know, and this whole thing. So um, yes, uh the the not serving of alcohol sometimes helps everyone work those differences out before they disagree outside the room. Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

So what would be one thing you'd love to see that come to the Coger Center that we don't currently have or it's not on the docket? Like that would just that would be awesome in the city.

SPEAKER_05 24:35

Well, the thing that everyone asks me about, and I would be uh super excited to get to come in, even though it is it's not new at all, but we never got Phantom of the Opera. Phantom of the Opera is no longer uh in New York, it is going on tour. Um, so I think that if we could finally get Phantom of the Opera, there's a whole generation of people who could stop asking me when are you gonna get Phantom? I've never seen it, yeah. Oh man, I'd be so excited. So so I think that would be a fun get just because um it we we weren't technically capable of hosting it when it was on tour before, now that we've made a bunch of upgrades.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:13

Um there it it's interesting the big shows like Wicked will come through and they will talk about we're gonna use these phantom points because Phantom required people to put in it it opened up a whole rigging world to other shows. Right. Um so they often refer to the things like, oh, we'll use the phantom points for this or whatever, and you're like, we haven't had phantom before. And they're like, oh no. But now we're ready. Right. So I think that would be a fun one to get. Um, but I also feel like what I would like to see um it it's happening, it just doesn't, it hasn't made it to the coker center, is there's a whole generation of artists who um where the audience no longer wants to stand at their concerts. Um do you know what I mean? Like when we were younger, you know, you were like general admission, everyone standing remote and they're like crushing to the front to see how close you can get. Right. And uh so now sometimes people are thinking to themselves, I would just like to sit for this concert. I know that this is a heavy metal band, but I'm not sure I want to stand the whole time. Right. So there are there's some aging artists and aging audiences that are looking more for a um curated theater style, you know, production, a quieter uh take on their greatest hits. Um so I would like to see us be able to host some some artists like that because the acoustics in the space are particularly good. Uh and I think that uh I'll use Alice Cooper as an example. We had Alice Cooper at the Coger Center.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 26:43

Um and Alice Cooper went out with a very theatrical show. So every song had its own like set chain, set piece, costume thing. Um and he was specifically touring to theaters that like Broadway style theaters because he knew that they would be able to accommodate uh the visual wheelchairs, lots of wheelchairs. Uh so like I I think that kind of you know, more theatrical show rather than doing the big arena things. I think a lot of people um maybe stopped wanting to do the big arena show on tour. For sure. Yeah. And I think the audiences might go, oh, like these are comfortable. Maybe we don't have to like we could stand at the end, but maybe we don't have to stand the whole time. So I'd love to see um some some sort of more artistic uh kinds of shows from popular bands coming through. I think that would be fun.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Oh, I would be into that for sure.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Who's the rudest? I'm scared. Who's the rudest musicians ever come through there? Um only wanted green MMs and their bowl or something. Oh just kidding.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Well, so we like to ask people, especially since you're from Columbia, like, you know, um a lot of people that watch this podcast are not living here yet and they're thinking about it. So if somebody came to you and said, all right, we're coming to Columbia for a weekend, you feel free to pick the season, uh, what would you tell them they should do? Like a perfect weekend.

SPEAKER_05 28:05

We will pick a show at the Cogger Center, obviously. Of course. Um we we have something going on almost every weekend. So if you're coming for the weekend, there's a good chance there's something happen something happening. Um we we do uh a ton of stuff, so it it's not always Broadway, but we've got the ballet, we've got a couple of ballets, a couple of symphonies that perform. Um the School of Music uh does performances, this the uh uh Department of Theater and Dance, they often bring in a professional company to do do dance. We just had the Lamone um, I was there for now, yes, come through. Um so there's always something to do with the Coger Center. I think that's um the first thing that I would have to say, right? Of course I'm contractually required to say that. But uh the nice thing about Columbia that I think that a lot of people overlook in terms of arts and culture is that we have both a zoo and an art museum. Yes. Um and I come to realize that like states often have one zoo. Um so the the fact that there's one zoo in South Carolina is not uh abnormal. Yeah. Um but being in the middle of the state, we're lucky that the zoo is here and it is a nationally recognized zoo, and it's really an excellent uh opportunity that's uh we forget that we have. Right. Right. Well, you think, oh, the zoo's there, but for a lot of people there isn't a zoo. Correct. Right. Um, and then we have um like a really great art museum. Um, so I I think those are two things that you don't want to miss that are uh unique to Colombia. Uh and then the we're really starting to take advantage of the three rivers. Correct. Um uh I for such a long time it was just like, oh, there's a river somewhere. I guess they're like two that become one, and I don't know. But the the I think the green way, like the walking, you know, riverfront park and all of the trails, that kind of thing, um is a great way to get outside. It's always cooler there regardless of how famously hot it is. Yes, it's always cooler down by the river. Um, and it is a year-round activity that you can do is to go down by the river. Um, some people I I have done it and done it recently. Well, you get in the you get in the tube and you boat, right? Yeah, it's so fun.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Um or an air mattress if you're a little hard for getting it.

SPEAKER_05 30:16

You know, so uh, but you know, so you can go that route, um, canoe, kayak, yeah, John boat, fish, uh the tube, but you can also just bike ride, walk, etc. Um, it so I I think taking advantage of the river system. And then we also have uh parks it to to spare. So um how often do you get to live so close to a national forest? Um, so we've got Congaree, we've got the Harbison State Forest here. Which is really Sesqui. We've got the Sesqui Centennial, which is uh I I remember as a kid uh always wanting to go out there and my mother being like, it's so so far. Right, right. And then now when I'm driving home from like out of town and I hit sesquili, I'm like, because I know that like I will be home in just a minute. That's right. That's um so I there are the parks, like the major parks. I mean, there's obviously neighborhood parks. I think Columbia does a good job of having neighborhood parks. It seems like every major neighborhood has its own local park.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

At least one, maybe two or three. Right.

SPEAKER_05 31:24

So, but the major parks are something that I don't bigger cities may have them, but you have to like really travel to get there. Yeah. So the idea of oh, seski's so far away when we were kids. Um, but like in a lot of places, it's you know, we'll take an hour drive to the like the major park. But here you can go, you have options that are far less than an hour's drive. Did y'all put in for the lottery of the fireflies down at the no, I haven't.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

But I still have bucket list.

SPEAKER_05 31:53

Can I can I tell you the uh the secret? Yeah. The secret is to be a volunteer um at the National Park. And then as a volunteer at the National Park, they will offer you the opportunity to volunteer for the Fireflies.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Huh. All right, all right, you heard art of real estate. I've gone a couple times to volunteer.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

It was a cluster. I mean, it's not, it's just the infrastructure wasn't meant to hold.

SPEAKER_05 32:17

No, and still isn't because it's just a it's just a natural forest that they haven't done anything with, right? Like so the parking is challenging. So that's why they have to limit it because there really is not enough parking. But um, yes, so several times we have gone and either like I've stood on the sometimes you're standing on the road like correcting traffic, yeah, um, in order to make sure that no one gets run over. Um, but then sometimes uh early in the season, they will you can come out and you'll do the surveys, like they'll they do research. So you'll go out and try to count like um count the fireflies? No, the synchronicity. So you'll you'll go out and run your timer and then fill out like do you see synchronicity or not? Of like, so you'll run like a five-minute timer and you'll try to like see like do you and is it like you know, they give you some talk about like what is none versus a little bit versus spot, you know, sporadic versus like the real thing. Yes, because they go into a season, so they're trying to figure out, you know, they're looking at temperature and right humidity and all these things, but they want somebody to tell them like, did you see synchronicity or not? Yeah, at different times of year. So it that's uh actually more fun than getting there at peak season where that's really going is because you're out in the dark, like alone. It is dark, dark in a swamp in a swamp, and then you like and there are fireflies everywhere. And then you start to go, like, oh, like, yeah, there's a small cluster going right marking it down.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

Right.

SPEAKER_05 33:47

Um, that's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

That does sound fun. All right, well, good little inside tip.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Yeah, I did a camping trip one time via canoe or kayak through the park and we stayed over one night. Yeah, but it just so happened to be during fireflies. So I woke up and all of a sudden the entire forest is like Yeah, it was just blowing up. And I was like, what is happening? It was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_05 34:05

No.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

No, because that's how you learn. Yeah, we didn't put in at the normal, like you put in on one end and go to the other, so you don't really go to the welcome center. Right. And it just maybe was the beginning of the season, but it was, yeah. I mean, uh, you're right, there's no lights out there. And then all of a sudden the whole forest just starts beaming. It was it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 34:20

So we're uh we're blessed with a lot of really fun outdoorsy things to do, yeah, as well as you know, culturally and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

And I know people make fun and call it it does get hot here, right? But I would say that's just a small percentage of the season. Most of the time, our climate is very tolerable. You can be outside almost year round.

SPEAKER_05 34:41

That's true. Um uh yes, like all all of the times when your friends in the northeast are moaning. Yeah, um, and you're like, wearing shorts and t-shirts down there.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

Yeah, no snow here, right. But when it gets too hot, you go inside to the Coger Center. That's right. Right?

SPEAKER_05 34:54

Yes. Um it it is, but I think it's part of the success we've had with pushing events into June is I I sort of like, you know, um it's it it starts to get hot in June, but it is the same temperature inside. That's right, all the time. That's right. Um so you could come and do things inside just like you do in February, you could do them in June, too. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

That's smart. So okay, thinking outside of the Coger Center, but like if you had a magic wand and you could like money was no issue, topography was no issue, but you could bring anything to Columbia. Anything, whether it's an Apple store or a professional sport, like if you could bring anything into Columbia, what would you like to see?

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_01 35:37

Um You can do two.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Mine's a Ben and Jerry's.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

I was just gonna do something.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

They broke up.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Oh, did they?

SPEAKER_05 35:46

I think so.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Damn it, Ben. I was just kidding.

SPEAKER_05 35:51

Okay, so I I uh I'm gonna think big. Okay, good. Yes, please. So what I would like to see is that we have a lovely infrastructure in place with uh the um Midlands Technical College.

SPEAKER_02 36:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 36:03

Okay. And um what I would like to see that I think would revolutionize Colombia is for them to put a culinary school as a part of Midlands Technical College. Because what you get out of that are chefs who stay here and open fascinating restaurants. So instead of just saying, oh, this is I love this restaurant, I would like it to be here. Yeah, um, I think what we would really benefit from was a training ground because we we've got a technical college um in place. Like could we get a piece of that to be uh a culinary institute? And then what you get are a bunch of great restaurants that are independent, that aren't chain um going. And even the ones that currently exist that are awesome, yeah, have turnover, and you would be able to then have well-trained people step in and and uh either keep them at the amazing level they are or even step them up. Um I think that if I had to pick one thing, that's what I would like to see. That was deep, too. You gotta figure it out.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Yes, I support that one. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 37:04

So I I lived in Louisville, Kentucky. They have a they have a culinary school and the restaurants in Louisville are amazing. I mean, it's a bigger city. Sure. Yeah. But um, but it is no end of amazing restaurants there. Right. Um, and it's like even the ones that people are like, uh, it's fine. Or are really good. Yeah. Um Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

And I think Columbia's got a really good food scene. So I feel like we would be positioned well. Absolutely. It's like people wouldn't come out of culinary school and be like, now what? Yeah, there's nothing to do.

SPEAKER_05 37:33

I I I think it it would help the existing restaurants really step up to the next level because the whole kitchen would be fantastic. And then every time something closes, you'd be able to go, like, is it gonna be a Zaxby's or is it going to be like right?

SPEAKER_01 37:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:48

The next James Beard award-winning restaurant, right? Yeah. Um and uh and it doesn't all have to be fine dining. Like the what's really great about people coming out of something like that is that you get, you know, fantastic street food places and you know, um all sorts of things. So it it doesn't have to be just you need another restaurant where you're gonna spend a hundred dollars on a meal. It can very much be, you know, we focus on three kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches and they are all amazed. Right? Yeah, and then you're like, Yeah, that's what I want. I don't want to be able to go when I want grilled cheese, I go to the grilled cheese place. When I want dumplings, I go to the dumpling place for like amazing dumplings. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:30

Oh, I love that. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 38:31

So that's that's what I would love to see.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

That's a good one. That is a good one.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Well, Nate, thanks for sharing all this.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

And um care.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

No.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

What else did you want to say? Is there anything else? Well, before we end, is there anything else that you wanted to share about the Cougar Center or anything up and coming? I see they're renovating bathrooms.

SPEAKER_05 38:52

We are we are um we're we're adding some.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

We're all happy to hear that.

SPEAKER_05 38:56

Right, we're we're adding some uh bathrooms. We've we've uh really done a push recently to try to become more um accessible to people with disabilities as you know in needs. And one of the things that um we're realizing with an aging population, um there are people who uh aren't disabled but start to have more needs, uh different needs than they did when they were younger. Right. Um so we're trying to create um some additional bathroom space because listen no matter how many bathrooms a building has, it's never enough. Right. Um so we're adding bathrooms that um are more accessible and allow for people who might so they're independent standalones. So that if you because what we're starting to see is people get older, sometimes like a husband and wife will need to go to the bathroom together for what you know and asking questions, but but um and so like when you have men's room and women's room, that's challenging. But if you have like a standalone family bathroom or people with kids, see people with three kids and then like one parent, three kids, different genders, yeah. They have to pick up room, and now they can just all go or send them in one at a time to the to the single bathroom. So that's something that we're we're putting in, but we're also through that just trying to um look at the accessibility issues of a building that was built pre-ADA.

SPEAKER_03 40:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:13

And try to make sure that um true, you know, people can get into the building, get to seating, all of those kinds of things. Um so that the experience is the experience starts before the curtain goes up. So you want to make sure as people arrive that they, you know, they have a good experience right from the beginning. Um I wish that we could, you know, we had a massive parking lot like we did before they built the Darlamore School of Business. Yeah, yeah. We were like, hey, just park right across the street. But um the you know, progress sometimes creates challenges that need to be overcome. Um so you know, if I if I could wave my magic wand, I would have an escalator put in so you could get from the park street in the parking garage up to the you know plaza level and you wouldn't have to walk all of those stairs. Right. Um that's uh entirely possible, but more expensive than I possibly thought.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

Well, yeah, yeah, that's the kicker, right?

SPEAKER_05 41:09

I yeah, yeah. I had a whole conversation with somebody about it, and they were like, oh, that'll be easy. Uh-huh. And then they started to talk about costs, and I was like, well, then now I see why. With all those zeros, no, it's not.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

Um so that that those are some things that we're we're trying to put into place. And uh and also really uh through that try to make sure that we have programming that um everyone can enjoy. Yeah. Um I I think that uh in general, arts organizations are across the board rethinking who their patrons are. Um so you you may think to yourself, like um people who have disabilities don't come, but maybe that's in part because we're not reaching out to them. Um so you know, if you're you've had visually uh visual impairment processes problems, um you know, the symphony is a thing that you can enjoy just as much, right? If not maybe more so than than the average person. So like what what can we do to make sure that people are aware that we can uh talk to members of that community to say like what would you need to make it easy to access us? Um so that we're not leaving out bad sections of the population, not just uh mobility issues, but also people who have other different, you know, i issues that uh they may think, oh, well, this is gonna be a problem. Like how how do we make sure that we're creating a landscape in the whole city of Columbia. Art museum has done a great job of uh of of trying to open themselves to everyone and you know we're just trying to keep up with that concept and make sure that people feel welcome.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

Yeah, everybody can enjoy art, right?

SPEAKER_00 42:48

For sure. Yeah. All right. Well that was fun, Nate. Thanks for I'm seeing no but um no, but seriously, like you are literally bringing you and your organization are bringing the culture, like the actual culture to Columbia. So there's a lot of things to go and do, but like this is the like this is the like real culture part of it.

SPEAKER_05 43:04

Yes, I I feel like if you're gonna move to any city, yeah, you want to know that there are things to do, regardless how good the job is, how lovely the house is. Right, right, right. Yeah, there's still gonna want to be things that you do um that aren't at home. And and so I think Columbia is poised to really show off those offerings. I think we're just one part of that, but you know, there's plenty of things to do and not just drive to another. Yes, um that's helpful. So we're we're gonna keep after it and probably we'll uh share in the bounty that Columbia has to offer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:41

Well we appreciate all and we appreciate all the uh events and the concerts and the the um plays and everything that brought there. It's it's fun for us. So um we'll put all in the show notes the sc the calendar and the events coming up, um and the obviously the website so people can go figure it out. But um thanks for all you do, seriously. We really appreciate it.