Los Angeles' Pantages Theatre to Get a New Name?

According to the LA Times, Los Angeles' Pantages Theatre might go by a different name in the not-so-distant future. The Nederlander Organization, which owns the venue, has brought on Front Row Marketing Services to manage a project to bring on a new partner.

General manager Marty Wiviott, told LAT that "the naming-rights sale is in an exploratory phase and that the theater has allotted six months to find a partner."

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The Pantages Theatre is owned and operated by The Nederlander Organization. Founded by David T. Nederlander, the Nederlander Organization began in 1912 with the purchase of a 99-year lease on the old Detroit Opera House. Now into their third generation of theatre development, ownership, management and production, the Nederlander Organization is clearly one of the largest, most experienced operators of live theatre in the world. Under the guidance of its Chairman, James M. Nederlander, the company owns and/or operates more than 20 stage venues worldwide.

In 2000, the Nederlander Organization poured more than $10 million into an extensive renovation of its landmark Pantages Theatre. When the theatre re-opened to the public in September of 2000, it was to herald the Los Angeles premiere of Disney's The Lion King," the blockbuster hit musical which would go on to run over 2 years at the Pantages Theatre, breaking all previous attendance records.

Two long-running engagements helped solidify the Pantages growing reputation as the go-to venue for blockbuster Broadway entertainment. For most of 2003, Jason Alexander and Martin Short headlined the musical smash, "The Producers - The New Mel Brooks Musical." In February 2007, "Wicked" returned to the Pantages, having played a limited engagement in 2005 which was a sold-out smash. The return of "Wicked" showed that Southern Californians just couldn't get enough of this show, and it remained for another two years, breaking every box office record to date.