Two family show legends are exiting the industry. Vince E. Egan, who founded VEE Corporation to promote Sesame Street Live 35 years ago, left at the top of his game, with his newest creation, Hello Kitty Supercute Festival, about to debut in Minneapolis at the Target Center.
I saw his first creation debut in Minneapolis (Bloomington actually where the Met Center once stood) when I worked with Amusement Business and it was a sight to see. Arena managers from around the country showed up in suits, ties and even tuxedos to see this phenomenon called Sesame Street Live. We had a fine time in the old party way, reminiscent of some of the soirees the family show producers used to throw at what was once known as the International Association of Auditorium Managers (now Venue Managers) conventions.
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey always threw the most lavish parties. I remember once they tied money to balloons and floated them to the top of the high ceilinged ballroom as party favors. People were climbing on chairs and shoulders (actually doing circus stunts) to retrieve the cash. I asked the late Allen Bloom what happened to the hundred-dollar-laden balloons no one snagged or shot down and he just smiled and said, “That’s the tip.”
Thomas K. Scallen, an entrepreneur of that long ago ilk who once owned Ice Capades and Harlem Globetrotters among other family shows, died in March. He was in that party rotation and of that tradition. He loved having fun making fun.
But while we say goodbye, we say hello. Sanjay Syal, Blue Star Media LLC, has bought VEE with the backing of AUA Equity Partners and he has big plans, global plans, growth strategies that will help the industry. He told me he has two shows in the pipeline and is going to tour the world with them, piggybacking on VEE’s established global footprint. Sesame Street Live, Hello Kitty Supercute Festival and Blue Star’s own Discover the Dinosaurs will all be reinvigorated as well.
Geoff Jones, Nine Live, is also deep into the family show business. He said his three-year-old division of media company Nine Entertainment of Australia, has two new family shows, several sporting events and some global exhibitions in the works.
Interestingly, both Syal and Jones see a real tie between convention center consumer expositions and arena shows — touring, ticketing, talent and tenacity.
Families go to all sorts of venues for all sorts of reasons and it’s healthy to see new ideas and product abound. We certainly have places for them to play.
God grant you many years to catch the family show train.