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When the Heritage Theatre opened in February, the city of Campbell was hoping to attract both community-based performing arts groups and professional acts to the new venue. In its first six months of operation, it's done just that.
To everyone's surprise, the theater has also demonstrated a smaller-than-expected operating loss—$6,250—showing that the demand for a new cultural arts venue is stronger than ever, Campbell Community Center manager Linda Klemczak says.
Two of the four headliner shows in the Heritage's inaugural season—the Smothers Brothers and pianist Jim Brickman—sold out, and the other two came close. Concerts by the Count Basie Orchestra and pop star Tony Orlando brought about 600 people per performance into the 789-seat theater. Ticket prices ranged from $42.50 for Brickman's concert to $125 for the gala grand opening with Broadway star Tommy Tune.
Between headliners, performing arts groups from throughout the South Bay took to the Heritage stage, as did students from Campbell elementary and high schools. Groups rented the theater for everything from a barbershop-quartet competition to an evening of Sufi music and poetry to a luncheon for West Valley mayors and managers.
"We've exceeded our expectations," says theater manager Kristyn Nagata.
"We were such a success in our first season. It's really amazing to me," says Jeanette Watson, president of the Friends of the Heritage Theatre. "You want to see that it's really all you hoped it would be, and it is very satisfying."
Watson says groups that tested the Heritage stage in its first season—even some that initially balked at the cost of renting the facility—have already booked their dates for a second performance.
"That's a pretty good indicator that we're doing things right," Watson says.
Base rent for the theater is $400 a day for events held Monday through Wednesday and $600 a day for events slated for Thursday through Sunday. The city charges additional fees for rehearsal time and sound and lighting equipment. Other than the theater's headline acts, groups renting the Heritage do their own marketing for their shows.
The Friends of the Heritage Theatre, a nonprofit organization initially formed to raise money for the theater's restoration, is developing a fund to provide cultural grants to community groups that can't afford production costs.
"The cultural growth fund is in its infancy. We have $1,000 in it at the moment," Watson says. "We really need at least $10,000 in it before we're ready to give out money, but I expect that to happen.
"I'm looking forward to the cultural growth fund getting established, because it will introduce us to other groups," Watson adds. "We had no idea so many different cultural groups would want to use the theater. We're really pleased with that. It proved the theater really was needed. It's covering a niche that hadn't been covered before."
Upcoming season at the Heritage Theatre
As with its inaugural season, the Heritage Theatre's fall/winter season features four headliners.
Singer/dancer/actor Debbie Reynolds, whose latest claim to fame is a recurring role on the sitcom Will and Grace as Grace's mother, appears Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Country crossover artist Crystal Gayle will sing hits like "Talking in Your Sleep" and "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" on Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Singer Christopher Cross will sail into the Heritage Theatre on Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
The National Acrobats of Taiwan, R.O.C., will flip, tumble and twist across the stage on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Season tickets are scheduled to go on sale in mid-August, and tickets for individual shows will be available in early September. The Heritage Theatre is located at 1 W. Campbell Ave. For more information, call 408.866.2700 or email BoxOffice@cityofcampbell.com.
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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer