Exploring Broadway in Atlanta’s Impact: Touring Shows, Community Programs, and Sponsorship Opportunities at the Fox Theater

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by My Global Presence. The award winning Atlanta public relations agency that elevates brands and non-profits through authentic storytelling and national media campaigns. Find them at my global presence.com. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, My Global Presence. If you want global visibility and meaningful impact, go to my global presence.com. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have the Vice president of Regions Bank Broadway in Atlanta, Russ Belin. Welcome.

Russ Belin: Thank you, thank you Lee. Thanks for having me out today.

Lee Kantor: Well, for folks who aren’t familiar, can you talk a little bit about regions Bank Broadway in Atlanta? How are you serving folks?

Russ Belin: Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Regions Bank Broadway in Atlanta is the touring presenter of National Broadway at the Fox Theater. We’ve been around for 45 years in Atlanta. We bring the biggest and best shows direct from New York to the Fox Theater.

Lee Kantor: Now, can you share with the audience? Because I think that a lot of people, they hear like the movie industry struggling. But theater is doing okay, isn’t it?

Russ Belin: Theaters doing amazing. You know, I think I think what we have going is the stories, the connection to the community and the product that’s out there just continues to engage our audience. And, and we try to bring as much as we can. We’re doing about 14 to 18 weeks a year at the Fox. So there’s a lot of variety that I think makes it always accessible to everyone, hopefully. And there’s something for everyone. But yeah, we, you know, things are going well. We just did a study. The Broadway League did a study on the economic impact of Broadway across the country. And it’s it’s a big number. People are coming out, they’re making an experience. And I think that’s the biggest part of it. So, you know, we looked at what our series contributes, and it’s about $137 million in spending, both from the touring shows, but also from the revenue from hotels to restaurants to parking. You know, it’s about making experience. I think people love going to the Fox, but they want to make an event out of it, and we see those in droves. So we’re just so thrilled to be a part of Atlanta’s community, bringing people together at the Fox.

Lee Kantor: Now, are you seeing that across the whole genre? Like is the live theater as a whole doing as well as Broadway and Atlanta is doing?

Russ Belin: I can’t speak as much to, you know, concerts and what other else the Fox is presenting. I just know our numbers are there. Our subscriptions are very high. People are engaged. The renewing year after year. And then our singles are very strong. You know we we’re going to do again this this year with the lineup. We we have we’re going to do about 18 weeks, probably around 3000 people a week is what we’re projecting. So, you know, Broadway is very strong. And we we’re able to do that also because of our season ticket holders. We survey them, we hear what they want to see. And that really gives us a glimpse on what what people are asking for. So it kind of gives us maybe a cheat code on, on bringing the right type of properties to Atlanta that are going to be enjoyed.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, how, how is that chosen? How do you kind of curate what is appearing here in Atlanta?

Russ Belin: Yeah, it’s a 18 to 24 month process. You know, it starts with, uh, visits to New York, our programing team producers, the Tonys that just happen, uh, you know, in, in June, getting that feedback. And then from there, we identify the shows and the producers of what titles are going to go out on the road. Uh, you know, many had just announced Lost Boys, for example. That was up for a Tony. They just announced they’ll be out in spring of 28. So we’ll, you know, try to start working on if that will work into our route. Um, but we’ll take that information and then we’ll start asking, uh, the season ticket holders on what titles they’re familiar with, what they want to see. And a lot of it is, you know, we want to get those titles direct from New York to the Fox as quick as possible.

Lee Kantor: Now, how does how do they decide which shows tour, uh, out of New York.

Russ Belin: A lot of that comes down to, I believe, success. You know what those ticket sales are in New York, but then just appeal the title. Um, you know, some shows that were mixed in New York, but had great reviews sometimes aren’t built for New York audience that has different tastes. But a show like boop, the musical that’s coming on our season this year is really built for the road. It’s a recognizable brand. It’s full of fun, colorful laughter, great heartwarming story. So we feel like that’s going to play very well on the road, not just in Atlanta, but across the country.

Lee Kantor: So what are some of the titles that are going to be here this season?

Russ Belin: Yeah, we have we have quite a few titles. We start in September with the return of Hamilton. It’s our fourth play actually since it came out in 2015. It’s just been a tremendous hit for us in Atlanta across the country, and we have three more weeks of it coming September to kick us off. Then we go into a couple new shows, Buena Vista Social Club, which is an amazing story I saw in New York. It’s kind of the the Cuban music experience. Guitar trumpets, a woman discovering the music she wants to play. It’s an amazing show. Uh, better off dead and not bad. Sorry, not better off dead. Death Becomes Her. Uh, based on the 1992 musical. It’s just a comedy that is full of laughs, like one of my favorite shows I saw last spring, along with the musical water for elephants. Operation Mincemeat and The Notebook are some of the few premieres we have. Again, we have. I think we have 14 weeks close to, um, over ten different titles coming to the Fox this year. So there’s going to be a little bit for everyone.

Lee Kantor: Now, how does kind of Broadway in Atlanta partner with the community? Uh, and especially engage kind of younger folks to get them in the habit of seeing live theater and adding that to their, uh, you know, limited attention span.

Russ Belin: I hear that’s super important to us. I mean, we just want to be a great community partner. So we have a few avenues. I mean, the one of the first avenues is our student rush for college students. We typically offer for every performance. So, you know, if you have an active student ID from Emory or Georgia Tech or whoever you know. Typically, you show that at the box office two hours before and you can get a discounted ticket, typically around $35. You know, we’re trying to open up that avenue to young professionals and college students to get that taste of Broadway and see if this is something they’ll like. So that’s one avenue. The other avenue that we’re really involved in is working with nonprofits like Most Valuable Kids of Atlanta, where since 2017, when MBK started here in Atlanta, we’ve provided 14,000 tickets to their organizations. They help fight social inequality and to and provide tickets to sports arts events. And we just found it super important to engage that audience and make sure they have those opportunities to experience the fox and the magic of Broadway and see if that’s something that, you know, they see in their future, either on stage as an audience member. Um, career wise, there’s all kinds of avenues that we, we try to provide more than a ticket for the, for those, um, young students.

Lee Kantor: Now, is there any work with people who are kind of aspiring theater kids and, and folks who want to make a career out of theater?

Russ Belin: Yes, the Fox Theater, we work with them on their all access program, which, uh, we partner with them to provide tickets and then work with sometimes the shows or they have other organizations they work with to get high school students, the behind the scenes look at, at the, um, arts entertainment industry so they can talk to ticketing, they can talk to marketing, but they can also talk to the stagehands and the local crew to see what opportunities there might be. In arts, there’s a lot of jobs, a lot of opportunity, just like we talked about with the economic impact. We employ quite a few people and we want to make high school students aware that there are a lot of there’s a future in the arts, not just on stage.

Lee Kantor: Now, are you finding that young people are open to that? That I would imagine there’s a lot of young people who want to be performers, but are they also interested in kind of the whole scope of the the business of theater?

Russ Belin: Yeah, 100%. I see that a lot where they are focused. I want to be on stage. You know, I, I, I’m, I’m an actor and they’ll, and they’ll do that. But when we take them through the program and introduce them to the marketing side of things or the ticketing side, they’re like, oh, wait, you know, I can still stay connected to something I love and, um, and earn a career this way. So I’ve seen a few people in programs Broadway across America offers, as well as the Fox and MGK kind of just raise their hand and say, wait a minute, I have learned something new here. How do I learn more? How do I get involved? And, um, and from there, you know, they’ve led to internships or really picking a different major as they go into college. So yes, 100%. I think we are able to open the their eyes to see, you know, there is a career not just on the stage.

Lee Kantor: Now, obviously, regions Bank is involved with Broadway in Atlanta. Are there other opportunities for other sponsors who might want to get involved?

Russ Belin: Yes. We, uh, we love our sponsors. The Courtyard Marriott next to the Fox Theater is our official hotel, and we have regions Bank, but there are opportunities. You can reach out to us through our website in different categories, uh, you know, sponsorship, how regions handles it. They provide, they, they get tickets, they engage the community, they engage their customers, you know, and they, and they, it’s very important for them to give back to the community and be a part of bringing the magic of Broadway to the Fox Theater. So they’ve been a tremendous supporter for us for now, for for years and, and long into the future. Uh, but we would love, we’d love to have other sponsors and figure out how we can engage their clients, um, their, their brand, their mission, you know, to enrich the Atlantic community. I mean, I think that’s what it’s all about. We, we don’t want to just come here and, you know, sell tickets. We want to be a big part of Atlanta, see its youth develop, see people have a good time connecting with their neighbors, their friends, you know, all, all while enjoying the magic of the fox.

Lee Kantor: So what is it like to have a conversation about sponsorship with you? Like, what are some of the things that a sponsor could possibly get? And, and how do you kind of help them creatively leverage this unique, um, opportunity to work with you?

Russ Belin: Yeah, I, I think we like to speak to every sponsor one on one and try to figure out what their goals are from the partnership. You know, there’s certainly opportunity to be, you know, included in our media, you know, uh, reach our audiences through email and postcards, you know, speak to our, to speak to our fans directly. But we want to hear what engages them. For some others, it might just be helping to bridge the gap between us and the community and, and providing tickets to, um, to different organizations. So that all comes down from our, from our philosophy. It all comes down to trying to meet what that sponsor sponsor wants. If its on site presence, you know, do they want to have tabling at our shows and, and engage people that way? We’ll, we’ll meet with them. Uh, but we have, um, a lot of opportunity and we’d love to speak to all kinds of sponsors.

Lee Kantor: Now when it comes to the shows, are there tickets still available or things sold out right now? I would imagine some tickets are going faster than others.

Russ Belin: Yes, we right now we’re selling for the 2627 season season tickets. Our six show packages on sale starting at two six $262. It’s at Broadway and atlanta.com. We we have plenty of seats left. We have some good, good inventory. So you can go there. And the. The benefit of a season ticket package is your confirming and securing your seats to all six shows. You have your same seat same night. For all those performances. You do have some exchange privileges and things like that, but you’re just locking in six nights out a year with your friends, your family, you know, guaranteed date night. That’s the benefit of a season ticket. And then single tickets we put on sale typically about 8 to 12 weeks ahead of each, um, engagement. So Hamilton will be happening very soon. And then after that, Buena Vista Social Club and, and so on. So, um, right now it’s season tickets and you can learn more at Broadway and atlanta.com.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, Russ, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Russ Belin: Thank you. Lee. I really enjoyed being here.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.