Schankman’s Finale

Steve Schankman of Contemporary Productions LLC has teamed with restaurant biz veteran Ted Geiger and Robert Saur of Conrad Properties to open Finale, a new venue in Clayton, Mo., near St. Louis.

The club will seat 130 to 140 patrons, with a separate bistro seating 75. Schankman said the club will be open from Wednesday through Saturday with two shows per day.

Having worked on much larger venues for most of his career, Schankman told Pollstar he was eager to build a more intimate environment.

“I think there’s an audience for that. I think some people like to sit in a small space where you can almost put your hand out and touch the artist,” he said.

“I think the type of entertainment we’re doing there lends itself to that kind of intimacy,” he added. “We’re doing jazz; we’re doing pop; we’re doing some of the sons and daughters of big entertainers that are now gone, like Tito Puente Jr. and Lena Prima.”

The club – located on Saur’s Clayton On The Park hotel/residence complex – will open with four nights of Maynard Ferguson and his Big Bop Nouveau Band March 16-19.

Prices will start at $10 to $15 for local and regional artists and range up to $25 to $35 for national acts, Schankman said.

He and his partner, Irv Zuckerman, sold Contemporary Productions to SFX for $90 million in 1998 after 30 years. Three years later, Schankman revived the company independently with Sam Foxman.