If you have children ages 5-17, then you are very aware of the smash Disney hit High School Musical. Last week, the sequel debuted on the Disney Channel. It was watched by over 17 million people, an all-time record for cable television. Mind-blowing numbers.

It's wholesome entertainment and reminds me of my high school days when Grease was all the rage. The music is terrific, very catchy and kids sing the songs like they were reciting the National Anthem.

During our annual summer camp, Next Stop Broadway, we put on several performances of the original High School Musical to rave reviews. The kids were so pumped up I thought I was at a Pearl Jam concert.

Disney has been down for a while but looks to be coming back with a vengence riding the popularity of this production. There are now ice show and stage tours coming to a theater or arena near you and hopefully to Coral Springs at some point down the road.

MediaWeek has all the details on this hot topic and how it is impacting its web site www.disney.com

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003631062

Ticketmaster and Live Nation are breaking up and the concert world for millions of ticket-buying customers will change dramatically over the next few years, reports Billboard magazine.

This was a marriage destined for divorce court after Live Nation gobbled up several ticket related businesses over the past few years. Why pay Ticketmaster when technology advances allow you to run your own operation and keep 100% of ticket fees and service charges?

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i30e53e28d8226c065af0ecffa91325be

Interesting story this week in Variety regarding the Nederlander organization renovating an old movie house and turning it into a Off-Broadway type facility that will produce and present sitdown type productions in Maryland. Shows like I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm In Therapy will sitdown for months and play to auds.

The project cost $10 million to renovate and that's a heck of a lot cheaper than building a new theater (figure $60 million + for a bare bones 2,400 seat facility these days).

The Nederlanders, partners with our company Professional Facilities Management (PFM) in Durham, NC, where a new 2,800-seat theater is being built to service that booming market, is a trend setter in the theater world. Renovating old movie houses is an intriguing concept, especially when cities are looking to revive stagnant downtown areas.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970537.html?categoryid=15&cs=1

It's finally official...the top five finalists for the Last Comic Standing Live Tour coming to the Coral Springs Center for the Arts on October 20th are:

Amy Schumer
Gerry Dee
Jon Reep
Lavell Crawford
Ralph Harris

The rollout of our 2007-2008 season has begun and the Sun-Sentinel's Jack Zink gave us some top billing last week in his Showtime column. Tip of the cap, Jack, for recognizing our efforts. I like the way he noted us carving out a niche in northwestern Broward County. We've positioned ourselves that way for many years.

There are very few theaters out here in the suburbs and our market is very clearly defined. If you don't like to drive very far to see a good show....we're right here in your backyard. With 600 free parking spots right out front. Hard to beat that. I've noticed a lot more folks from west Boca, Boynton Beach, Deerfield Beach and Delray Beach (west of I-95) coming our way over the last three years as well. Interesting trend as those residents decide where to go for entertainment. The Sawgrass Expressway is their easy ticket here. If they ever expand that highway all the way to I-95 (as was discussed in the media last week), our market would likely grow even further.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/stage/sfl-shjz10braug10,0,729305.column

Jon Stoll, the President of Fantasma Productions, one of the largest concert promoters in the country, had a blood clot removed last week in Colorado while on vacation at his summer residence in Aspen.

It was shocking news for many in the entertainment business. He is recovering at the hospital and is still in serious condition. Executive Vice-President John Valentino will oversee operations at Fantasma until Jon returns.

Fantasma is one of the largest concert promoters in the state of Florida. They manage the Pompano Beach outdoor venue and have an exclusive booking deal at Mizner Park in Boca Raton. They have also co-promoted with us on many occasions at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts, most recently on the Taylor Hicks concert which took place here last February.

Here's wishing Jon a very speedy recovery. Our prayers go out to him and his family.

Great article by Sun-Sentinel theater writer Jack Zink in last week's Showtime section detailing an initiative by theaters across the country to invest in a new company that will develop new musicals for Broadway and the road. Among the investors are local venues such as the Kravis Center and Carnival Center. The company, called Elephant Eye Theatrical (love to hear the story how they came up with that name), is considering the TV hit The Addams Family as one of its first ventures. As someone who bankrolled Gilligan's Island: The Musical last season, I'll be curious to see how that one turns out.

Most of the venues investing in this company are located in markets where Live Nation dominates in competing theaters with their Broadway Across America Series (i.e. Boston, Chicago). The investor/theaters can't land the big shows in these markets when up against Live Nation so they are looking to create their own product. It's an interesting concept, but their $8 million capitalization thus far isn't going to last long in NY, where it takes closer to $11 million to debut even one show.

With a national network of theaters already formed many years ago (Independent Presenters Network) to compete against Live Nation, it appears on the surface to be a duplication of effort. Time will tell on this new venture. They have a lot of talent assembled. I will be curious to see what happens at the Kravis Center in the coming years now that they have severed their relationship with Live Nation. Will they still be able to get the big shows? Or will Live Nation start to flex its muscle, using its two remaining venues in South Florida (Broward and Carnival Centers) as leverage to prevent Broadway product from going to West Palm?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/stage/sfl-shjz3pbaug03,0,7579567.column

Coral Springs is loaded with Baby Boomers and whenever we look at booking new shows we always are searching for ways to satisfy that audience. A new concept on the road today is taking great classic rock albums (i.e. Abbey Road, The Wall) and recreating the entire record on stage with great musicians. www.classicalbumslive.com

This season we are looking at booking several of these shows. The word from other presenters across the country is these classic rock shows are extremely high quality. If you, the reader, have any suggestions on your favorite classic rock albums of all time, I'd love to hear from you.

I get comments from people from time to time wondering why the 1471-seat Coral Springs Center for the Arts doesn't get more "big" shows. If the patron is sincere and not negative, I will take the time to explain a little about the business of securing acts and how working with only 1,471 seats puts us in the back seat when bidding against the Broward Center, Hard Rock Casino and others. Sometimes we are able to use our booking leverage (our company PFM manages theaters across the U.S.) and land a big name like David Copperfield, Taylor Hicks, and others.

He who has the most seats wins most of the time in this game. It's all about the money...how much can the act walk away with at your place. Sometimes, promoters in other markets (i.e. Miami) book a show down there and try to negotiate an exclusive type deal with the agent to block Coral Springs from getting a show. In fact, that situation is going on right now with the Carnival Center and a national promoter regarding a "very big" name. It's borderline ridiculous.

How many people in Coral Springs are going to drive all the way to Miami, pay $40 for parking (if they can find any) to see a show at the Carnival Center? Very few, if any, is my guess. Certainly not enough to make a dent in the gross sales for an event at the Carnival Center. Our own zip code analysis from the past three years of shows here tells me less than 1% of our audience (over 300,000 people) comes from Miami.

Nevertheless, they are trying to stop a "big name" show from playing our theater as well as their venue. No whining here...it is what it is. Bu that's an inside look at why sometimes we can't get A level stars even when the number of seats aren't a factor.

We're working with the agent to try and convince them otherwise, but it's a big promoter with a lot of muscle. And Coral Springs is getting squeezed because Miami can't sell tickets in their own backyard.

I'll keep you posted on how this shakes out.

For the past three years, we've been lucky enough to secure the exclusive South Florida tour appearance of NBC's hit reality show The Last Comic Standing. The show consistently produces breakout stars on the comedy circuit among them Kathleen Madigan, Alonzo Boden, Josh Blue and many others. Tonight's episode (it airs every Wednesday at 9 p.m.) features the Top 10 finalists. I've got my predictions on the Final Five (all of whom will be appearing at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts on October 20th at 8 p.m.)

I'm thinking an all-male Final Five as the women are not as strong this year.

1. Lavell Crawford
2. Jon Reep
3. Dante
4. Ralph Harris
5. Matt Kirshen

Doubtful they will not include a woman in the final five, but if it's strictly based on talent alone, these five crack me up the most, belly aching laughs every time they walk on stage.

www.nbc.com/Last_Comic_Standing