Walton Arts Center sets the stage for national, international tours

When theatergoers around the country buy a ticket for the latest smash Broadway touring show such as “Hamilton,” they likely don’t suspect all they see on the stage — intricate costumes, dazzling light displays, impressive sets — came together not in New York City or Chicago but in Fayetteville, Ark.

Since 1997, producers have booked the Walton Arts Center for crucial and complex technical rehearsals for productions before they head off on national or international tours. Beginning with “A Chorus Line” in 1997 and including “Legally Blonde” and “The Johnny Cash Experience,” the Walton Arts Center has helped kick off a total of 16 tours that have departed Fayetteville for multiple stops playing for thousands of fans.

“We have developed a great relationship with booking agents,” said Jennifer Ross, vice president of programming for Walton Arts Center. “They know we are a great place for an opening venue with super restaurants and hotels and a great team that can turn a project around on a dime.”

The opening venue is where a show’s cast, crew, artistic staff, sets, props, and costumes are all in the same place for the first time. The bigger the show, the more tractor-trailers pull up to the Walton Arts Center.

“‘Hamilton’ was the biggest one we have done to date,” noted Ross. “It came to us in a lot of trucks and left in fewer trucks. That show was a big feather in our cap. It was like, ‘The biggies have arrived.’”

Serving as the opening venue for tours, the Walton Arts Center benefits in two ways. It is the home for an on-average three-week rehearsal process that brings in revenue, then the arts center has a shiny new show to present to its patrons. Next up in January 2025 is “Insidious —The Further You Fear,” which is described as “an immersive live horror experience.”

The Walton Arts Center’s full-time production team has 11 members with a local crew roster of about 100 to 125 active members who can be called in for additional help. For the past several years, the Walton Arts Center has booked these types of touring shows at the rate of two per year. That number allows the center to continue to offer a full season of other shows and events to subscribers.

“The venue in itself is a first-class facility, and the people are first-class and easy to work with,” said Ralph Schmidtke from Quatro Entertainment, producer of “Johnny Cash — The Official Concert Experience.” “From the black box rehearsal area to a quick push to set up in the main theatre, it was very convenient. A few very good hotels to choose from and plenty of good restaurant choices.”

When the trucks for a new show arrive, about 50 locals are needed to load-in and set up the technical elements over two or three days. The workers from the Walton Arts Center decrease as the shows enter rehearsal mode and then settle around 15-20 for the technical rehearsal weeks. Then staffing ramps up again to 50 for a day or two to pack everything up to hit the road.

After several days of technical rehearsals, the cast and crew will have a few full rehearsals and then a couple of dress rehearsals before premiering the show to a live Fayetteville audience. Watching and listening to the reactions of this first audience gives the artistic staff feedback about parts of the show that need a bit more work.

Producers of the touring shows say part of the appeal of launching in Fayetteville is the kind of audiences who are coming out to see their shows.

“The local community, not in the least thanks to the presence of the university, offers a diverse audience that is very welcoming to new show formats,” said producer Floris Douwes. “As is currently reflected as well in our early sales for ‘Insidious.’”

The economic benefit to Northwest Arkansas can be easily traced from these touring show preparations. Local crew members dock hours of work, and the visitors from out of town buy supplies, book multiple nights in area hotels, eat at local restaurants and shop at local stores. The tour sizes vary, but the Walton Arts Center puts the average number at 50 who come in from out of state for rehearsals and performances.

As huge money-making endeavors such as the “Hamilton” tour turn to the Walton Arts Center for a key part of their process, the idea that Arkansas is too far away from theatrical hot spots or that audiences here are unsophisticated is easily brushed away.

“Sometimes they want to launch from middle America instead of the coasts,” said Ross. “Most of the shows that launch here can easily go where they need to.”