Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
MACC attacks
the concert scene
Honolulu reaps rewards
By Tim Ryan
from Maui Arts and
Cultural Center
Star-BulletinThe wave of recognition for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center started building two years ago, when Pearl Jam finished a week of rehearsals.
It hasn't crested yet.
MACC last year was the site of some 2,500 events -- about seven a day -- ranging from hula classes and art exhibits to concerts with artists like Sting and Bonnie Raitt, to weekly showings of films on the state's largest movie screen after IMAX. Since MACC opened its doors, it's served more than a million people, and what's been good for Maui has also been good for Oahu arts lovers thanks to a symbiotic relationship that has developed among promoters.
Some Oahu residents have even begun traveling to Maui for performances.
"The choice was Sting inside the Blaisdell Arena with 8,000 people or the (MACC's) outdoor amphitheater," said Tracy Jackson, of Kahala. "My husband and I decided to spend the extra money to see him in a much more pleasant environment."
And it's not just patrons who enjoy the environment. "The Zen of Maui is known around the world," said Art Vento, MACC's general manager since it opened in 1994."Maui offers so many wonderful things, from great golf to great surf; artists like performing in a place like that."
One reason Pearl Jam chose Maui to rehearse for its first world tour in four years is simply because Eddie Vedder wanted to surf there, said Vento. Then, Vedder attended an event at the MACC and liked what he saw.
After a week of rehearsals in the MACC's McCoy Theatre, referred to as the "black box theater," Pearl Jam performed two quickly sold out concerts in the 5,000-person capacity Alexander & Baldwin Amphitheater.
Launching one of the music scene's biggest alternative tours on Maui "was a very Pearl Jam kind of thing to do," Vento said.
And it captured the attention of promoters, artists, and the media, including MTV and Rolling stone magazine, which ran a two-page article on Pearl Jam's concerts under the headline "Maui Wowie."
"What began to circulate through the grapevine was that (MACC) is a great experience for major acts like Pearl Jam," said Vento, who was also project manager for the center when construction began on the $32 million complex in 1992.
Since the Pearl Jam concerts, MACC has hosted dozens of major acts, including B.B. King, the Beach Boys, Natalie Merchant, Bob Dylan, No Doubt, Jimmy Cliff, Bush, Ziggy Marley and Carlos Santana. The Foo Fighters will perform there Aug. 1, following the band's Honolulu show. Hiroshima and singer Roger Whittaker will perform there in September and Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak dance company will be there in October. Like Pearl Jam, Bonnie Raitt avoided Honolulu completely.
After Kenny Loggins performed at the Waikiki Shell with the Honolulu Symphony's Pops orchestra last year, the singer traveled to the MACC to lead a discussion on love and interpersonal relationships because, he said, "Maui is slower paced, where people have more time to to really contemplate these things. And I love Maui."
Performances are accommodated in three main performing theaters: the state-of-the-art 1,200-seat Castle Theater; the 300-seat McCoy Studio Theater, and the outdoor Amphitheater, where most of the rock acts perform.
The MACC is a private, non-profit organization. Half of its annual $3 million budget comes from donations; the rest from earned income, including ticket sales. The MACC's fee is based on a percentage of the gross -- between 7.5 to 10 percent depending on the event.
There are other reasons for MACC's popularity. Maui is blessed with dozens of corporate events that often feature top performers; the center also is involved in what Vento calls "block booking."
"There are several venues around the state and if you can give an artist four dates instead of one, with the venues sharing some expenses, then the cost of the performances goes down," Vento said. "Block booking is a good way for the arts and non-profit world to figure out a way to lower expenses."
Block booking makes MACC an option because trying to book a major act like Sting alone would be far too expensive, Vento said.
Vento and company were able to snag Sting because he was coming to Hawaii for a corporate performance for Compaq on the Big Island. The singer would also perform on Oahu, then Maui, in a cooperative promotion between Golden Voice and House of Blues.
The $75 ticket for Sting's MACC appearance was the most expensive and fastest selling show in the center's history.
Vento said Hawaii is like a "big net fisherman in the middle of the Pacific trying to catch artists on their way to or from Asia."
"Anything that swims by for any reason, we try to figure out if we have the right bait to nab them," he said.
The center does have some obvious limitations: venue size and a relatively small population. Stadium shows like the Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson are too large for the outdoor amphitheater.
"A show that's more about musicianship than staging is perfect for us," Vento said. "If it plays the Waikiki Shell, Hawaii Theatre, or Blaisdell Arena, it'll work here."
With Maui's 110,000 population it would be too expensive to bring in a Broadway musical like "Phantom of the Opera" or "Miss Saigon," Vento said.
"Chorus Line" did five sold-out shows a few years ago at the center and Vento hopes to get "Stomp" to play here.
Mikhail Baryshnikov and company agreed to perform in the center for two Maui-only concerts. A MACC member who knows the dancer made the initial contact, Vento said.
"And he loves to play golf," Vento said.
Click for online
calendars and events.
