Imperial Theatre hopes to attract bigger names to Port City

The Imperial Theatre in Saint John is looking to expand its audience by bringing in bigger names.

"Through my 19 years in the industry, I see a lot of artists who are sort of choosing Moncton and Halifax as their big destination spots," said Angela Campbell, the theatre's executive director. She'd like to change that.

Along with continuing to feature local and regional artists, Campbell also wants to bring in names as big as possible for the size of the uptown venue, which has 872 seats.

She said the theatre "tested the waters" in 2017 by bringing in filmmakers Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, for example, and that show "was a tremendous success."

This year the theatre was able to book Randy Bachman and Jann Arden, both successful shows. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press, Alkan Emin)

Campbell said the organization wants to stay relevant as the audience base starts to skew younger, in the 35 to 60 range, as opposed to pre-pandemic when the demographic was closer to 50 to 70.

It took some time for the Imperial to book its first drag queen event to show it could be a viable market and that effort paid off. The show sold out, Campbell said, and now the theatre has no trouble booking those acts, including performers from the hugely popular reality show, Rupaul's Drag Race.

This year, she said the theatre was able to book Jann Arden and Randy Bachman, and she's interested in attracting more artists of that calibre.

Big artist = big fee

Peter Rowan, a Saint John-based manager and promoter with more than 20 years in the music industry, said it's important to get a younger audience through the doors of local venues.

Music industry professional Peter Rowan said the post-pandemic touring world is different than it was before and some artists are favouring soft-seat venues like the Imperial. (Matthew Bingley/CBC)

"You need younger people in there to become patrons and to see the value of that space," he said.

"And one of the ways to do that is … maybe someone hasn't been to the Imperial before, but they're sure as hell gonna see Brandi Carlile … or whatever sort of amazing [act] is out there."

Campbell said there is a risk that comes with trying to recruit larger acts — namely a financial one.

The bigger the artist, the bigger the fee, she said.

"We want to make sure that we're staying in tune with what our community is interested in seeing," she said.

"This is our 30th season.… And I think, you know, that the organization has the strength to be able to bear this kind of risk at this point now, you know, to invest in these larger artists."

Angela Campbell, the Imperial Theatre's executive director, says 'there's a lot of opportunity and untapped potential' in bringing bigger acts to the city. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

Campbell said a big part in making this happen is by building relationships with agents and promoters and looking at the theatre's data to gauge what's popular.

She also said getting bigger names through the door isn't something that is necessarily done alone. She said the Imperial works closely with the Fredericton Playhouse, the Capitol Theatre in Moncton and the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown to be able to offer a guaranteed number of stops within the region.

Rowan said working with other theatres is a great way to pitch to promoters. He said being able to offer up multiple stops is a big deal in attracting talent.

He said the Imperial's strategy is "great on so many different levels." He said if a theatre such as the Imperial can have big successful shows, it would allow them to continue to be in the position to offer up space to more local programming.

Changing venue preferences

Rowan also said the post-pandemic touring world is different than it was before.

"There was a tremendous loss of venue space on multiple levels, which ... impacts its way up the ecosystem," he said.

"The cost of doing, like, these full band tours, it's become quite prohibitive. So, many artists are looking to go into soft-seaters, which is a different kind of a show."

A soft-seater, said Rowan, is a venue that has a capacity generally between 600 and 1,500, different from festival slots or nightclub and bar shows.

The 872-seat Imperial Theatre on King Street first opened in 1913, was a movie theatre and then a church, then reopened as a theatre in 1994. (Ryan Lavigne)

Rowan said he thinks the Imperial's goal to bring in larger names could be a tourism booster for the city.

"People will travel and spend ridiculous amounts of money to see shows that they really want to see. And … as a place, which is a summertime destination for the most part, you know, building on the shoulder seasons is huge."

Campbell agrees this could be a way to get more people staying in the city overnight, taking in the restaurant scene and utilizing local accommodations.

She said it could also encourage people to come, take in a show at the Imperial, and maybe stay to see a show at another local venue the next night.

"I think there's a lot of opportunity and untapped potential there."