Greg Bartram
Ever wondered how a show you are watching keeps everything running so smoothly?
From an intimate event to a huge production, it is up to the venue to keep it together. For the largest-scale shows in Columbus, the task goes to Columbus Arena Sports & Entertainment (CASE).
The organization handles events for both Nationwide Arena and the Schottenstein Center.
Preparing for such an event can take as long as 18 months, or as little as a weekend. That was often the case with visiting politicians during the election last year, says Leslie Lane, who oversees marketing for the venues.
With such tight timelines, the pressure is on the venues. The arenas are multipurpose, which comes in handy when they need to transform from sports arenas to concert halls. The conversion begins directly after a game, taking around four and a half hours. Sometimes, storage has to be creative, such as at Nationwide Arena, where the ice rink is kept directly under the floor.
While artists and production teams often have their own stage crews, the size of the crew can vary. Sometimes, CASE supplies local help, which could include from 30 to 140 staffers.
For the crew, the day begins early.
“We’re there around 6 or 7 in the morning to unload the trucks,” says Colin Thompson, assistant general manager.
Performers may bring from four to 24 trucks’ worth of equipment.
“We set up rooms backstage around 2 p.m. and open doors around 6 p.m.,” says Thompson. “We tear everything down around midnight. We’re then finishing everything up around 2 a.m.”
Sometimes, artists include special requests for the venues that keep them on their toes.
Such requests can include an all-white dressing room for Taylor Swift’s VIP fans, a special portable toilet reserved for Mick Jagger’s use only or a superstition about purple being bad luck, forcing the venue to cover up all the purple in the theater.
But that’s all old hat for the staff, who have been handling requests like this since day one. When Neil Diamond was the Schottenstein Center’s first concert performer, he requested a personalized sink in the dressing room so he could fluff his hair. The sink remains and is now a permanent fixture of the center.
“We see ourselves as their ‘home away from home,’” says Lane. “Handling two arenas is a lot on our plates, but it’s our goal as a staff to make it easy as possible for them.”
Lindsey Capritta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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