By Cindy Sams, The Macon Telegraph, Ga. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Apr. 16--When pop singer Elton John breezed into town last December to perform at the Macon Coliseum, his show broke all previous records for single-night attendance and revenue.
About 8,500 people purchased tickets for the British-born entertainer's musicale, at prices hitting $60 each. Gross revenues for the event reached $500,000.
Contrast that to last month's concert featuring Little Richard, a native Macon who returned for a special Cherry Blossom Festival appearance. About half of the 6,000 available seats sold -- with roughly one-third of the $20 tickets going the day of the show.
What gives? How did John outsell Little Richard in Richard's own back yard?
The answer to what flies and what flops on the local entertainment scene depends on whom you ask.
'There are so many factors you have to look at,' said Brenda Thompson, marketing manager at The Macon Centreplex, which includes the Coliseum, the Macon Auditorium and the Wilson Convention Center.
'It's not just one thing. When you come in, you've got to know the market, you've got to do some research,' she said. 'You've got to know what people here like.'
The size of Macon's market -- and the size of the Coliseum -- limits the types of concerts and other entertainment acts that book here. Top seating capacity at the arena is about 8,500 people, making the facility too small to attract many big-name performers. Top entertainers typically play in bigger venues like Phillips Arena in Atlanta because they can draw larger audiences, which helps offset ticket prices. In general, the smaller the arena, the more expensive the tickets, Thompson said.
The Coliseum drew John only because the singer, who lives in Atlanta, decided to include smaller venues in Macon and Albany during last year's tour, she said.
'Occasionally a big name will do that, but not enough to bank on,' she said. 'We get more family shows, just like any other venue that's our size and our market. We are too small for NSYNC, we're too small for Britney Spears, and up until last year, we were too small for Elton John.'
Family oriented shows like Barney, Champions on Ice and Lord of the Dance usually play to large audiences at the Coliseum.
For example, Barney -- a popular television character who appears on public television -- sold out one of two February engagements in Macon, and came within a few hundred seats of selling out the second show. About 4,000 seats were available at each performance, Thompson said.
Champions on Ice, which features former Olympic skaters like Dorothy Hamill, Philippe Candelero and Oksana Baul, sold out in its debut appearance here last year. All 6,000 available seats were sold about two weeks before the show.
This year's ice show in January did not sell out, but sold well at about 85 percent to 90 percent. Until the John concert, last year's Champions on Ice had been the highest grossing show at the Coliseum, Thompson said.
Sports entertainment continues to draw large crowds in Macon, although attendance at Macon Whoopee games fell this season over previous years. The April 7 debut of the Macon Knights, the city's new Af2 football team, attracted more than 4,000 people -- and with only eight games per season, should continue to attract the crowds, she said.
But older entertainment acts usually don't fill the house. Country singer Reba McIntyre, who has appeared in Macon several times, sold only 5,000 of the 8,000 available seats during a concert about three years ago.
Soul singer Patti LaBelle had about the same size crowd, Thompson said.
'I was depressed,' she said of the McIntyre show. 'I thought, what is wrong with Macon that we can only get 5,000 people for Reba McIntyre? Then she only sold 2,000 or 3,000 tickets in Atlanta, and I thought, hey, it's not us.'
In contrast, Widespread Panic -- a popular rock band from Athens -- is within a few hundred tickets of being sold out for its Sunday appearance at the Coliseum. The show is being promoted by SFX Entertainment, one of the country's largest entertainment booking agencies.
SFX also is tied to a deal now under negotiation to bring the new National Basketball Development League team to town. Macon is one of eight Southeastern cities being considered for the league.
In a joint venture between SFX and the NBA, chosen local arenas will play host to 28 basketball games, and SFX will book musical concerts, ice shows, motor sports shows and other events to give host towns 50 events a year.
Thompson and other city officials are keeping mum about the NBA/SFX negotiations. But Thompson did say she doesn't worry about pulling in crowds when SFX is involved in a show. SFX is owned by Clear Channel Communications, which owns several radio stations in this market.
'When SFX or a big-name promoter brings in a show, you know it's going to do well,' she said. 'They know how to market it, they have the money to put behind it and it's well-researched.'
Country music acts may not sell well in Macon, but they're a staple at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry, said deputy director Johnny Webb.
Although concerts held annually during the Georgia National Fair in October typically don't sell out, country entertainment pulls in good crowds at the 8,300-seat Reaves Arena. Other types of musical acts also perform there during the fair, he said.
'It's difficult to get a sell-out, at least it has been for us,' Webb said. 'I'm just guessing, but I would venture that anytime you get above 5,000 people, you've got a good show.'
Last year's performance by Kenny Rogers resulted in the sale of about 4,300 tickets. Lonestar and Tracy Byrd sold about 5,000 tickets, and Cornell Gunther's The Drifters, The Platters and The Coasters drew about 2,000 people, he said.
In 1999, appearances by Trisha Yearwood and John Berry attracted 5,056 people, George Jones played to 5,659 people, Sawyer Brown drew 3,600 and Monica and Grits only 1,465.
Country singer Alan Jackson has pulled in the largest crowd in recent history. In 1998, the performer sold 8,134 tickets in Perry, followed by 2,893 for singer Brian McKnight and 7,787 for the country group Alabama.
Rodeos and other events held during the remainder of the year typically sell well at the Agricenter. The rodeo, which has a seating capacity of about 5,000, usually comes close to selling out, Webb said.
October concerts in the Reaves Arena may not sell out because fairgoers have so many activities from which to choose. Middle Georgia audiences also sometimes balk at paying $25 for a concert ticket, he said, when they'll pay $75 to $100 for a ticket in Atlanta or other venues where there are no other activities scheduled.
'Another thing about this market is, people tend to get their tickets at the last minute for some events,' he said. 'I think they're learning, but they just won't make up their minds until the last minute. We've had people come to our rodeos, they drive here from all around, they won't even call. Then they get mad because we've sold out.'
Coliseum officials in Macon concur that the city has a reputation of being a 'walk-up town.' But that image may be somewhat undeserved, Thompson said.
'When I first started working here, I heard that a lot,' she said, explaining that in times past, promoters cancelled concerts when too few advance tickets were sold. In response, people started buying tickets later on the chance that a show would be cancelled after their tickets had already been purchased.
'That's where Macon as a walk-up town came from, to ease the promoters,' she said.
Cultural events are perennial favorites at the Grand Opera House, a 1,025-seat theater now under the auspices of Mercer University.
The school's Broadway Series at the Grand has been particularly popular with theatergoers in recent years, said Karen Goss, Mercer's executive director of arts administration.
Sellout shows this year include 'Showboat,' 'Jeckyll & Hyde,' 'The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber' and 'Phantom,' she said.
'With 'Phantom,' we sold out two of the three performances, and the third was 80-percent sold,' she said. 'We added a third performance because there was so much demand.'
Other top attractions at the Grand include the annual Civic Club show and Nutcracker of Middle Georgia performances, which usually all reach sell-out status.
The Macon Symphony Orchestra, which formerly had performed at Wesleyan College, has enjoyed good crowds since moving to the Grand Opera House this year, Goss said.
'With the Broadway Series and Nutcracker, these are programs that have built (a following) over the years,' she said. 'We're trying to do that in some other areas as well.'
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(c) 2001, The Macon Telegraph, Ga. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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