Numa Saisselin, President, Florida Theatre

In an interview with Invest:, Numa Saisselin, president of Florida Theatre, discussed the building’s renovation, Jacksonville’s live performance identity, fundraising efforts, business responsibility, the challenge of attracting performers to a small city, and developing new audiences. “People are happy to give us their hard-earned dollars because they like what we do, because we are responsible stewards for our building, and because we provide a platform for live performances and events,” he said.

What have been some of the main highlights for the Florida Theatre over the past 12 months?

The theater’s renovation was the biggest activity. We were closed from July 1 to Oct. 30 last year.  We took four months to replace the entire HVAC plant, modernize all the bathrooms, paint the interiors with historic accuracy, and move our electrical vault from the first to the third floor. Over the last four years, we have raised and spent $17.2 million on the building. The audience side of the theater is in terrific shape now. It looks as good as it’s ever looked.  

There are a couple of concert industry publications that track attendance in the concert industry. One of them is called Pollstar, and we typically rank in the high 50s or low 60s. Last year, we placed at No. 84, which means that we still ranked nationally despite being closed for one-third of the calendar year. We fall into the same ranking category of venues that are much bigger than ours in major markets, such as Radio City in Atlanta or The Fox in Detroit. If you look at venues with under 2,000 seats, we are typically No. 5 in the nation.  

Where do you see live performance in 2024? Is there an interest from the community in Jacksonville?

In many ways, Jacksonville is a town that lacks its own identity. Other cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and Austin immediately conjure up images in your head, Jacksonville doesn’t do that. However, in some ways, Jacksonville’s identity is tied to live performances because people here love to go out. Our attendance is one way to prove that. One of the most attended theaters in the entire country is right here in downtown Jacksonville. When you put the numbers together, millions of people are coming to Jacksonville every year to see some form of live entertainment performance or sporting event.

What are some of the challenges that you faced with your fundraising campaign?

It’s hard to raise money when equipment and utilities need to be replaced. The Florida Theatre is an old building with its own infrastructure, and raising funds to repair heating and ventilation is complicated. This is crucial because it is the quality of our utilities that make audiences and artists come together. One side of our business is about researching performers, making deals with them, advertising the event, and selling tickets. Another side of our business is about making sure that the building is in good shape, and that it is a hospitable place that will last another 100 years. The Centennial Campaign has been a success because we surpassed our fundraising expectations. People were happy to support us because they recognize us as responsible stewards of our building.  

We are responsible for the conduct of our business. We raise funds but there is also a huge revenue component to what we do as well, since 85% of our income comes from selling tickets and merchandise, while 15% is money that we fundraise. If you ask people to pay $200 for a live performance, the seats must be comfortable, the show must start on time, and the sound quality must be excellent. Our customers are both the performers as well as the audience, and we serve them well. People give us their money because they like what we do and because we bring great performers to Jacksonville. We provide a platform for arts and entertainment to happen. Individuals give us their hard-earned dollars because they like what we do, and the city gives us money because it benefits the community.  

What are some of the challenges that you and your team are grappling with?

Jacksonville is the 12th largest city in America, but the metropolitan area is much smaller than that. Everything we do is punching above our own weight; it’s a small market for almost everything. When we are looking to hire someone with a specialty, it’s hard to find the right employee because there just aren’t that many people here. It’s easy to bring performers if they have a mainstream appeal, but it becomes difficult to bring performers with niche appeal because it’s hard to find the 2,000 people who will come to see that performer. We are a city that acts as if it was much bigger than it actually is, and that can be a challenge in many ways. 

What is your outlook for the Florida Theatre and Jacksonville in the next three to four years?

Programming is everything to us; if we don’t put something on stage, no one is coming here. That aspect of our business is pretty mature at this point. We are getting our fair share of the touring performances every year. There aren’t a lot of touring performers who play a 2,000-seat theater. There is a narrow band of performers who can sell that many tickets, and only so many of them will work in a given year. Only a few of those will make it to the Southeast, and even fewer will come to Jacksonville. We feel like we are close to getting the fair share of the people who will come to us.  

However, even if our main business is mature, there is always something else to do. We are always asking ourselves what other types of music, bands, and performers we can bring. If our main business is mature, what else can we develop? To give you an example, we are looking to develop an audience from both the Latino and Philippine communities. We will continue to look at the population and try to develop new audiences.  

How do you develop new audiences?

We are going to do over 200 nights this year; roughly 50 of them will be other organizations using the building and paying us for the privilege. However, about 150 of those performances will be us spending our own money, researching performers, making a deal with them, paying for everything, and hoping we sell enough tickets to make our money back. Every single one of those shows has its own $5,000 to $10,000 marketing campaign. Every show is tailored to a specific audience. Every show has its own unique, tailored mix of advertising, whether it’s the radio, television, paid organic, paid social, or print. The audience is always changing how they find out about shows, so we need to provide the audience with different ways to find us.  

With the strong residential growth Jacksonville is experiencing, how have you seen that translate into the arts and entertainment sector of the region?

Fiscal 2024 was the Florida Theatre’s busiest year since 2007, with a record 209 performances playing to over 200,000 people. Jacksonville loves the nightlife, even the newcomers.

How has the support of organizations such as the Culture Council allowed Florida Theatre to continue its work in the community and focus on the organization’s mission?

Support from the Cultural Council helps underwrite the cost of artistically wonderful artists and performers that might also be financially marginal, and helps new performers get a toe hold on developing their careers.

What projects are in the works now for Florida Theatre that will shape the future of the overall arts and culture industry in Jacksonville?

We co-produced our first Broadway in Concert production last year with Theatre Jacksonville, and we’ll be returning with a second season next August. Producing our own work in addition to booking touring artists helps us support the local performing community.