by Rolanda Copley, CAPA Publicist

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and CAPA will soon share more than the Ohio Theatre. Just announced today, both organizations will enter into a five-year management agreement beginning April 5.  What this means is that CAPA will begin providing many back office services to the CSO, including accounting, ticketing, and marketing, among others.

CAPA President and CEO Bill Conner will serve as the volunteer Managing Director and CEO of the Symphony, and current CSO President Roland Valliere will continue in that role, also taking on the responsibilities of Chief Creative Officer.

While there is much work ahead, this is a win-win relationship for everyone. At CAPA, we can continue to fulfill our mission to serve the arts community in Columbus. For the CSO, the cost savings will help enable them to continue to present live, classical music performances in Columbus. And the central Ohio community will be able to continue enjoying the CSO performances they’ve come to know and love whether it be pops, classical, holiday pops, Picnic with the Pops, or all of the above.

CAPA is proud to partner with the CSO, and we look forward to a bright future for classical music in Columbus!

Here’s what people are saying:

“The Symphony is one of the great cultural and arts resources in our community. The new agreement with CAPA can provide significant stability to their organization and enable them to continue serving Columbus.”
-Doug Kridler, President and CEO, The Columbus Foundation

“Collaboration is vital across all aspects of our community, and we applaud this new business model. This agreement between CAPA and the CSO is a unique, homegrown model which will leverage the strengths of these two existing community organizations while saving money and holding down costs. A healthy and sustainable orchestra is important to our city’s economic development and this plan should move us toward that common goal.”
- Alex Fischer, CEO, Columbus Partnership

“This new partnership in Columbus between a performing arts organization, the symphony, and musicians is truly unique. Coupled with a new vision of sharing music through the internet and cell phone applications, as well as traditional live concerts, this model could be a new blueprint for orchestral music in our country.”
Jesse Rosen, President and CEO, The League of American Orchestras

“This truly remarkable partnership marks a unique approach to leverage artistic and managerial resources between two significant contributors to arts and culture in Columbus. The resulting new platform is designed to create new synergies for success at the local level and marks yet another business model that orchestras and other arts providers across the nation might consider.”
-Wayne S. Brown, Director of Music and Opera, National Endowment for the Arts

“CAPA has been a great corporate citizen to Columbus. We applaud their support of the CSO and this city.”
-Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman

Ed. note: To read the press release about the operations, click here.

by Dustin Grovemiller, Donor Relations Manager

As it turns out, I’ve been given the keys to the blog at a really critical point. Here we are at the junior post, I don’t have a specific goal as to what I should discuss, and let’s face it – I could just take this thing and run anywhere with it. (Well, the performing arts are supposed to be thrilling, aren’t they?) Should I introduce myself, perhaps? Talk about what I do at CAPA?

Not right now. I’m not that much of a narcissist, plus I like to maintain an air of mystery. So let’s talk about you instead.

For the last several weeks, you, the patrons of the arts, have been pretty much beating down our doors. This is just fantastic. I think that every Saturday for roughly the last month has brought more than 6,000 people downtown to experience the arts in one of CAPA’s theatres. You’ve been seeing theatre presented by both CATCO and the Phoenix Theatre for Children. You’ve been hearing fantastic performances by the Jazz Arts Group. And of course, there’s the programming that CAPA presents, like the Diavolo dance ensemble, musicians like Eddie Palmieri, and touring Broadway shows like The 101 Dalmatians Musical. We’re of course thrilled that our theatres-eight venues in all here in Columbus-have been so active. CAPA has you to thank for that, as well as our resident arts groups for putting on quality entertainment that you want to experience.

One more thought about what happens when you come downtown to visit us-think about what happens when you come to a show. Do you dine out? Certainly you park somewhere, don’t you? That’s something that’s frequently overlooked when you talk about the role that the arts play in your community-the fact that it has a huge economic impact beyond you buying a ticket. You’re driving business in local restaurants, which in turn need to be staffed, as do the parking lots, and of course, the theatres themselves require a significant amount of people to help put on a show (myself included). So think about that next time you come to the Palace, the Ohio, or any of the theatres, dear patron-you’re helping to make the downtown thrive, and oh-by the way-we’ll give you a world-class artist like B.B. King to entertain you as thanks for your participation.

Now, did you know that you were making all that happen? And that’s just when you buy tickets. It doesn’t even touch on the incredible things that can happen when people make donations, but we’ll save that for another time. Instead, let me leave you with one more thought about you-what are you going to come and see THIS weekend?

By Rich Corsi, Director of Programming.

I woke up Wednesday morning not really knowing what the next couple of days would have in store for me.

We have an LA-based dance group called Diavolo in town for a performance this Friday, March 19. We added an education component to the booking, which means the group came in a couple of days early to visit some Columbus area schools and conduct Master Class activities.

Diavolo is also conducting a special student matinee performance on Friday morning, so all the students who participated in the Master Classes, along with an additional 1,000 students, will get to see the group in action. So not only do these kids get to meet and work with the dancers in a Master Class, but they also get to see them live on stage at the Palace Theatre.

Many, many hours go into putting something like this together, yet no matter how detailed the plan, there are still those nail-biter moments when you fear it won’t all come together. We had delayed flights and other flights which were almost missed. I woke up in the middle of the night wondering if I had told the school principals that we needed a sound tie-in for an iPod and a 6’ ladder.

But I can honestly say that no matter how much time invested in calls, texts, and emails or the number of nails chewed down to the nub, when you see the joy on the faces of these students who don’t get too many opportunities to participate in something like this, it’s all worth it. I have been involved with well over 1,000 shows in my 19 years with CAPA, and I must say, this week has been one of the most fulfilling experiences in my career.

I’m really excited to see the buses pulling up to the Palace Theatre Friday morning and unloading 1,300 students. It will be the perfect ending to an extraordinary week.

Special thanks to Renee and the Diavolo dancers for making this such a great week for us! And as always, thanks to all of the school principals and teachers for such great cooperation and communication!

Until next time…

(Ed. Note: Click on the video below for a preview of Diavolo - appearing Friday, March 19, at the Palace Theatre!)

Welcome to our new web site and blog! The updates make it easier for you to find news and information about the shows you want to see in Columbus’ downtown theatres.

We worked with the team at dynamIT to make the site incredibly user friendly. Everything you need to know about our shows, theatres, and history is clearly labeled and easy to find. We’ve created several key features so you can easily integrate our shows and performances into your life, including…

•   All of our shows are now searchable by type, producing company, and day. If you’re looking for a specific performance, simply go to the event calendar, type in the show and day you’re looking for, and you’ll find it quickly!

•  Want to buy tickets in a hurry? Go to the event calendar, find the event you want, and click on the “Buy Tickets” button—getting you in and out in a hurry, and back to your busy life already in progress!

Stay tuned for more new features to come. We will soon be including behind-the-scenes video, interviews, and more!  We want to hear your thoughts and ideas, so please leave us a comment.

Meet the Bloggers:

Rolanda Copley, CAPA Publicist

Rolanda works hard to make sure you know about all the CAPA presentations. Be it concerts, theatre, dance, comedy, or Broadway, you’ll normally find her writing press releases, setting up interviews for local reporters, or taking actors, musicians, and dancers about town for appearances. In other words, she’s tired! But she loves dressing to impress for Broadway opening nights. Fashionista CAPA style!

Rich Corsi, Director of Programming

Rich is CAPA’s homegrown Cinderella story—he’s worked his way up the ladder over the years, starting in the Ticket Office and becoming the booking powerhouse that he is today. You know that really awesome show you saw here a while back? Rich was involved in making that happen. Wonder how the films for the Summer Movie Series are chosen? Rich is in charge of that, too.

Elena Perantoni-Fehr, Venue Sales and Production Assistant

Interested in renting one of CAPA’s magnificent theatres? Elena’s the one you want to talk to! You call, you email…she can book you into a space, be it for a performance, special event, or even your wedding. While her hectic job is to keep CAPA’s buildings full of activity, she does have other passions — like her love of theatre and her secret goal of one day guest starring on a show with Muppets and Tina Fey at the same time.

We look forward to interacting with you on the new blog! Have a question, comment, or is there something you’d like to see on the new website? Leave us a comment and let us know!