ST. LOUIS – Oak View Group (OVG) today announced the creation of its national Theater Alliance, and Stifel Theatre has joined the inaugural roster of 39 marque theaters and performing arts venues in 18 markets across North America that will benefit from collective buying power, routing of non-traditional content, sponsorship opportunities, industry best practices and resources, and shared proceeds from an annual fundraising gala.
OVG, the global venue development, advisory, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries, will announce the inaugural members of the Theater Alliance at the Association for Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference Opening Plenary Session on Friday, January 13. In addition to Stifel Theatre, other members include:
- ACL Live at Moody Theater (Austin, TX)
- AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas TX)
- Beacon Theatre, Theater at MSG, and Radio City Music Hall (New York, NY)
- Boch Center (Boston, MA)
- The Chicago Theatre (Chicago, IL)
- First Interstate Center (Spokane, WA)
- Fox Theatre (Detroit, MI)
- Kimmel Center (Philadelphia, PA)
- Loew’s Jersey Theater - opening 2025 (Jersey City, NJ)
- Pabst Theater Group (Milwaukee, WI)
- Paramount Theatre (Denver, CO)
- Paramount Theatre (Oakland, CA)
- Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Portland’5 Centers for the Arts (Portland, OR)
- Ryman Auditorium & Grand Ole Opry House (Nashville, TN)
- Segerstrom Center for the Arts (Costa Mesa, CA)
- Tulsa Performing Arts Center (Tulsa, OK)
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“We are thrilled that the iconic Stifel Theatre is a founding member of the OVG Theater Alliance,” said Todd Mitchell, Vice President and General Manager of Stifel Theatre. “We look forward to the innovation and collaboration that will come from working with so many incredible performing arts venues across the country and furthering the diverse array of programming that the restored Stifel Theatre has brought to St. Louis audiences since reopening over a decade ago.”
To give member theaters and performing arts centers a competitive edge within their markets, the Theater Alliance will help drive unique, exclusive, and traditionally mainstream content to its member venues; for example, intimate acoustic performances by some of the top names in entertainment.
OVG has hired music industry professional Noël Mirhadi as director of the Theater Alliance, tasked with building, launching, and growing the group. A longtime music agent, most recently at United Talent Agency (UTA), Mirhadi has spent her career focused on booking Adult Contemporary artists into venues nationwide. She brings a depth of knowledge and relationships as an expert in the world of performing arts and seated theaters. Additionally, she brings experience in the brand partnerships division, having paired UTA clients with top brands, products, and platforms. She previously worked in the Performing Arts divisions of APA and The Agency Group, which was acquired by UTA in 2015.
“Theaters like Stifel Theatre serve as the heartbeat of their community. I understand and appreciate this sentiment having started as a musician and having gone on to dedicate my professional life and career to music and the arts,”Mirhadi said. “I’m thrilled to have joined Oak View Group as we create and launch our new Theater Alliance, which will support these critically important institutions and help them continue to thrive. We’ve put together a collective of premier venues that operate in strong markets and within even stronger communities – just as we see with Stifel Theatre in St. Louis. The Alliance will allow us to tangibly support their continued growth and success.”
The Theater Alliance is modeled after OVG’s Arena & Stadium Alliance, a collection of the top 38 venues in North America that provides a united platform for booking, content development, procurement, and sponsorship sales opportunities.
Joe Giordano, OVG vice president overseeing the Theater Alliance and Arena & Stadium Alliance, said: “The demand for the Theater Alliance was certainly amplified coming out of the pandemic. Performing arts venues across the nation, which are traditionally costly to operate, all face similar challenges. The Alliance, under Noël’s outstanding leadership, is eager to continue building the network of top venues in first tier markets to help them meet and exceed their programming and budgetary goals, and bring opportunities to the table that they didn’t even know were possible.”
“The Theater Alliance is yet another way OVG uniquely serves our industry,” Chris Granger, president of OVG360, said. These theaters represent the best of the best. They are committed to work in concert not only to improve their operations and overall guest experience, but, perhaps more importantly, to creatively elevate the arts and attract a new generation of theatergoers from within their communities….because we are all better when the arts thrive.”
About Stifel Theatre
Stifel Theatre is a historic, 3100 seat theater in the heart of downtown St. Louis. Originally opened in 1934 as the Kiel Opera House, the stage welcomed some of entertainment’s greatest performers, including Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones before closing in 1991. A $78.7 million restoration of the facility began in 2010, restoring this historical gem to its original splendor, while installing state-of-the-art upgrades. The venue officially reopened on October 1, 2011. Stifel Theatre is operated by a joint venture made up of the St. Louis Blues ownership group, headed by Blues Chairman Tom Stillman, along with Chris McKee, Principal and Chief Development Officer for Clayco, and his brother Joe McKee, CEO of Paric Corporation. Naming rights for the theatre were sold in July 2018 to Stifel Financial Corp.
About Theater Alliance
The Theater Alliance, a national collective of marque theaters and performing arts venues in top-tier markets across North America, was founded by global sports and entertainment company Oak View Group. Members gain a competitive edge within their markets, benefitting from collective buying power, routing of non-traditional content, sponsorship opportunities, industry best practices and resources, and shared proceeds from annual fundraising efforts. The Theater Alliance is committed to helping theaters improve operations, enhance the overall guest experience, and creatively elevate the arts within local communities. For more information, visit: OVG Theater Alliance.
About Oak View Group
Oak View Group (OVG) is a global sports and entertainment company founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015. OVG is focused on being a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries and currently has eight divisions across five global offices (Los Angeles, New York, London, Philadelphia, and Toronto). OVG oversees the operations of Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY, Moody Center in Austin, TX, Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, CA, as well as arena development projects for Co-op Live in Manchester, UK; and projects for Arena São Paulo in São Paulo, BZ; CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, ON; a New Arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, NV; and a New Arena in Cardiff, Wales. More information at OakViewGroup.com, and follow OVG on ?Facebook,?Instagram,?Twitter, and?LinkedIn.
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