The Man Behind Whitaker Center Performing Arts

The Man Behind Whitaker Center Performing Arts

by Karla Vierthaler

You’d think the promoter of Whitaker Center’s Sunoco Performance Theatre would be running around his office like a crazed lunatic, considering the impressive summer line-up, but Steve Krempasky is calm as a cucumber. His office is as cluttered as you would imagine; papers occupy all available space and CDs are strewn atop the endless white piles. Krempasky says he gets about 100 e-mails a day and is on the phone for a good majority of his time.

Krempasky is actually the presenter for the Whitaker Center, which, he explains, is what the promoter of a nonprofit performance arts center is called. But he says that his title is a minor detail; “an artist manager doesn’t care who I am as long as I’m buying.”

Krempasky, who has been in the music business for 20 years, likens his job to retail, but an advanced form. “In retail, you buy a coat,” he says. “Imagine if you bought a coat that didn’t have buttons and didn’t have pockets.”

“When I buy an artist, there are other concerns, everything from lodging to amplifiers for their guitars to sound systems to a whole bevy of hospitality items.” Krempasky picks up a contract from a pile of 10. “The contract (the amount the artist is paid to perform) is only a page,” he explains, but flips through to reveal about 25 additional pages of additional requirements.

The extras fit into the negotiation process that all promoters (and presenters) know well. Krempasky has to figure out if the total cost of an act will be covered in ticket costs, and leave him with enough money to purchase the next artist.

Negotiating for talent is only part of what fills Krempasky’s day; the other part of his job consists of finding the entertainment for Whitaker Center. He says he begins the process by perusing music industry trade magazines for information on various acts. Krempasky wants to find out how a musical or performance act does at the box office and what types of venues they have played in the past. “I have to do my homework,” he says. “For a person who loves music, I spend more time on spread sheets than anything else.”

But after his homework is done, Krempasky can’t just book an act at his whim. With 10 resident groups, such as Theatre Harrisburg, the Harrisburg Opera Association, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the theatre has a full schedule of events that he must schedule around. “I stay away from a many of the things they do, but they also book most of my weekends,” he says, laughing.

As can be expected, Krempasky pursues big name performers. “The more popular the attraction, the more likely you’ll have a successful show,” he says.

But big names need big venues, and the Sunoco Performance Theatre can only seat 700 people. Krempasky recognizes he is dealing with a unique venue, and that not all artists will play in a smaller theatre. This creates an opportunity for artists that cannot sell out Hershey to perform in Harrisburg, and for acts Krempasky calls “fine triple A music,” which he says includes Dara Williams, Richard Thompson, and other singer/songwriters.

Along with so-called big names, Krempasky strives to bring a wide variety of performers to Whitaker, to satisfy a wide cultural base. Jazz, folk, and bluegrass music are well supported in central Pennsylvania, he says, but the theatre also includes performances as varied as Tibetan monks and Iron Butterfly.

“I’m targeting family audiences, Native American audiences, African American audiences, blues fans,” say Krempasky, and the list goes on and on.

And how do artists react to the theatre? “They all want to come back,” Krempasky says. “They aren’t used to being treated so well.” The theatre setting gives artists a different atmosphere. “Just recently, [the band] America played on the stage set of ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.’” It was on of Theatre Harrisburg’s dark nights, and Krempasky says the band loved it. “They thought they were playing in ancient Rome, having a lot of fun.”

Whitaker Center is a mere baby, celebrating a two-year birthday in September. Krempasky has been working on the vision and reality of the Sunoco Performance Theatre since 1996. “Our first goal was to make the theatre a viable part of the community,” he says. Whitaker has become an asset to both local musicians, hosting CD release parties and booking local bands to open for national acts, and the cultural arts community of Harrisbug.

“The Harrisburg music scene was not quite where it should be, and I hope that I helped contribute to the growth of it.” A modest statement from the man who has brought such notable acts as Bela Fleck, Arlo Guthrie, Aimee Mann and Michael Penn.