Seeing Double In Charlottesville

The Paramount Theatre in Charlottesville, Va., has a new GM – and it’s the same guy as the GM of the arena down the road.

Larry Wilson, who runs the 16,000-capacity, SMG-managed John Paul Jones Arena, has been named acting GM of the 1,040-capacity theatre.

Wilson told Pollstar the Paramount Theatre board and SMG have inked a 90-day consulting agreement and, if all goes well, SMG and the Paramount board will talk about a permanent relationship at which point the Paramount will get a GM who will report to Wilson.

The Paramount is a restored movie theatre that reopened in 2005. Since that time it has had two CEOs resign without explanation, according to Charlottesville’s Hook, despite apparent success.

Another city, another SMG venue – but this city has a hometown rival. Charlottesville is home to Coran Capshaw’s Red Light Management and Starr Hill Presents – the latter of which runs the city’s Charlottesville Pavilion and Satellite Ballroom. Capshaw built the Charlottesville shed in 2005 and bought the Satellite after selling the physical location of Starr Hill Brewery.

A third Charlottesville property, The Jefferson Theatre, is also being restored by Starr Hill Presents. Star Hill promotes shows at the John Paul Jones, and the arena also uses MusicToday, formerly owned by Capshaw, as its ticketing system.