The Orpheum Theatre’s new management reports the venue is “doing great” since reopening this January, adding it aims to generate more success by tailoring entertainment toward students and by continuing to build off positive community feedback.
Independent concert promoter Frank Productions began managing the Orpheum this month and will continue management while the Monona State Bank, which currently owns the Orpheum, undergoes the foreclosure process.
Monona State Bank foreclosed on the Orpheum last September due to co-owners Henry Doane and Eric Fleming’s failure to pay back a $1.1 million loan.
Additionally, Frank Production promoter Charlie Goldstone pointed to headliners like Big Gigantic and the theater’s large dance space as exemplary of Frank Productions’ effort to tailor the venue to students.
University of Wisconsin-Madison senior Liz Rose attended the theater’s debut concert, Trampled by Turtles, and thought the new management “did a really great job.” She added that “a lot of students would miss out” if the theater remained closed.
The community has echoed her sentiment, proven by shows being sold out in advance despite having had only one major concert so far, according to Goldstone.
The Orpheum’s foreclosure stemmed from the co-owners “long trail of debt” and “irreconcilable differences,” according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. He added they had a “poisonous relationship.”
However according to Verveer, the two men’s tainted relationship may have been a “blessing in disguise;” it eventually spurred the city council not to renew the theater’s liquor license.
“It was likely the fact the city did not grant renewal of the liquor license for the Orpheum that put the pressure on the bank to make the decision to foreclose and get a competent operator in there,” Verveer said.
Verveer agrees that Frank Productions is doing a good job managing the Orpheum and he’s optimistic about the theater’s future.
“I definitely believe the future of the Orpheum is very bright,” Verveer said. “Whether it be Frank Productions or another competent operator.”
According to Goldstone, Frank Productions plans to bid on the theater at an official auction which will occur sometime this year.
