Jackson Jambalaya

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba addressed the woes of Thalia Mara Hall at his regular press conference yesterday.   WLBT's Anthony Warren asked Hizzoner what happened to the funds generated by a ticket surcharge ten years ago.  Mayor Lumumba said he did not know.  

Well, it's time for a history lesson.  Check out this old post from January 13, 2014 when Lumumba the Elder wore the purple. 

THE JACKSON CITY Council’s quick decision to add a $5 surcharge to tickets sold at Thalia Mara Hall continues to receive backlash from members of the city’s artistic and entertainment communities. The council, in November, voted to add a $5 hall restoration fee to each ticket sold for performances at the hall. The fee was urged by Mayor Chokwe Lumumba to bring in the needed revenue to restore the aging facility on Pascagoula Street. Its passage, though, was criticized by the city’s arts groups, who said the increase could turn away patrons and prevent certain shows from coming to the city. 

Turns out, the critics of the surcharge were right. 

Arden Barnett, owner of Ardenland, a local concert promoter, has already lost two shows as a result of the fee. 

“Bands and management see a $5 fee and, in this market, they balk at it,” he said. “It (the surcharge) is way more than the market can support.”  

Barnett and others, including Kessler Productions Marketing and Publicity Director Averyell Kessler and Drake Elder, box office manager for Ticketmaster and the Mississippi Coliseum, agree that the surcharge will continue to turn performers away.  

Kessler sent a letter to Ward Seven Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon regarding the charge.  

“It (the fee) would have a very harmful effect,” she said. 

Barrett-Simon and Ward One Councilman Quentin Whitwell were the lone council members who voted against the surcharge, which was presented to the board as an emergency item. “This (turing concerts away) was exactly the reason I voted against it,” Barrett-Simon said. “Not enough analysis went into it and we need to look into what other alternatives there are.” The city wants the surcharge to pay for its share of $5 million in improvements to the hall.  

MAYOR CHOKWE Lumumba explained the reasoning behind the surcharge at the November 19 meeting.  

“Essentially what we’re doing are renovations at Thalia Mara Hall. Estimations are around $5 million. We have a million dollars from the state Legislature, which has been approved. We are anticipating (raising) $1.5 million in private contributions, from Friends of Thalia Mara Hall, and we need $2.5 million to do the rest of the work. With the $5 surcharge, we will have the money,” he said. 

“This will not hurt us, it will actually help us,” he said. 

Michael Raff, director of Human and Cultural Services for the city, said the funds generated from the surcharge will be used to pay for a $2.5 million lease-purchase agreement for new lighting, air conditioning systems and fire safety equipment to be installed in the hall.  

He and Lumumba said the item needed to be approved in November so work on the project could get under way in January and be completed in time for the USA International Ballet Competition, which will run from June 14 to 29 at Thalia Mara. 

 

The international event draws performers from across the globe to participate in an Olympic-style event. The competition is held in Jackson every four years.  

“No one likes the rate increase,” Raff told the council. “For 45 years we’ve enjoyed Thalia Mara Hall, but the grand old lady is not going to live any longer unless we take drastic renovation efforts. “We feel this (surcharge) is absolutely necessary to save the hall.” 

The measure was approved with a 4-2 vote. It was passed with no analysis from the council, despite requests from Barrett-Simon to have the item placed in a committee for further review. Several questions remained unanswered, such as how the surcharge would be implemented and collected and whether or not the city’s struggling arts groups would be exempt. Additionally, questions were raised by Whitwell as to whether or not the surcharge would be added to free events, like church services and graduations held at the auditorium.  

Raff and Lumumba said the item could be amended by the council after it was passed, if a need arose. 

Barrett-Simon said she will bring the issue up for discussion again, but doesn’t believe the votes are there to have the fee repealed. Those voting in favor of the measure were Councilmen Mel Priester, De’Keither Stamps and Tony Yarber, and Council President Charles Tillman. Ward Three Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes was absent from the meeting.  

KESSLER SAID THE fee is one of the highest in the nation. She provided a spreadsheet to the Sun, which showed ticket surcharges at comparable theaters throughout the nation. The highest fee listed is in Detroit, Mich., which is $4.50. The Orpheum, Golden Gate Theatre and the Curran Theatre in San Francisco each include a $4 surchage per ticket, according to information provided by Kessler. 

“Because the fee is high, we will have difficulty booking Broadway tours (at) the hall,” she wrote in her letter. “National producers of touring acts look closely at local expenses.”  

She told the Sun that those expenses include the local costs for advertising, stage hands, box office staff and security, as well as the overal rental fee for the hall itself. 

“So far, none of the Broadway production companies we work with will approve a $5 fee.”
Kessler Productions brings in about five Broadway plays each season. The group doesn’t often have sell-out crowds, but does bring in enough revenue to cover the company’s expenses. With the fee, Kessler is not sure if the shows will continue to be profitable.  

“Tickets have to be at a price to make them inviting for people to attend,” she said, adding that one couple who has attended performances for years will not be able to attend if the $5 fee stays in place. 

“They’re on a fixed income. They’re retired teachers who buy the cheapest tickets,” she said. “I don’t want to lose them.”  

Elder said promoters will likely be scared away, because it means they’ll have to adjust ticket prices to compensate for the fee.  

“That’s an extra $5 they could have charged on a ticket that will now go to the building,” he said. “Lower ticket prices affect the profitablity of a show.”  

At $5 a ticket, a sellout at the 2,400-seat hall would generate $12,000, funds that would otherwise go to the promoter or not be charged at all, he said.  (KF: The size was reduced to a little more than 2,000 seats after the renovation took place.).  

“It increases the break even (margin) for the show. There’s always a balancing act. (Tickets) could be higher, but how many patrons would I lose at that higher ticket price,” he said.  

Elder said the surcharge likely wouldn’t have an impact on larger shows, but would likely impact what he calls “marginal shows.”  

Those shows, he said, usually involve up-and-coming acts that have lesser name recognition or groups that have not performed in the Jackson market before and are unsure how ticket sales would go.  

“A ticket surcharge could determine whether or not they’ll do a show,” he said.