The historic Capitol Theatre is seen in downtown Wheeling. (File Photo)
WHEELING — Members of the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority Board want to continue offering a wide variety of entertainment options to the area, despite the fact that some shows in recent months have been struggling to sell tickets.
Several years ago, an entertainment endowment was created to provide a financial incentive that could be used to attract bigger and better shows to the area’s two primary entertainment venues — WesBanco Arena and the Capitol Theatre. Back in 2021, the city of Wheeling, GWSEA and Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered on the venture to provide $250,000 for the entertainment endowment fund.
This money has been utilized to help minimize promoters’ up-front financial risks of booking shows at the local venues. The risk-sharing cushion has helped the GWSEA offer co-promotion or “co-pro” events, where promoters are more likely to bring a concert or event to Wheeling.
In recent years, the co-pro approach to event bookings has become an industry norm, officials indicated. But those funds have been diminishing over the past few years. Kelly Tucker, executive director of the GWSEA, told board members at their most recent meeting that they may have to scale back on bookings.
“As far as content, we’ve had the approach of ‘let’s see what’s working, let’s see what doesn’t,’” she said. “If I had a crystal ball, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation because I would know what would sell and what wouldn’t. It’s part of the business – you just don’t know. But promoters are not going to come here currently unless we’re offering them some kind of deal – that’s really what it comes down to.”
Tucker said that with Live Nation events, every venue they go into has a co-pro. Whether it is the Charleston Civic Center or any other venue, it doesn’t matter, she said.
“If they’re not cutting a deal, then they’re not getting a show,” Tucker said. “I just think we’re at a point now where we either have to scale back our content on what we’re doing or replenish the co-pro fund.”
Earlier this summer, Tucker has reported that summer events are a challenge because there are so many other things to do outdoors – unless it is an event that they felt “really confident about” as being a sure-win. Several shows at the Capitol Theatre had been booked through the summer, and a number had low ticket sales. Some more recent bookings even had to be canceled for the same reason.
The Steep Canyon Rangers concert slated for last month, the children’s CoComelon Live! show that had been rescheduled from June to take place last week and the MasterChef All Stars Live event also originally slated for this past week were all cancelled.
Tucker indicated that MasterChef was expected to sell at least a few hundred tickets, but only about 160 had been sold before the promoter just recently elected to cancel because of low ticket sales.
“It’s frustrating for me right now only because I feel like we’ve really hit a good point where people are really paying attention to Wheeling,” Tucker told the board.
Since taking over as executive director, Tucker and her team have been praised for working to bring in a wider variety of shows and expanding the number of big shows to Wheeling. She said two years ago, she used to “beg” people to meet with her about bringing shows to the area. Her calendar is now full for days with people asking to meet with her.
“In two years, it’s definitely changed,” she said. “People know we’re doing shows. But if we start to scale back a little bit, and I get the opportunity to do Robert Plant, that probably won’t happen again.”
The Robert Plant show booked for the Capitol Theatre on Oct. 30 sold out immediately. Tucker indicated that scaling back the offerings in the area won’t help them land big opportunities like that in the future.
“Part of the original intent of the co-pro fund was to minimize the risk to the promoter, but also to minimize the risk to the authority, as well,” said Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron, chairman of the GWSEA. “It was an independent fund.”
The co-pro gives the GWSEA better leverage to strike deals, officials said. Board members indicated that they are willing to explore funding options to keep the co-pro account in solid standing so Tucker and her team can continue offering a strong selection of shows for both the Capitol Theatre and WesBanco Arena. The board is expected to revisit the matter when members meet again later this month.
“There are some first-time people that come in, and I don’t offer them a co-pro until I know they’re going to bring a show in, pay rent, etc.,” Tucker said.
GWSEA board member Rich Lucas indicated that they should continue with a solid array of entertainment options.
“Keep doing great shows, keep working the best co-pro arrangement you can with the promotors, and you’re doing everything you can do,” Lucas told Tucker. “If we need to have money in a fund to help them, I’m all in.”
While several concerts and events for the Capitol Theatre continue to be announced and Wheeling Nailers hockey season is fast approaching, some staple events have been noticeably missing.
“What happened to the Broadway shows?” Wheeling Councilman Dave Palmer, member of the GWSEA board, asked.
For many years, Broadway at the Capitol had been a popular attraction for the Capitol Theatre, with touring plays and musicals drawing considerable crowds. The annual series even had regular sponsorships backing the productions.
However, the market in the Wheeling area is typically good for one show while touring companies make a brief stop between major metropolitan areas for longer runs of shows.
“The promoter that always did the Broadway series pulled out because they were struggling to find any show that will come in to do a one-day run,” Tucker explained. “I’ve been trying to fill that gap since they pulled out. Most of these promoters want a three- or four-day run, because it’s so expensive to bring the semis in, set up for one day, and then pull out the next day.”
Although the Capitol Theatre recently had a new rigging system installed that can accommodate the suspension of much larger production equipment for bigger shows, the stage still has limitations in terms of its depth, Tucker explained.
“People want to see big productions,” Tucker said, noting that she was still meeting with promoters in an effort to bring Broadway shows back to Wheeling. “We’re still trying to figure that out, because I know it’s a piece that’s missing, for sure.”
In other action, Tucker noted that unfortunately, OVAC cheering is not expected to return to WesBanco Arena, where it has been held for many years. She said the annual OVAC Wrestling tournament will still take place at the arena, but cheering is expected to take place at Wheeling University next year.
New bookings for the Capitol Theatre that were recently announced include Jo Dee Messina in concert on Jan. 29, Rock Roll and /Doo Wop Vo. 28 on April 4, an Evening with Anne Wilson (Christian artist) – I Still Believe in Christmas, Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” on June 11, Sara Evans Holiday Road Tour on Dec. 5, Clint Black on April 23, and a live conversation with Chevy Chase following a screening of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on Dec. 9.
