Backstage Spotlight™
Concert Promoter Gina Zamparelli
Gina Zamparelli has worked in the live concert
industry for 23 years and was the first woman in the Los Angeles market to produce
concerts with national-level artists. Shows she produced at the legendary Perkins Palace
are still talked about in rock circles, including a Guns ‘n’ Roses show credited
amongst GNR fans as being the one that put that band on the map. Gina is active in
historic preservation and has been a theater financial consultant for 13 theaters around
the US. She heads Friends of the Raymond Theatre, a non-profit group dedicated to saving
the former vaudeville theater (built in 1921) that was known in the 80’s &
90’s as the concert venue Perkins Palace (which Gina’s company managed for more
than a decade). Once her preservation work with the Raymond Theatre comes to a close, she
will start producing concerts in LA once again.
MBADC: You were also a venue manager. How did you get into that?
GZ: I was producing concerts at Perkins Palace. I realized at the
time there wasn’t a manager at the venue. The owner gave me the key to "go
figure out how to turn the lights on" in the venue, for my first show. I remember
asking if he had a manager, he said "no". After my second concert at Perkins
Palace, I asked if I could manage the venue for him. He said "yes". I had no
formal training at the time, but it actually was very simple for me and not that much
different from promoting shows--easier in fact! In time, I took courses in venue
management and continue to keep up with all the changes in the venue management industry.
It was a great learning experience to be the promoter renting the venue, and then being
able to wear another hat and being the one to rent the venue to promoters. It gave me a
more well-rounded knowledge of the live entertainment business.
MBADC: What qualities in your opinion, make a good venue manager?
GZ: As I stated previously, some of the same skills that apply for
concert promotion overlap with venue management. But I would never go so far as to suggest
you could take on venue management without formal training. There are a lot of particulars
that are part of the job including how to attract an exclusive from a promoter, audience
safety issues, ABC regulations, dealing with the City, police and fire to corporate
sponsorship and so much more. Outside of the formal training, I always say, "a venue
is only as successful as the person/company that’s operating it". A venue is a
product; you need to be a good promoter to sell the venue and the shows.
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