October 4, 2024 • 16 mins
Craig has worked in the arts in the United Kingdom, Australia and now, the United States. His
current role is in Cleveland, Ohio as the President & CEO of Playhouse Square, a unique
collection of 12 venues presenting an impressive season of performances and concerts as well
as hosting eight resident companies.
Craig was previously in London as CEO of the Royal Albert Hall, one of the world’s most wellknown and busiest performance venues.
Prior to this, he was CEO of Opera Australia, the country’s largest performing arts organization.
Craig also worked in London for nine years as CEO of English National Ballet; COO of
Raymond Gubbay Ltd, a commercial promoter of classical music; and also consulted to the
London 2012 Olympic Games on cultural presentations.
Before leaving Australia, Craig was Deputy General Manager of Sydney Theatre Company, and
worked with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as General Manager of Image, Special Events
and Olympic Arts Festivals - a role that involved the development and delivery of a
comprehensive, substantial, and successful four-year cultural program.
Craig has served on the boards of LIFT - the London International Festival of Theatre; The
Exhibition Road Cultural Group and English National Ballet School. He is currently on the board
of d&b audiotechnik, a leading manufacturer of speakers for the entertainment industry; C4RD –
Centre for Recent Drawing, London; and the University of London. In 2015,
Craig was awarded an AM (Australia Medal) for services to the performing arts in Australia and is now a Global Ambassador for Advance Australia.
current role is in Cleveland, Ohio as the President & CEO of Playhouse Square, a unique
collection of 12 venues presenting an impressive season of performances and concerts as well
as hosting eight resident companies.
Craig was previously in London as CEO of the Royal Albert Hall, one of the world’s most wellknown and busiest performance venues.
Prior to this, he was CEO of Opera Australia, the country’s largest performing arts organization.
Craig also worked in London for nine years as CEO of English National Ballet; COO of
Raymond Gubbay Ltd, a commercial promoter of classical music; and also consulted to the
London 2012 Olympic Games on cultural presentations.
Before leaving Australia, Craig was Deputy General Manager of Sydney Theatre Company, and
worked with the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as General Manager of Image, Special Events
and Olympic Arts Festivals - a role that involved the development and delivery of a
comprehensive, substantial, and successful four-year cultural program.
Craig has served on the boards of LIFT - the London International Festival of Theatre; The
Exhibition Road Cultural Group and English National Ballet School. He is currently on the board
of d&b audiotechnik, a leading manufacturer of speakers for the entertainment industry; C4RD –
Centre for Recent Drawing, London; and the University of London. In 2015,
Craig was awarded an AM (Australia Medal) for services to the performing arts in Australia and is now a Global Ambassador for Advance Australia.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a special edition of CEOs you Should Know
on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Keith Hotchkiss and we're.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Proud today to introduce you to the CEO of the
world's second largest performing arts district. It's Playout Square in Cleveland, Ohio,
and it's new Ish. CEO Craig Hassle talks with us
today about living in Australia, London and Cleveland and while
the future for Playoff Square and Live theater is as
bright as the chandelier on Euclid Avenue. So, Craig, you're
(00:27):
not from this area and you came to Cleveland to
be part of this incredible organization known as Playout Square.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Can you tell us?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And I'm sure we could spend all day talking about
how incredible it is, But just from your perspective, what
makes this space so incredibly unique and beautiful and such
a big piece of Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Well, first of all, I resent that you as I'm
not from Cleveland, Ohio. How can you possibly say that?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well, I did a little research on your biography, otherwise
I would never have known, know right, I.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Fit right in. No, You're spot on.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I came from London, but I'm actually Australian, so it's
people say, now, so where are you from. I don't
know whether to say I'm from London or I'm from Sydney,
because I fin they.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Both sound so cool.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They both did. They sound cool, They're both lovely places.
So I didn't. I didn't really plan to come to Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
And when they tracked me down and said how about
this job, first of all, I was like, seriously, do
you think I would leave London, England to move to Cleveland, Ohio?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Had you even heard of Cleveland, Ohio?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Well, honestly, I only bad things.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
No.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Well, I had no preconceptions about Cleveland. I hadn't heard
a Playhouse Square. I thought Cleveland was near San Diego,
which obviously was wrong. I didn't know about the lake,
and I didn't know anything. I was completely clueless. What
convinced me to come here though the theaters, which I'm
sure everyone listening has hopefully been to Playhouse Square. The
theaters are phenomenal. The fact that they are in such
(01:52):
immaculate condition, there are so many of them in such
a concentrated little area of the downtown is phenomenal. So
it was that, and honestly it was the attitude of
the trustees that the board trustees at Playoff Square what
I call glass half full. Everything's possible. Any idea, it's like, yeah,
that's good, how to try. Why don't we get that
to try? It could be a terrible idea. Maybe it's good,
(02:13):
but we'll try. And those two things were what convinced
me to come.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Why do you think that theater, even with all technology
and every other CGI, why does theater resonate with people?
In twenty twenty four twenty twenty five, as were recording.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Sure, well that's a leading question because I happen to
know you're a theater lover.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I am. I know my daughters love the theater.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
It's something really special to us, partly because of Playoff Square.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah, well, we grapple with this all the time. And
actually I was during COVID. I was running the roll
Albert Hall in London, which is mainly known for live
concerts and not not for theater, and we did lots
of streaming staff and so and so on, and I
think similarly here in the US. But coming out of COVID,
we if we people weren't convinced to the power of
the live experience, we were after COVID, you know, being
(03:02):
in a theater with live performers on stage and live
musicians in the pit, there's nothing like it. If that
Friesen of the live is something you cannot replicate with
AI or with streaming or film for that matter.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Where do you think that the idea for the growth
of playoff Square germinates?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Because you've got this theater district that was sort of
in disrepair in the seventies, the city rallied around it built,
and you've acquired different theaters and it had different companies
come in. What's the idea then to continue to expand
the space because now you have an apartment complex there,
you're remodeling another one. You know, playoff Square can become
a true multifaceted corporation.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Sure, I mean I'd like to say there was a
fifty year strategy to strategically acquire certain properties in theaters
and renovate them and so ands on, But it's not
the case. Art Falco deserves all the credit for this.
I mean he over many decades acquired buildings, theaters, districts,
all sorts of things and creative playhouse square. So I
think the challenge now is how do you make that
(04:07):
collection of theaters and apartment buildings and hotels a real
destination and a district. And I think the answer is
you have a critical mass of bars, restaurants, things to do,
holiday activities, weekend things on the plaza, all of which
we're planning to do now. So that's that's the next iteration,
is to go from a collection of theaters to a
true district and destination.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And I'm sure you know the statistics because we talked
to people from all the time from Cleveland who say,
have not been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
which is probably what Cleveland's most known for outside of it,
How many people in the Cleveland area have actually not
seen a play and playoffs question?
Speaker 4 (04:45):
I don't know, although I do know that the impact
of Playhouse Square is quite phenomenal. So the economic impact
of Playhouse Square is about three hundred and sixty million
dollars per annum, which is more than the Rock Hall,
the Art Museum, and the Orchestra combined. Wow, So we
I didn't know this when I came. It's hugely impactful.
And just another stat which is fascinating is we have
(05:07):
season tickets for the Key Bank Broadway series and people
that buy a whole package of tickets. The number of
those people is forty four thousand, which is the highest
number of season ticket holders in the country. Wow, more
than any other theater.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
In the country. And that's Cleveland, Ohio. It's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Why has the community supported these theaters so much? Why
is why Cleveland? Why do you think the residents in
the city and the business owners have supported this district.
I mean, it's pretty easy to see when you go there,
But why do you think that happened?
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Yeah, well, that's a good question. It's hard to answer
that succinctly. But I would say the first thing is
the theaters themselves, which are a vestige of one hundred
years ago. You know, those theaters are built in the
nineteen twenties when Cleveland was the fifth largest city in
the country. So in a big city like we were
in those days, you had to have a big bank,
a big library, a big city hall, and you had
to have theaters, and so we had them. They went
(05:55):
into distripute in the seventies. They were then restored, and
I think it's now a combination of the raw materials,
the assets of the theaters. But you've got a really
cultural population. Cleveland is hungry for culture, whether it's us,
or it's the Rock Hole, or it's going to an
exhibition or an orchestra concert. The consumption of culture in
this city is disproportionately high compared to a lot of
(06:17):
even European cities. It's remarkable.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So looking to the future, there's the many theaters. I
believe we're at eight, is that correct?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Twelve? Well, weven growing.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Look at me, I need to be doing better research.
I don't have my research in front of me. It's
just so much fun to talk to you without a
piece of paper. But some of them will probably need
to have some renovations, right there's going to be capital improvements.
You've got some growth up growth plans. Talk a little
bit about what the needs are and how people can
contribute to keep these gems as humming as they are
(06:50):
right now.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Sure, So the good news is the theaters themselves are
in pretty good shape. They were renovated about five or
ten years ago, so the new seats, new equipment, backstage,
new vestroom. So I was very relieved to arrive to
find renovated theaters with Mico bathrooms, great.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
That was great.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
However, we've just bought the old Greyhound bus station. We
just bought the building beside the bus station, which is
going to become rehearsal studios. So there's a lot a
lot coming down the pipeline for us to do and
we're going to need to raise a lot of money
for that. But at the end of all that, we're
going to have a whole district of bars, restaurants, music spaces,
cabaret spaces, jazz clubs.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
All of this is on the horizon.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
So that's expensive, but gosh, it's very very attractive and
very worth funding.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
There's been a lot of talk about that Greyhound bus
station art deco building. Is that where you're talking about
for jazz clubs and those kinds of things or to
be decided?
Speaker 4 (07:40):
I can't possibly say, but yes, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I like what you're going with there. We're talking with
Craig Hassel, the CEO of Playoff Square. Craig has graciously
joined us on this podcast. In a time when theater
is making a renaissance, if you will, what about young
people getting involved? Right, because we don't that there are
still theater productions in high schools and even junior highs
(08:05):
and middle schools. How can they get involved in Playhouse Square?
How can they and their parents come down and be
part of this excite great question.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Well, we do program for very young people. We had
Blue the other day, which apparently Blue is Australian. I
didn't realize that. Oh yeah, she, it's a she. She
is an Australian dog. I mean you know that because
you have children.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I do. Yeah, So we do lots of program.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
We have Poor Patrol and all these weird and wonderful
children's shows. But for young people, we also do a
thing every year called the Dazzle Awards and the Dazzle Awards.
I was blown away by this. Every year about I
think it's upwards of twenty or thirty high schools do
a high school musical and then we judge them, and
the winners come to Playhouse Square for it's like the
(08:43):
Tony Awards for young people, and there's a red carpet
and all the girls dress up, and so do the boys,
and it sort of replaces their prom in some situation.
It's phenomenal and we judge it all and the best
actor and the best actress then go to New York
to be part of what's called the Jimmy Awards, which
run by Broadway, and so it's a direct pipeline for
these young people to Broadways. So young people are already
(09:04):
very engaged at Playhouse Square at that senior school level,
which is brilliant.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Is there possibilities of being more ingrained in the arts
culture like ballet companies and I know, for example, you
require Great Lakes Theater Festival a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
What other performances might play our Square hosts?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Sure? Well, I mean happily.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I mean when I started, we had seven resident companies.
Now it's eight. So on the resident companies, Cleveland Ballet
is one, they're about to open Dracula Ye Playoff Square.
We have Dance Cleveland. We have the Tric Jazz Festival
that's a resident company, Great Lakes Theater, as you mentioned,
Cleveland Playhouse, and just recently City Club has moved down
to Playhouse Square in a new build which is a
(09:43):
great building. That's a free speech forum. They do incredible
stuff every Friday, do a forum and so they're a
resident company. So we're absolutely blessed to have all these
resident companies producing shows and events for play our Square
as well.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
The twenty twenty four twenty twenty five Key Bank Way
series is underway. Can you talk a little bit about
what you're most excited about. Name some of the show's coming. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
So next week, a week after next rather we open
Neil Diamond A Beautiful Noise.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
So it's a whole show of Neil Diamond's life. But
before that, actually a quick plug, we're doing a ballet
called Strictly Gershwin. So we bring a ballet here from
Tulsa with Cleveland Ballet and having a forty eight piece
jazz band on stage, a big band with jazz sections
and rhythm sections and all sorts, and it's a whole
night of the music with George Gershwin. So that's that's
a wild card thing for us to do. But it's
incredibly popular.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
So that's an advance of the Broadway season. Then the
Broadway season kicks off. There are seven shows. I shouldn't
say my favorite, but I'm going to give a plug
to Shucked. Okay, Shucked is a musical about corn.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I know, well, it should resonate for all islands.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Right, that's right, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I've heard of them.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
It's very funny. It's what I call it. It's said
in Iowa. It is about it's about corn growers. It
sounds ridiculous. It's so funny, it's laugh out loud funny.
I had the best night when I saw it on Broadway.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Shucked is Shucked the musical and the Playoff Square dot org.
You can become a member of the key Bank Broadway
series as well. And again if you have not, if
you're one of the few Clevelanders who has not enjoyed
the Playoff Square Theater district, it's a gem. And anybody
outside of Cleveland who visits, we take them down there
and they're just enamored with the place, right And it's
going to be decorated for Christmas soon coming up as
(11:28):
your favorite fundraiser, the jump Back Ball.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And when tickets gone sale for a jump Back Ball
this year?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, So they haven't decided the theme yet.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
It goes on about the next month or so, sell
out very quickly, very quickly, And the theme this year
was villains.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
And I didn't know anything.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
So I said to one of the stuff what should
I what should I go dressed as? And I said, okay, Craig,
you have to go as a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Oh,
my guys, I went as Ben Russell Russell Bert, what's his.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Name, Roethlisberger. That's pretty good villain.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I went as him.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
And I walked into the Playoff Square and I saw
two of my security guards.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I said, guys, I may need some help, and they said,
mister Hassel, you're on your own.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Well, you know, Ben Roethlisberger did villainize Cleveland football fans
for many years. We're talking with Craig Hassle, CEO of
Playhouse Square here in Cleveland. One of the things we
talk about on this podcast is general business conditions like
the city of Cleveland and some of the things that
they're doing to improve safety and make sure everybody feels
(12:23):
welcome downtown. Can you talk a little bit about I
know crime is downtown is down, and I know that
downtown is a safe place, but not everybody feels that way.
Can you talk a little bit about why someone should
feel safe coming downtown to Playoff Square?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Sure, and you're right.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
The important thing to say, first of all is it's
the perception rather than the reality.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Downtown is safe.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I think people think from maybe ten years ago it
wasn't safe and so on.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
It really is safe.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
And the good thing is it's one of the mayor's
absolute priority, so we're in sync with the mayor. The
mayor wants to make sure that downtown is clean, safe,
secure and well lit. And because we control our whole district,
we make sure a playoff square is so it totally
is well.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
With the world's largest chandelier being part of that lighting,
I think that's something really exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Craig, how do you as a CEO?
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean, you have an incredibly important job that has
a lot of moving parts, and plus there's performances at night,
so your job does not end at five o'clock. P
Can you talk a little bit about how you, you know,
relax and how you decompress and distress in you know,
a time when it's very challenging too for people to
(13:26):
find time to relax these days.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Sure, I guess it's fair to say that we are
a nighttime economy, so most things that I do in
terms of entertaining folks is at night. So I'm going
to have a day job of course as well, so
often have very long days. But you know, the key
for me is CEO, and I have to say this
is the least stressful job I've had for about twenty years. Wow, Okay,
it really is because I've got a great team.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
If you have people that you rely on who are really.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Good at what they do, whether it's in building security
or programming shows, or finance or raising money, which all
of what you have at Playoff Square, You're going to
have a great ride. And I've got the most incredible team.
We just announced a new COO. We came from Charlotte
with a new guy from Crisco was CO and joined
us in January, Nate Kelly. So we've got a really
good team. And that's that's the key in my in
(14:12):
my mind.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Okay, So there's some incredible shows coming, some non theater shows.
I saw Neil deGrasse Tyson yeah when he came, and
that was unorthodox for Playhouse Square. But I think there's
gonna be more of those on the horizon there.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
It's a good thing you mentioned.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
I mean, comedy is growing and growing, and it was
a real splurge of comedy when the writer's strike was
on last year because people who woul normally write SNL
and someone were available, so people like Tina Fey, Amy, Poehla,
Jerry Springer, they all toured.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Jerry Springer, Jerry Seifeld. I think Jerry Springer is dead.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah he was one one point.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Actually a friend of mine wrote an opera called Jerry
Springer the Opera.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I do remember that.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Yeah, it was quite controversial. So comedians are on the
are on the rise. Chris Rock was here recently, and
so it's it's a really great thing for us because
actually they're very low maintenance. They arrived, they have few
tech requirements. They stand a glass of water or a beer,
do the show and go right.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Playhouse Square dot org.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Please come downtown to Cleveland's incredible theater district. Some of
the most important plays in the world come through here.
It's as world class as our orchestra and our art
museum and as famous as our Rock Hall. And we
just need everybody to come down and enjoy it and
be part of it because it really is.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
A gem for downtown Cleveland. Craig, anything else you wanted
to add.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
At the end of the podcast today just to support
what you said just then, I mean, come down, bring
the family, spend some time, Come and see a show.
Support the resident companies as well. Don't just come to
broad Broadway shows are amazing, but also come to Cleveland Playhouse,
Great Lakes City Club, the Ballet.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
I mean, it's all terrific.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
This is important work that you're doing and important that
we see the fruits of your labor because it is growing.
The empire is growing. It's going to be fun to
watch Playhouse Square from just two blocks down.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
The street here at iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So Craig Hastle, CEO of Playoff Square, thank you for
joining us on CEOs.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
You should know today my pleasure and.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
This been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know today's show was
produced by Bob KATESID.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I'm Keith Hotchkiss.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
We'll see you next time.
This is a special edition of CEOs you Should Know
on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
I'm Keith Hotchkiss and we're.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Proud today to introduce you to the CEO of the
world's second largest performing arts district. It's Playout Square in Cleveland, Ohio,
and it's new Ish. CEO Craig Hassle talks with us
today about living in Australia, London and Cleveland and while
the future for Playoff Square and Live theater is as
bright as the chandelier on Euclid Avenue. So, Craig, you're
(00:27):
not from this area and you came to Cleveland to
be part of this incredible organization known as Playout Square.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Can you tell us?
Speaker 1 (00:40):
And I'm sure we could spend all day talking about
how incredible it is, But just from your perspective, what
makes this space so incredibly unique and beautiful and such
a big piece of Cleveland.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Well, first of all, I resent that you as I'm
not from Cleveland, Ohio. How can you possibly say that?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well, I did a little research on your biography, otherwise
I would never have known, know right, I.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Fit right in. No, You're spot on.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
I came from London, but I'm actually Australian, so it's
people say, now, so where are you from. I don't
know whether to say I'm from London or I'm from Sydney,
because I fin they.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Both sound so cool.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They both did. They sound cool, They're both lovely places.
So I didn't. I didn't really plan to come to Cleveland.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
And when they tracked me down and said how about
this job, first of all, I was like, seriously, do
you think I would leave London, England to move to Cleveland, Ohio?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Had you even heard of Cleveland, Ohio?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Well, honestly, I only bad things.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
No.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Well, I had no preconceptions about Cleveland. I hadn't heard
a Playhouse Square. I thought Cleveland was near San Diego,
which obviously was wrong. I didn't know about the lake,
and I didn't know anything. I was completely clueless. What
convinced me to come here though the theaters, which I'm
sure everyone listening has hopefully been to Playhouse Square. The
theaters are phenomenal. The fact that they are in such
(01:52):
immaculate condition, there are so many of them in such
a concentrated little area of the downtown is phenomenal. So
it was that, and honestly it was the attitude of
the trustees that the board trustees at Playoff Square what
I call glass half full. Everything's possible. Any idea, it's like, yeah,
that's good, how to try. Why don't we get that
to try? It could be a terrible idea. Maybe it's good,
(02:13):
but we'll try. And those two things were what convinced
me to come.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Why do you think that theater, even with all technology
and every other CGI, why does theater resonate with people?
In twenty twenty four twenty twenty five, as were recording.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Sure, well that's a leading question because I happen to
know you're a theater lover.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
I am. I know my daughters love the theater.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
It's something really special to us, partly because of Playoff Square.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Yeah, well, we grapple with this all the time. And
actually I was during COVID. I was running the roll
Albert Hall in London, which is mainly known for live
concerts and not not for theater, and we did lots
of streaming staff and so and so on, and I
think similarly here in the US. But coming out of COVID,
we if we people weren't convinced to the power of
the live experience, we were after COVID, you know, being
(03:02):
in a theater with live performers on stage and live
musicians in the pit, there's nothing like it. If that
Friesen of the live is something you cannot replicate with
AI or with streaming or film for that matter.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Where do you think that the idea for the growth
of playoff Square germinates?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Right?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Because you've got this theater district that was sort of
in disrepair in the seventies, the city rallied around it built,
and you've acquired different theaters and it had different companies
come in. What's the idea then to continue to expand
the space because now you have an apartment complex there,
you're remodeling another one. You know, playoff Square can become
a true multifaceted corporation.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
Sure, I mean I'd like to say there was a
fifty year strategy to strategically acquire certain properties in theaters
and renovate them and so ands on, But it's not
the case. Art Falco deserves all the credit for this.
I mean he over many decades acquired buildings, theaters, districts,
all sorts of things and creative playhouse square. So I
think the challenge now is how do you make that
(04:07):
collection of theaters and apartment buildings and hotels a real
destination and a district. And I think the answer is
you have a critical mass of bars, restaurants, things to do,
holiday activities, weekend things on the plaza, all of which
we're planning to do now. So that's that's the next iteration,
is to go from a collection of theaters to a
true district and destination.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And I'm sure you know the statistics because we talked
to people from all the time from Cleveland who say,
have not been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
which is probably what Cleveland's most known for outside of it,
How many people in the Cleveland area have actually not
seen a play and playoffs question?
Speaker 4 (04:45):
I don't know, although I do know that the impact
of Playhouse Square is quite phenomenal. So the economic impact
of Playhouse Square is about three hundred and sixty million
dollars per annum, which is more than the Rock Hall,
the Art Museum, and the Orchestra combined. Wow, So we
I didn't know this when I came. It's hugely impactful.
And just another stat which is fascinating is we have
(05:07):
season tickets for the Key Bank Broadway series and people
that buy a whole package of tickets. The number of
those people is forty four thousand, which is the highest
number of season ticket holders in the country. Wow, more
than any other theater.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
In the country. And that's Cleveland, Ohio. It's phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Why has the community supported these theaters so much? Why
is why Cleveland? Why do you think the residents in
the city and the business owners have supported this district.
I mean, it's pretty easy to see when you go there,
But why do you think that happened?
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Yeah, well, that's a good question. It's hard to answer
that succinctly. But I would say the first thing is
the theaters themselves, which are a vestige of one hundred
years ago. You know, those theaters are built in the
nineteen twenties when Cleveland was the fifth largest city in
the country. So in a big city like we were
in those days, you had to have a big bank,
a big library, a big city hall, and you had
to have theaters, and so we had them. They went
(05:55):
into distripute in the seventies. They were then restored, and
I think it's now a combination of the raw materials,
the assets of the theaters. But you've got a really
cultural population. Cleveland is hungry for culture, whether it's us,
or it's the Rock Hole, or it's going to an
exhibition or an orchestra concert. The consumption of culture in
this city is disproportionately high compared to a lot of
(06:17):
even European cities. It's remarkable.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So looking to the future, there's the many theaters. I
believe we're at eight, is that correct?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Twelve? Well, weven growing.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Look at me, I need to be doing better research.
I don't have my research in front of me. It's
just so much fun to talk to you without a
piece of paper. But some of them will probably need
to have some renovations, right there's going to be capital improvements.
You've got some growth up growth plans. Talk a little
bit about what the needs are and how people can
contribute to keep these gems as humming as they are
(06:50):
right now.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Sure, So the good news is the theaters themselves are
in pretty good shape. They were renovated about five or
ten years ago, so the new seats, new equipment, backstage,
new vestroom. So I was very relieved to arrive to
find renovated theaters with Mico bathrooms, great.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
That was great.
Speaker 4 (07:06):
However, we've just bought the old Greyhound bus station. We
just bought the building beside the bus station, which is
going to become rehearsal studios. So there's a lot a
lot coming down the pipeline for us to do and
we're going to need to raise a lot of money
for that. But at the end of all that, we're
going to have a whole district of bars, restaurants, music spaces,
cabaret spaces, jazz clubs.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
All of this is on the horizon.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
So that's expensive, but gosh, it's very very attractive and
very worth funding.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
There's been a lot of talk about that Greyhound bus
station art deco building. Is that where you're talking about
for jazz clubs and those kinds of things or to
be decided?
Speaker 4 (07:40):
I can't possibly say, but yes, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I like what you're going with there. We're talking with
Craig Hassel, the CEO of Playoff Square. Craig has graciously
joined us on this podcast. In a time when theater
is making a renaissance, if you will, what about young
people getting involved? Right, because we don't that there are
still theater productions in high schools and even junior highs
(08:05):
and middle schools. How can they get involved in Playhouse Square?
How can they and their parents come down and be
part of this excite great question.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Well, we do program for very young people. We had
Blue the other day, which apparently Blue is Australian. I
didn't realize that. Oh yeah, she, it's a she. She
is an Australian dog. I mean you know that because
you have children.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
I do. Yeah, So we do lots of program.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
We have Poor Patrol and all these weird and wonderful
children's shows. But for young people, we also do a
thing every year called the Dazzle Awards and the Dazzle Awards.
I was blown away by this. Every year about I
think it's upwards of twenty or thirty high schools do
a high school musical and then we judge them, and
the winners come to Playhouse Square for it's like the
(08:43):
Tony Awards for young people, and there's a red carpet
and all the girls dress up, and so do the boys,
and it sort of replaces their prom in some situation.
It's phenomenal and we judge it all and the best
actor and the best actress then go to New York
to be part of what's called the Jimmy Awards, which
run by Broadway, and so it's a direct pipeline for
these young people to Broadways. So young people are already
(09:04):
very engaged at Playhouse Square at that senior school level,
which is brilliant.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Is there possibilities of being more ingrained in the arts
culture like ballet companies and I know, for example, you
require Great Lakes Theater Festival a few years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
What other performances might play our Square hosts?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Sure? Well, I mean happily.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I mean when I started, we had seven resident companies.
Now it's eight. So on the resident companies, Cleveland Ballet
is one, they're about to open Dracula Ye Playoff Square.
We have Dance Cleveland. We have the Tric Jazz Festival
that's a resident company, Great Lakes Theater, as you mentioned,
Cleveland Playhouse, and just recently City Club has moved down
to Playhouse Square in a new build which is a
(09:43):
great building. That's a free speech forum. They do incredible
stuff every Friday, do a forum and so they're a
resident company. So we're absolutely blessed to have all these
resident companies producing shows and events for play our Square
as well.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
The twenty twenty four twenty twenty five Key Bank Way
series is underway. Can you talk a little bit about
what you're most excited about. Name some of the show's coming. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
So next week, a week after next rather we open
Neil Diamond A Beautiful Noise.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
So it's a whole show of Neil Diamond's life. But
before that, actually a quick plug, we're doing a ballet
called Strictly Gershwin. So we bring a ballet here from
Tulsa with Cleveland Ballet and having a forty eight piece
jazz band on stage, a big band with jazz sections
and rhythm sections and all sorts, and it's a whole
night of the music with George Gershwin. So that's that's
a wild card thing for us to do. But it's
incredibly popular.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
So that's an advance of the Broadway season. Then the
Broadway season kicks off. There are seven shows. I shouldn't
say my favorite, but I'm going to give a plug
to Shucked. Okay, Shucked is a musical about corn.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I know, well, it should resonate for all islands.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Right, that's right, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I've heard of them.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
It's very funny. It's what I call it. It's said
in Iowa. It is about it's about corn growers. It
sounds ridiculous. It's so funny, it's laugh out loud funny.
I had the best night when I saw it on Broadway.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
It's great.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Shucked is Shucked the musical and the Playoff Square dot org.
You can become a member of the key Bank Broadway
series as well. And again if you have not, if
you're one of the few Clevelanders who has not enjoyed
the Playoff Square Theater district, it's a gem. And anybody
outside of Cleveland who visits, we take them down there
and they're just enamored with the place, right And it's
going to be decorated for Christmas soon coming up as
(11:28):
your favorite fundraiser, the jump Back Ball.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And when tickets gone sale for a jump Back Ball
this year?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, So they haven't decided the theme yet.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
It goes on about the next month or so, sell
out very quickly, very quickly, And the theme this year
was villains.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
And I didn't know anything.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
So I said to one of the stuff what should
I what should I go dressed as? And I said, okay, Craig,
you have to go as a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Oh,
my guys, I went as Ben Russell Russell Bert, what's his.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Name, Roethlisberger. That's pretty good villain.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
I went as him.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
And I walked into the Playoff Square and I saw
two of my security guards.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I said, guys, I may need some help, and they said,
mister Hassel, you're on your own.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Well, you know, Ben Roethlisberger did villainize Cleveland football fans
for many years. We're talking with Craig Hassle, CEO of
Playhouse Square here in Cleveland. One of the things we
talk about on this podcast is general business conditions like
the city of Cleveland and some of the things that
they're doing to improve safety and make sure everybody feels
(12:23):
welcome downtown. Can you talk a little bit about I
know crime is downtown is down, and I know that
downtown is a safe place, but not everybody feels that way.
Can you talk a little bit about why someone should
feel safe coming downtown to Playoff Square?
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Sure, and you're right.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
The important thing to say, first of all is it's
the perception rather than the reality.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Downtown is safe.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I think people think from maybe ten years ago it
wasn't safe and so on.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
It really is safe.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
And the good thing is it's one of the mayor's
absolute priority, so we're in sync with the mayor. The
mayor wants to make sure that downtown is clean, safe,
secure and well lit. And because we control our whole district,
we make sure a playoff square is so it totally
is well.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
With the world's largest chandelier being part of that lighting,
I think that's something really exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Craig, how do you as a CEO?
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean, you have an incredibly important job that has
a lot of moving parts, and plus there's performances at night,
so your job does not end at five o'clock. P
Can you talk a little bit about how you, you know,
relax and how you decompress and distress in you know,
a time when it's very challenging too for people to
(13:26):
find time to relax these days.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Sure, I guess it's fair to say that we are
a nighttime economy, so most things that I do in
terms of entertaining folks is at night. So I'm going
to have a day job of course as well, so
often have very long days. But you know, the key
for me is CEO, and I have to say this
is the least stressful job I've had for about twenty years. Wow, Okay,
it really is because I've got a great team.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
If you have people that you rely on who are really.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
Good at what they do, whether it's in building security
or programming shows, or finance or raising money, which all
of what you have at Playoff Square, You're going to
have a great ride. And I've got the most incredible team.
We just announced a new COO. We came from Charlotte
with a new guy from Crisco was CO and joined
us in January, Nate Kelly. So we've got a really
good team. And that's that's the key in my in
(14:12):
my mind.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Okay, So there's some incredible shows coming, some non theater shows.
I saw Neil deGrasse Tyson yeah when he came, and
that was unorthodox for Playhouse Square. But I think there's
gonna be more of those on the horizon there.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
It's a good thing you mentioned.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
I mean, comedy is growing and growing, and it was
a real splurge of comedy when the writer's strike was
on last year because people who woul normally write SNL
and someone were available, so people like Tina Fey, Amy, Poehla,
Jerry Springer, they all toured.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Jerry Springer, Jerry Seifeld. I think Jerry Springer is dead.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah he was one one point.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Actually a friend of mine wrote an opera called Jerry
Springer the Opera.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
I do remember that.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
Yeah, it was quite controversial. So comedians are on the
are on the rise. Chris Rock was here recently, and
so it's it's a really great thing for us because
actually they're very low maintenance. They arrived, they have few
tech requirements. They stand a glass of water or a beer,
do the show and go right.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Playhouse Square dot org.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Please come downtown to Cleveland's incredible theater district. Some of
the most important plays in the world come through here.
It's as world class as our orchestra and our art
museum and as famous as our Rock Hall. And we
just need everybody to come down and enjoy it and
be part of it because it really is.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
A gem for downtown Cleveland. Craig, anything else you wanted
to add.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
At the end of the podcast today just to support
what you said just then, I mean, come down, bring
the family, spend some time, Come and see a show.
Support the resident companies as well. Don't just come to
broad Broadway shows are amazing, but also come to Cleveland Playhouse,
Great Lakes City Club, the Ballet.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
I mean, it's all terrific.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
This is important work that you're doing and important that
we see the fruits of your labor because it is growing.
The empire is growing. It's going to be fun to
watch Playhouse Square from just two blocks down.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
The street here at iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
So Craig Hastle, CEO of Playoff Square, thank you for
joining us on CEOs.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
You should know today my pleasure and.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
This been iHeartRadio CEOs. You should know today's show was
produced by Bob KATESID.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I'm Keith Hotchkiss.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
We'll see you next time.
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