Leadership / 12.21.22
Ticketing Professionals as Fans
Christine Payne
As always at this time of year, the live entertainment industry looks back on those we have lost over the past 12 months.
In music, there were the likes of opera star Maria Ewing, Meatloaf, Olivia Newton-John, Loretta Lynn, Naomi Judd, Coolio and Aaron Carter.
Losses in sports included Tampa Bay Rays bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez, Hockey Hall of Famer and four-time Islanders Stanley Cup winner Clark Gillies, former Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens tight end Gavin Escobar, Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson, NBA legend Bob Lanier, pioneer of women’s basketball Lusia Harris and Mississippi State football coach Mike Leach.
In the world of theatre, we learned in early 2022 of the death of Paul Carter Harrison, a renowned playwright and theatrical scholar, who had passed away late the previous year. We lost Tony- and Emmy-winning actor Robert Morse at age 90, remembered for his stellar career on the stage and screen. There was also American actor and comedian Leslie Jordan and Scottish star Robbie Coltrane, best known as Hagrid in “Harry Potter.” And we will never forget Angela Lansbury who started in films but transitioned to Broadway (and television).
INTIX members and their colleagues have likely sold tickets to or attended events starring these entertainers and athletes over the years. With that in mind, we want to share the favorite performers and live events of members we celebrated and interviewed in the latter half of 2022.
Liz Kelly, Client Partner at Paciolan, loves a true legend. Her favorite artist of all time is Elvis Presley who died in 1977 and was mourned the world over.
“I don’t know how it happened,” she says. “I was probably 11 or 12. I started listening to his music and then I saw a couple of his movies. I was like, ‘Wow, these are really bad movies, but he is really cute!’ He died a year after I was born, so I just started watching documentaries and I thought, ‘Wow, I don't know what it is [about him].’ To this day, I still love Elvis Presley.”
Liz and her dog Presley Jane.
Liz also told us she is a big Blondie fan. “‘The Tide Is High’ is one of my favorite songs,” she says.
As far as bands are concerned, Liz’s all-time favorite is Hootie and the Blowfish. “I grew up with them. I love those guys. They were playing at FivePoint Amphitheatre out here in Irvine [a couple of years ago]. I took my mom and my two sisters … So, we go, and we are singing, just having the best time. I recorded one of their songs with my cell phone. I have since learned that when you are recording a video, your phone is right next to your face. You should not sing along with the singers because you cannot really hear the singers, but you do hear you. I played it back the next day and said, ‘Oh, yeah, that was not pretty.’ So, lesson learned.”
Speaking of legends, is there anyone better than Sir Paul McCartney? Jeff Hecker, Vice President of Ticket Operations for the New York Jets, doesn’t think so. He once had the chance to see his favorite performer up front and center.
“A good friend of mine was running the club and invited me to go. Paul McCartney is my favorite performer and seeing him in front of 300 people in a club was a pretty amazing thing. The Beatles are my favorite band, [although] the Grateful Dead is near and dear to my heart because I kind of got my start with the Grateful Dead.” Jeff worked with the iconic jam band before joining concert promoter Metropolitan Entertainment Group, the position he held just prior to Woodstock ‘99.
Jeff’s favorite song is “Haven't Met You Yet” by Michael Bublé. “My wife and I came to realize [that the song] was, in our minds, about the two of us.”
Jeff and his wife.
Lenore Schwartz Heller, Director of Patron Services at Stamford Center for the Arts (and a legend in her own right) says her favorite musician is Brian May, who is now 75. And, although Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991, Lenore is still a fan of Queen, not only with Brian May but also Adam Lambert, who has replaced Mercury as the band’s lead singer.
It was in the Big Apple that Lenore experienced her most memorable live event. That event was a Queen + Adam Lambert concert at Madison Square Garden.
The Queen concert “was the most amazing spectacle,” she says. “It's eye candy. It's ear candy. Two hours and 45 minutes without an intermission. I walked away and everybody walked away just wanting more. More of what you are seeing. More of what you are hearing. It is the best thing I have ever seen. There are no words to describe a Queen concert. And Adam Lambert is just outrageous, and he is wonderful.”
Lenore Schwartz Heller
Elizabeth Hess, Associate Vice President of Marketing at the Kimmel Cultural Campus and Philadelphia Orchestra, favors one of Pennsylvania’s own when it comes to singers.
“I really love Taylor Swift. I have taken my kids to see all of the concerts that I could possibly see. I have been standing there with little toddlers on my hip, like it was pretty much unreasonable to bring them to this, but I did it. I have a lot of great memories.” Elizabeth especially likes the 10-minute version of Taylor’s song “All Too Well.”
Elizabeth Hess
Andrew Douglas, Director of Ticketing at Mesa Arts Center, has seen more than his share of big-name artists in concert, but he says one in particular stands out.
“I have seen a lot of huge artists and wonderful events and concerts, but for some reason, the one that stays in my head as the most significant was a performance by Florence and The Machine. This was probably over 10 years ago. It was before she got married and then divorced and had kids and life got a little complicated for her. She just had this presence. She has these huge lungs and is a beautiful singer. That performance, for some reason, just stays in my head. She is this beautiful performer and very vibrant person, and you just get lost in that moment.”
Andrew Douglas
Lest we get the impression that INTIX members often favor popular music, Peter Monks, co-owner and Director of Shakespeare Distillery in the UK, takes us in a different direction. When asked to tell us about his favorite live event, he recounted one particular performance of “The Phantom of the Opera” in London’s West End way back in the ‘80s.
“[I was] very close to the front of the stalls, you call it orchestra [in the U.S. and Canada] … I was relatively young, and it was just mesmerizing to see something that dramatic, energetic and magical up close. And [to wonder] how do they do that, the magic of theatre, particularly in those days. I remember to this day [being] with my parents. We sat at the end as the theater emptied and almost couldn't move. There was a kind of magic of being completely stunned by it having never seen anything like that before.”
Peter does also have a particular fondness for legendary performer Tina Turner.
“I have seen her live a few times,” he says. “It is old school, a little bit ‘80s and dated, but I still like the music. I saw her last tour which was at the [old] NIA. I was lucky to go over and see her in Germany with the promoter when we were planning that tour. I also saw her way back in the ‘80s at Woburn Abbey. Princess Diana was in the crowd, and it was a huge outdoor amphitheater. She was energetic and as full on as ever, it was phenomenal.”
Peter with Simon at Shakespeare Distillery, with their four Herald Business awards, October 2022.
And then, there is Toby Baptist, Vice President of Operations for LasVegasTickets.com. He has his favorite musicians for sure, but the best live event he ever saw had nothing to do with music.
“The best live event that I have seen was the 2018 Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals,” he raves. “It was great from the standpoint of what it meant for the city of Las Vegas. It did not turn out in the Golden Knights’ favor over the course of the series, but it was the grandness of the events that the Golden Knights put on and the pregame things that they did for all of their games. Being able to see the Stanley Cup on the ice in Vegas, unfortunately, it was not for us as a winning team, but getting to see Alexander Ovechkin for the Capitals lift the Cup was a pretty cool thing as well. [It was] the first year in the relationship that we have with the team locally. It was just kind of that perfect storm for everyone.”
Toby, Candie, Gunnar and Griffin attend a game during the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural season.
As far as music is concerned, Toby was heavily influenced by his dad. “Living in Alaska, pretty much anywhere you go is a long drive. If you are going fishing or hunting, you are driving for quite a while, so [I would be] listening to classic rock with my dad on the drive … AC/DC, Motley Crue, Ted Nugent or something like that, those are all my dad's favorites. That is what I grew up listening to … I still listen to those today and I will be passing those on to my boys, so they enjoy them as well.”
In case you didn’t click and read more about your INTIX peers along the way, here are links to all of the feature stories referenced above. You can also check out the other stories we have published over past years via our INTIX “Getting to Know You” Interviews page.
Liz Kelly
Jeff Hecker
Lenore Schwartz Heller
Elizabeth Hess
Andrew Douglas
Peter Monks
Toby Baptist
If there is someone you would like to see profiled in a future story, or if you would like to be interviewed yourself, please share your recommendations with the INTIX Access editorial team at media@intix.org.
Tags: Leadership