Theater Alliance Honors Joe Spaulding

GALA HONORS: OVG’s Noël Mirhadi and Joe Giordano present Joe Spaulding (middle) with a Theater Alliance Impact Award at Radio City Music Hall on Oct. 29.  (Getty Images)

NEW YORK — Professionals representing theaters across the country gathered this week to honor industry veteran Joe Spaulding during the second annual Oak View Group Theater Alliance Gala at Radio City Music Hall.

The Oct. 29 gala presented the first Theater Alliance Impact Award to Boch Center’s Spaulding, who recently retired after 40 years with the Boston theater group. Oak View Group is parent company to VenuesNow and Pollstar.

The Daily Show’s Michael Kosta hosted the event, which featured performances from Hanson and Brooklyn’s TimaLikesMusic.

This year’s gala benefitted members of the Theater Alliance, including Radio City Music Hall, The Grand Ole Opry, ACL Live at Moody Theater, Beacon Theatre, The Chicago Theatre, YouTube Theatre and more. The alliance is invite only.

“Some buildings are historical landmarks, others have arts and culture programs that give back to their communities,” said Joseph Giordano, vice president of the OVG Stadium, Arena and Theater Alliance. “The thing we recognized and why we wanted to put on a gala and differentiate the Theater Alliance network from arenas is that theaters have a foundational, no-profit and fundraising arm as purveyors of art and culture in their communities.”

This year’s gala kicked off with a cocktail reception, which included representatives from WME, UTA, Wasserman Music, AXS, AEG Presents, Ticketmaster and more.

“There are a whole lot of theaters and performing arts centers that faced similar struggles and difficulties that we’ve faced in Houston,” said Dale Googer, senior manager of venues and events at Houston First Corporation. “Before this, we didn’t have an easy way to make these connections and network. You might meet up with some people at different conferences, but to have that place that’s completely performing arts center-focused offers a lot of resources and understands what that picture looks like at a national level.”

Giordano and Noël Mirhadi, senior director of the theater alliance, created the group to help participating venues combine forces and share resources, snagging a deal with tequila brand Casamigos. The organization helps members of the alliance work with agents and promoters in a more streamlined fashion, allowing each theater to collaborate with bookings and tour routings.

“There’s a lot of great positives for someone in the middle of the country,” said Mark Frie, CEO of Tulsa Performing Arts Center in Oklahoma. “It gives us better booking power, where we’re able to put together routing schedules that might be able to hit all the alliance members. It’s been incredible for us, opening us to national sponsors. We’ve been able to sign some multiyear deals that normally I would not have been able to get.”

Malorie Squiteri, director of venue booking at the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado, said the gala is a great opportunity to connect with other venues across the country. “Pick their brains, gather their thoughts and see what’s working for them, what’s not working for them,” she said. “We can bounce ideas off each other and it feels great to be part of a community.”

The gala culminated with the unveiling of the Theater Alliance Impact Award honoring Spaulding. After spending more than 50 years in the industry — 40 at Boch Center in Boston — Spaulding retired in June.

His career was dedicated to forming partnerships between other venues in support of the performing arts. In 2019, he established the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame, with their first documentary coming out on PBS on Nov. 1.

“My whole career has been around collaboration,” Spaulding said. “I formed the Independent Presenters Network, which is with Broadway. I created a partnership with Madison Square Garden for 10 years. I created the PACC, which is the Performing Arts Center Consortium. I was instrumental with SVOG, the Shuttered Venues Operating Grant.

“It saved all of us in this room,” he said. “When Oak View Group said they were thinking of doing a theater alliance, I said, ‘I’m in.’ It didn’t take more than five seconds, because collaboration means you can do more marketing, more sponsorships, more block booking. You can do so many things. But, the most important is sitting around a table and talking with your colleagues.”

As he accepted his award, Spaulding emphasized how weird it was to be stepping down after a 50-year career. He noted he’s been far from bored in his retirement, but he felt honored when he got the call that he would be receiving the award. “Everyone in this room hopes that we’re making an impact in this world and an impact on the business we’ve chosen to do,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I’m fortunate I’ve had that opportunity.”

Pop group Hanson then closed out the festivities with a few songs, including their hit, “MMMBop.”

“Theaters are built for music,” band member Taylor Hanson said at the event. “They’re one of the unique things we get to do. We’ve performed in every size venue — tiny clubs, stadiums and arenas. But there’s something special about places built for music. Radio City is an iconic theater. We’ve seen through downturns in the economy, through COVID, there is a risk of great theaters going away. It’s important to have that thread of great theaters in our country.”