Oak View Group Launches National Theater Alliance, Boch Center Joins Inaugural Roster of Prestigious Performing Arts Venues
Veteran Music Agent Noël Mirhadi Appointed Director to Build the New Alliance and Champion Collective Booking and Buying Power, Unique Content, and Sponsorship Opportunities
(Boston January 13, 2023) – Oak View Group (OVG) today announced the creation of its national Theater Alliance, and the Boch Center has joined the inaugural roster of 39 marquee theaters and performing arts venues in 18 markets across North America that will benefit from collective buying power, routing of non-traditional content, sponsorship opportunities, industry best practices and resources, and shared proceeds from an annual fundraising gala.
OVG, the global venue development, advisory, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries, announced the inaugural members of the Theater Alliance at the Association for Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference Opening Plenary Session on Friday, January 13. In addition to the Boch Center, other members include:
• ACL Live at Moody Theater (Austin, TX)
• AT&T Performing Arts Center (Dallas TX)
• Beacon Theatre, Theater at MSG, and Radio City Music Hall (New York, NY)
• The Chicago Theatre (Chicago, IL)
• First Interstate Center (Spokane, WA)
• Fox Theatre (Detroit, MI)
• Kimmel Center (Philadelphia, PA)
• Loew’s Jersey Theater - opening 2025 (Jersey City, NJ)
• Pabst Theater Group (Milwaukee, WI)
• Paramount Theatre (Denver, CO)
• Paramount Theatre (Oakland, CA)
• Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Portland’s Centers for the Arts (Portland, OR)
• Ryman Auditorium & Grand Ole Opry House (Nashville, TN)
• Segerstrom Center for the Arts (Costa Mesa, CA)
• Stifel Theatre (St. Louis, MO)
• Tulsa Performing Arts Center (Tulsa, OK)
“We are proud to join some of the most prestigious performing arts centers in America. These organizations are the life blood of their communities and will continue to help nurture the vibrant music and arts scene across the country,” said Joe Spaulding, President, and CEO of the Boch Center. “The arts keep us a civilized society and together we look forward to providing unique cultural experiences for the nation.”
To give member theaters and performing arts centers a competitive edge within their markets, the Theater Alliance will help drive unique, exclusive, and traditionally mainstream content to its member venues; for example, intimate acoustic performances by some of the top names in entertainment.
OVG has hired music industry professional Noël Mirhadi as director of the Theater Alliance, tasked with building, launching, and growing the group. A longtime music agent, most recently at United Talent Agency (UTA), Mirhadi has spent her career focused on booking Adult Contemporary artists into venues nationwide. She brings a depth of knowledge and relationships as an expert in the world of performing arts and seated theaters. Additionally, she brings experience in the brand partnerships division, having paired UTA clients with top brands, products, and platforms. She previously worked in the Performing Arts divisions of APA and The Agency Group, which was acquired by UTA in 2015.
“Theaters like the Boch Center serve as the heartbeat of their community. I understand and appreciate this sentiment having started as a musician and having gone on to dedicate my professional life and career to music and the arts,” Mirhadi said. “I’m thrilled to have joined Oak View Group as we create and launch our new Theater Alliance, which will support these critically important institutions and help them continue to thrive. We’ve put together a collective of premier venues that operate in strong markets and within even stronger communities – just as we see with the Boch Center in Boston. The Alliance will allow us to tangibly support their continued growth and success.”
The Theater Alliance is modeled after OVG’s Arena & Stadium Alliance, a collection of the top 38 venues in North America that provides a united platform for booking, content development, procurement, and sponsorship sales opportunities.
Joe Giordano, OVG vice president overseeing the Theater Alliance and Arena & Stadium Alliance, said: “The demand for the Theater Alliance was certainly amplified coming out of the pandemic. Performing arts venues across the nation, which are traditionally costly to operate, all face similar challenges. The Alliance, under Noël’s outstanding leadership, is eager to continue building the network of top venues in first tier markets to help them meet and exceed their programming and budgetary goals, and bring opportunities to the table that they didn’t even know were possible.”
“The Theater Alliance is yet another way OVG uniquely serves our industry,” Chris Granger, president of OVG360, said. "These theaters represent the best of the best. They are committed to work in concert not only to improve their operations and overall guest experience, but, perhaps more importantly, to creatively elevate the arts and attract a new generation of theatergoers from within their communities…. because we are all better when the arts thrive.”
About the Boch Center
The Boch Center is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit performing arts institutions and a guardian of the historic Wang and Shubert Theatres. As New England’s largest cultural venue, the Boch Center is home to theater, classical and popular music, dance, comedy, opera, Broadway musicals, family entertainment, and more.
Located in Boston’s historic Theater District, the Boch Center also offers a diverse mix of educational, cultural and community outreach initiatives, including the City Spotlights Leadership Program and the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame; collaborates with artists and local nonprofit arts organizations; preserves historic venues; and acts as a champion for Greater Boston’s arts and cultural community. Learn more at bochcenter.org.
About Oak View Group
Oak View Group (OVG) is a global sports and entertainment company founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015. OVG is focused on being a positive disruption to business as usual in the sports, live entertainment, and hospitality industries and currently has eight divisions across five global offices (Los Angeles, New York, London, Philadelphia, and Toronto). OVG oversees the operations of Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle Center, UBS Arena in Belmont Park, NY, Moody Center in Austin, TX, Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, CA, as well as arena development projects for Co-op Live in Manchester, UK; and projects for Arena São Paulo in São Paulo, BZ; CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD; FirstOntario Centre Arena in Hamilton, ON; a New Arena and entertainment district in Las Vegas, NV; and a New Arena in Cardiff, Wales. More information at OakViewGroup.com, and follow OVG on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.