On A Quick Turnaround: How Kings Theatre Booked Underworld In Two Days To Save Show

While the Brooklyn Mirage’s opening remains postponed due to inspection delays, the overarching New York City music community has stepped up to help shows go on. Sara Landry, who was set to open the venue on May 1, moved her shows to Brooklyn Storehouse and Knockdown Center. And Underworld, who were scheduled to perform at Brooklyn Mirage (located in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood) on May 15, moved their show to Kings Theatre in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood. 

Underworld announced the change on Monday, May 12, refunding fans who purchased tickets to their original show at Mirage (5,000-cap). At the same time, they announced they’d be performing at Kings Theater (3,500-cap).

Behind the scenes, Kate Hesler (General Manager at Kings Theatre) and Jenn Sonick (Booker at Kings Theatre) got moving on the potential of Underworld’s show heading to Kings Theater on Saturday, May 10. Bowery Presents, who were co-promoting the show at Mirage and sometimes promoting shows at Kings Theatre, reached out asking if the venue would be available should the show need to move. 

For Underworld, the show needed to go on. They intended to kick off their current tour in New York City, and canceling the show altogether was not an option. Further dates will see them landing in Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Dublin, Paris, London and more.

Sonick and Hesler say they thrive in chaos, and both worked through the weekend to ensure fans wouldn’t be left hanging should the show relocate. They didn’t get confirmation that Kings Theater would be a go until Sunday, but already they had a plan in place and staff at the ready.

“Our phone was a series of two-and-a-half minute calls every ten minutes, all day Saturday up until midnight,” Sonic says. “We were going back and forth on different options and what was possible. Kate runs the venue, so she’s also trying to make sure that we can have staff that can work. It was just a constant conversation of what the next steps would be. We definitely prepared for any situation. And Sunday morning, 8 a.m. text:: Confirmed. It all went extremely fast.”

As soon as they knew they had the confirmation and that the show would be reticketed, they worked with Bowery to get the new build-up and called on their marketing team to have all the assets ready for the announcement and on sale, which went out on Monday.

“The Bowery camp and the artist camp decided to make ticket prices lower so they could tell fans, ‘We’re sorry things didn’t go as planned,’” Hesler says. “It went off extremely well for having confirmation to on sale in 26 non-business hours.” 

Underworld released a statement on their social media pages announcing the change in plans as the on sale went on. The lower capacity also led to their decision to lower ticket prices, as not everyone who originally intended to see the show would have the possibility of doing so. 

“We know we are asking a lot of you, so these tickets will be available at a reduced cost,” Underworld said in their statement. “This is the only option available to us due to the production of our show, venue availability, and the number of people attending. But we want to dance with you. We will dance together. We have a show that you will love and we want to share it. Any space is a rave when we’re together in the smoke and lights.” 

Sonick and Hesler are hopeful that this show can help put Kings Theater on the map as a potential venue for dance music concerts. The venue is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary since it first reopened in 2015, and the pair want to showcase how their venue can turn around and put on shows for genres people might not primarily consider.

“It’s not the first room you think of for something like this,” Sonick admits. “I think that after tonight, a lot of people are going to be like, ‘That was awesome to see it in such an ornate place.’ So we’re really looking forward to it.”

After the show wrapped, Hesler described the night as simply, “amazing.”