Not every town is tickled pink to have Red Light Management get involved in a project. Coran Capshaw’s company won a $120,000 contract in April to conduct a feasibility study for a riverside amphitheater in Roanoke. If built, Red Light has the option to manage it. But The Roanoke Times this week is taking the idea of a Roanoke amphitheater to task with a series of articles and an editorial that looks at the failures of a similar venture in Portsmouth, Virginia (unrelated to Red Light), where performers are selling only about 55 percent of the tickets they would sell in other markets.
“Portsmouth’s performance ought to serve as a cautionary tale,” reads a recent editorial. “Before Roanoke commits millions of dollars to build an amphitheater—regardless of its location—it better make sure that an outdoor concert venue is a top priority. If so, the city needs to get it right.”
Roanoke city leaders have been deeply divided on the prospects of an amphitheater, both in terms of location and cost, and it became a campaign issue in elections that took place last week.
The Roanoke Times ain’t too jazzed to have Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management at the helm of an amphitheater feasibility study in that town. And some city leaders ain’t too thrilled about an amphitheater, period, no matter who’s running it.