HUNTINGTON – They’re calling it The Ritter. And someday soon organizers of a new effort to rebrand and raise money to improve the Ritter Park Amphitheater want folks around the region to know The Ritter as one of the first-class, go-to spaces for outdoor entertainment from theater to music.
Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District Commissioner Jill LaFear, and the team at the West Virginia-and-Nashville-based WhizzbangBAM (Booking and Management) are joining forces to launch a new effort to rebrand the amphitheater as The Ritter.
The effort is being launched with the coinciding announcement of two national-act concerts in July to help raise needed grant matching funds to help fuel a makeover of the 1,500-seat amphitheater – a historic, grass-terraced venue constructed in 1932 by the Works Progress Administration. A stage shell and modest enclosed backstage area was added in 1977. Basic renovations last occurred in 2011, but backstage is so limited theater performers change costumes in tents or at best in the cramped. concrete, un-air-conditioned dressing rooms during summer’s heat. LaFear envisions the fund-raising to be used as matching funds for a substantial grant to complete a major expansion of the back-of-house stage space to bring The Ritter into the modern era.
On sale now are $20 tickets for a Saturday, July 16 concert featuring Oh Boy Records recording artist Arlo McKinley (the last artist John Prine signed to his label before he passed), as well as fellow nationally-touring acts Jeremy Pinnell, and Buffalo Wabs and The Price Hill Hustle, which just made its Mountain Stage debut. Doors will open at 4 p.m. and showtime is 6 p.m. Kids 12 and under get in free. Tickets are at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/arlo-mckinley-buffalo-wabs-the-price-hill-hustle-jeremy-pinnell-tickets-354154564837
Also on sale are $30 tickets for a Sunday, July 24 concert featuring festival favorites, Melvin Seals and The Jerry Garcia Band. West Virginia based band, The Kind Thieves will be supporting the show. The legendary San Francisco-based B3-organist, Seals was a member of JGB from 1980 to 1995, and has since Jerry’s death, continued to keep the roots music-based jam alive touring and recording. Kids 12 and under get in free. Tickets are at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/melvin-seals-jgb-tickets-354184644807
Currently, The Ritter comes alive in June with HART (Huntington Area Regional Theater) in the Park producing two productions carrying on the decades old tradition of summer theater at the space. HOT ran from 1994 to 2003 and HART in the Park has been producing shows at that space ever since. In the past decade, the Ritter has gotten additional late summer usage as Ian Thornton, the founder of WhizzbangBAM, and friends, created the Huntington Music and Arts Festival, the week-long music and arts fest that crescendos with a Labor Day concert at the amphitheater. HMAF 12 is set for Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Local band-leader Parry Casto, of the M.F.B., and his friend Joe Troubetaris, started FunktaFest now in its 6th year. It is set for Saturday, Sept. 17.
“As the park board, we have known for a long time there are renovations that need to take place at the Amphitheater so we can provide that spot for outdoor theater as HART has had real concerns with the issues with the building and so we’ve got the ball rolling in the direction as to how to solve these problems,” LaFear said. “One of the ways to solve problems is with money. So we had to figure out some ways to bring attention and attention brings money to The Ritter. We are doing that by rebranding it, and bringing more shows there.We want to make sure that HART can expand and grow and the only way to do that is to make sure the facilities are improved. This is the start to push for fundraising to get some matching funds so we can go after some grants. We need a new roof and we would love to build a spacious back of house with air-conditioning for when it’s 95 degrees and actors are wearing heavy costumes. It’s a health and safety issue to accommodate those needs. It’s not only for looks and appearances.”
When LaFear and a group of others set about brainstorming ways to reel in some national shows to raise funds and attention to The Ritter, her first call was to Ian Thornton, the former Create Huntington Board of Connector member who teamed up nine years ago to manage his good friend, and now RCA Records artist, Tyler Childers. Thornton, who lives in Nashville, has a team of four folks in West Virginia who help him with WhizzbangBAM, which manages nearly a dozen eclectic touring music acts and bands from our region.
“It’s great that Jill took the bull by the horns and has those relationships with people who want to make this happen, Thornton said. “It takes that person that says this is something special, other cities are doing this and we can pull it off. Whizzbang is stoked to be a part of it and to curate and do what we do to help bring the venue back to life. It is such a great venue and has great bones it just needs some love and attention – and some money.”
Thornton, whose WhizzbangBAM team also helps bring in acts for some other local music series such as 9th Street Live, said they’ll be going after some sponsorships and donations, and also will be donating half of their commission to help with renovations and seeding funds to keep a regular flow of concerts to keep The Ritter at the top of people’s minds and embedded into the heart of the scene. For now, folks wanting to donate can contact the Park District and email checks to GHPRD, 210 11th St., Shop 1, Huntington, WV 25701. Put “The Ritter” renovations in the subject line.
“We’re all like-minded in wanting to bring in good stuff to Huntington as it continues to get better and grow,” Thornton said.
“That’s the goal,” LaFear added. “If we have more consistent programming there people are going to think about it more. They are going to think, ‘Oh, let’s see what is happening at The Ritter and they will consider it more as a venue and as a place to look to for events … and we are trying to brand it in a way that makes it easy not just for the local community but for out-of-towners. The Ritter makes it easy for people to know what it is, and where it is. The re-branding is still underway in part, but it really is just to put it on the map.”
Thornton said he is stoked to see what can happen when more folks join the effort to continue to build out and build up Huntington as a creative hub. He is amazed by how WhizzbangBAM has blossomed in the past nine years helping local artists gain a wider audience.
“The whole idea was to give light to the bands from the region who we thought were under-appreciated in the Appalachian music scenes, which is as eclectic as it can be, which our roster reflects pretty well,” Thornton said. “These bands have great musicians and it is that behind the scenes, logistics and organization that they typically lack so we try to connect the dots. When I was brought onto Create Huntington, it helped me understand that we need those people to help move things along. You do what you do best with the least amount of worry and let us handle the rest.”
