James Bass, executive director at the Given’s Performing Arts Center on the UNCP campus, is always on the hunt for a variety of performers that would appeal to local crowds. The Given’s Performing Arts Center’s Executive Director, James Bass, still has a top national performer slated for Sept. 21, even as he is set to announce the all-star lineup for the 2024-25 season.
The Grammy-Award Winning artist Amy Grant, who has sold more than 30 million albums and over a billion global streams, will be on stage at GPAC in September.
Since 2016, Bass has scored coups by bringing top performers to Pembroke.
“Last year’s season was very heavy on diversity and got people in [GPAC] who have never been here before,” Bass said.
That season included the premier Mexican folk-dance company and Mariachi musicians performing “Ofrenda: A Dia De Los Muertos Celebration.” Also local audiences saw STOMP and Chubby Checker on the UNCP stage.
Bass said the center’s patrons love musicals and family-oriented performances, but Bass said he wants to have productions that encourage the students to come. He said they want to expose students to entertainment a variety. Students may purchase performance tickets at discounted prices and GPAC offers limited free tickets to students (usually up to 100 are available).
Bass said last season featured the legendary Chubby Checker and the Sophia Bulgarian Orchestra, which came as part of a U.S. tour.
He said a lot goes into booking acts for the University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s venue.
“There is a misperception that we cherry-pick,” Bass, the GPAC director, said.
Every year, Bass reimagines the types of diverse acts that would appeal to the GPAC’s constituents and then merges those type of acts with the logistics of bookings.
He said he always considers if the act/show is something that UNCP audiences would enjoy, but there are many other factors, such as availability that come into play. He said that pricing is a factor and often he must consider if a performer will be in the region.
Bass cited last year’s performance of String Queens, a trio that has played at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall in New York. He said their price was a little higher than was acceptable for GPAC, but because of Block Booking they fit in a UNCP visit on an open date between other performances for a better price.
Bass uses agents’ suggestions and information garnered through national booking conferences to identify and secure quality acts for the UNCP audiences.
His booking of the Scottish band The Red Hot Chili Pipers had its roots in a New York Booking conference. The band, which has three bagpipers, guitars and drums, claims to be “The most famous bagpipe band on the planet–ever!” Bass said the Chili Pipers’ modern music attracted fans from six states to the university venue.
The last show that sold out the 1,600-seat GPAC was “The Color Purple” in February 2020. A month later, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Bass said attendance visits have been down since COVID, and they lost some patrons.
Bass set up a GPAC YouTube channel during COVID that features a diverse group of local and regional artists performing in the “Front Row Sessions” and previews of upcoming performances.
The Front Row Sessions feature Jonathan Drahos’ full-length production of “Macbeth,” an excerpt of Michael Goudeau’s live show at GPAC featuring comedy and juggling stunts, and UNCP’s Joanna Ross Hersey performs a piece she wrote in honor of a medieval nun, Hildegard from Bingen.
GPAC relies on various sources for funding beyond ticket sales, concessions, and student activity fees; including grants from the Lumberton Visitors Bureau, the North Carolina Arts Council and the Robeson County Arts Council.
Some businesses sponsor individual shows. The annual budget for GPAC is about $500,000 a year and the talent fees account for approximately $170,000 of the total according to Chris Summers, assistant sirector at the GPAC.
Bass’ history at UNCP spans four decades. He first performed at GPAC as a student in 1991 and has held various positions at the university. He started his position as Executive Director of GPAC in 2016.
As Bass approaches his eighth anniversary in this position, he has booked performances including the Broadway shows “Legally Blond” and “Chicago,” and Country singer Lorrie Morgan. “‘STOMP’ has been through GPAC a couple of times and it’s a very memorable performance.
“Vanilla Ice is a performance that is still talked about quite a bit,” Bass said.
He booked Vanilla Ice for the 2021 Homecoming show to appeal to returning alumni – the people with disposable income. “When we did the announcement, it received all negative comments,” Bass said of the initial post. “But publicity from those comments would have cost us $1,500 to boost the post.”
Bass said that he was a great showman and posed for pictures and signed autographs for anyone who asked. In the end the show drew a crowd and positive responses.
“Despite students’ initial hesitation regarding the Vanilla Ice homecoming show, they enjoyed the show along with alums. Audience members joined him on stage, at the edge of the stage, and at their seats at various points during the show,” said Alyssa Hernandez of her experience as an UNCP undergrad.
Bass said that in 2020, The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine got some great response, as did the Grammy Award-winning Blind Boys of Alabama in 2019.
“We always hope to reach new and bigger audiences. I would like to see us diversify our programming more,” Bass said.
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