(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) —
Clear Channel is moving its Broadway Series to the $412 million, under construction Miami Performing Arts Center from the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach for the center's premiere 2006-07 season. Clear Channel signed a 10-year contract to provide a minimum of five weeks in the center's opera house each season, with provisions for up to seven weeks if a major hit becomes available. It can also bring shows in without restrictions from May through the fall.
Scott Zeiger, head of Clear Channel's Theatrical Group, says it will cost Clear Channel more to produce at the Performing Arts Center than it does at the Gleason, but noted he expects the Miami series to be more profitable. "We're rarely at more than 60 percent capacity at the Gleason, so our success there has been marginal in recent years,'' he told the Miami Herald. “Ticket costs at the PAC will be a little higher, and we'll also make up for the increased expense by selling more tickets — the business model makes way more sense."
Miami Performing Arts Center President Michael Hardy told the paper: ''Broadway pays a lot of the bills in a typical performing arts center model,'' and estimates that annual gross revenue from the Broadway in Miami series could range from several hundred thousand dollars to nearly $1 million. “It could not only mean an economic benefit but should also provide a marketing benefit. One of our biggest challenges is to . . . potentially reach 100 percent of the population.''
And that means presenting some shows unlike those at other performing arts centers. For instance, Hardy says they have been talking to producers in Mexico about doing concert versions of shows in Spanish, like Los Miserables. "Shows that come from Latin America or Mexico might allow for a co-presentation between us [and Clear Channel].'' –Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
