“It’s been fun to see the different kinds of folks who show up to various events,” says Richardson. There are a few different ways that shows make their way to the Legacy stage. Richardson’s production company, Roxy Theatricals, produces community theater, such as the upcoming Legally Blonde, while his Roxy Entertainment is responsible for bringing in touring acts, such as Dixie’s Tupperware Party and the recent concert by Mike Doughty. The venue is also available for rental by local producers. “Every time there’s a new show, people say, ‘Wow, I’ve never been here before, this is a really cool space, I really like this, we’ve had a great time.’” “We’re firm believers that you shouldn’t have to travel an hour and a half, two hours away to see some good things,” says Russell. “We can bring shows that are cool and interesting here to Springfield, and our hope is to get the crowd to help support that, to make Springfield a viable stop for this kind of thing.”
But therein lies the rub, at least poten tially.
Here Richardson echoes the laments of many others who have attempted to promote mid-size, “alternative”-skewed events locally, whether the performers are homegrown or internationally known. “I’m discovering that Springfield does not have a great reputation out there in the world, in terms of artist management and booking agencies and stuff like that,” reports a strained Richardson. “I’ve learned that Springfield is notorious for being last minute ticket buyers, and it’s generally thought that as a market, we don’t really support stuff. The word that comes up a lot is ‘apathetic.’ It’s hard to get Springfield off the sofa. What I’ve seen happen is, a management company will say, ‘Well, I can take this artist, I can book him in Peoria, where I know they buy tickets in advance and support stuff, or I can book Springfield, where they don’t.’ It’s nerve-wracking and heartbreaking for anyone who’s trying to produce an event here, whether it’s our venue or any of the venues in the area, because if you’re not selling those tickets in advance, then you’ve gotta expend more resources on advertising to sell more tickets, which then makes the ticket price higher.”
As dire as this all sounds, there may be change on the horizon for Springfield. The March 28 concert by ’90s “alt-rocker” turned independent acoustic troubadour Mike Doughty (former singer of Soul Coughing) showed some encouraging results.
“I view it as a great success,” says Richardson. “The artist was impressed with our place and had a really positive experience. When [Doughty] walked in the front door, he was impressed with the space and especially excited when he saw what we had done for him with the set. We’ve already heard from his management company thanking us for what we did, and so now we’re on their radar a little bit. The audience had a really nice time, too. I can’t tell you how many people commented on the sound of the concert, which was very encouraging to us because it was the first event using our new sound system. It was, gosh, heartwarming, almost, to see the level of enthusiasm the audience had for Mike.” He pauses. “Now if we can just find the happy marriage of that enthusiasm with action toward buying tickets, all will be right with the world.”
“I do feel really positive about that [the outcome of the Doughty show],” Richardson explains. “More attendance would’ve been great, but you can’t focus on the folks who didn’t come, you can just make sure the ones who did have a great time.” As for future rock shows, the Legacy would love to build on the momentum of the recent concert. “We don’t really want to be a total production house – in fact we prefer to be a platform for other people chasing their joy, bringing in great things that I’m not even aware of, out there in the world. We’d love to find people here in the community who have, say, a grand passion for a certain artist and they want to bring them in. We would be delighted to partner with you to help that happen. Mike Doughty was not on my radar at all until I saw him last fall in Chicago, and he’s great, you know?” For now, the day-to-day tasks of running a theatrical space are enough to fill up anyone’s schedule. “We are sort of basking in the happy afterglow of this successful event, and we’re really looking forward to Late Night Catechism, which is coming up [April 13-15 and 20-22], and which is completely, night-and-day-different, a funny, nostalgic piece, going along with our philosophy of really wanting to be an eclectic venue. After that, Spring Awakening in September, which is a musical with a rock score in the vein of Rent. We have also confirmed rentals by two film festivals, one in late May, which will be sort of alternative films and coincides with the Pride fest here in town, and then the Route 66 Film Festival the first week in November. We’re also working on our own film series, based on our great experience showing holiday movies last Christmas.”
“Seeing a movie in here is really, really cool,” enthuses Russell. “It reminds you of an old theater, like something you would see in a larger city. The night we were doing all the tech stuff, getting everything ready for screening the Christmas movies, we had the popcorn popper in the other room and that popcorn smell started wafting in, and all of a sudden, just like that, along with the overall ambience, it became a movie house.”
“We’ve been really fortunate in that every single thing we have done here, so far, has made money,” says Richardson. “Not crazy money, not, ‘Woo-hoo, let’s put in a swimming pool!’ But money. And that’s a huge thing. The great thing is, as we do these shows, we make friends, who go to other towns and say, ‘We just played this great little theater in Springfield, Illinois, oh my gosh the folks were so nice, they gave us great home cooking, and you’ll have a ball, here’s Scott’s email.’ And that’s what it’s all about, just to fertilize our little town, our little culture. So come on, Springfield – let’s fertilize, shall we?”
Scott Faingold first reported on the arts for IT in 1987. He can be reached via [email protected]
