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’re actually spearheading the effort to save the Raymond Theatre and
have been a consultant on several similar projects. Why is it important that we save
historic theaters in general?
GZ: We will never see these type venues built again and they are being demolished at
an alarming rate. Venues in the 1920’s and 1930’s were built opulently. The
interiors of these theaters are sometimes Egyptian, Moorish, Spanish, etc. Others have
waterfalls and interior fountains. Most are breathtaking to just visit. If a community is
lucky enough to have at least one historic theater in their city, it can become the
catalyst for an entire downtown development. They can be revitalized into nightclubs,
concert venues or performing arts centers. However, once lost, they can never be rebuilt
again, at any cost. It is sad to see our last remnants of our cultural history torn down
all over the US. I found, having the blessing to have spent 10 years with the Raymond
Theatre (Perkins Palace), that more people than not commented on how magical it was to
perform in such a historic place. They are the last treasures of our cultural history that
we should work hard to protect for future generations.
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