Published November 15, 2024

Arts, Culture … and Cocktails!

by Dennyse Sewell

One of our guiding values here at the Pioneer Center is the importance of maximizing the impact of the performing arts by fostering collaborations with other arts organizations and businesses – a concept that we often refer to internally as, “actively practicing the power of partnership.” As our nonprofit organization continually explores new ways to form meaningful partnerships within the community, we’ve always been excited by the idea of working with the local food and beverage industry. You might not immediately envision the Pioneer Center and craft cocktails in the same thought, but we’ve all had many experiences throughout our lives where a special event or memorable occasion was celebrated with equally special or memorable food and drinks. While the lobby concession locations here in our historic theater have always offered a variety of beer, wine, and mixed drink options, we weren’t known for having any direct connection to the exciting craft beverage boom taking place across the Reno/Sparks region. In this week’s PBS Reno Art Views blog, I am thrilled to share with you some of the creative and delicious additions we have made this year.

In January 2024, the Pioneer Center launched a new program called Broadway at the Bars, matching titles in our Broadway Comes to Reno season lineup with the imaginations of local mixologists for some friendly competition. Participating bars and restaurants create a specialty themed cocktail or mocktail named after the show and promote that specialty drink to their clientele in the weeks leading up to the show. Patrons of those establishments who order the specialty drink can either post a selfie with their drink on Instagram (following and tagging both @pioneercenter and the bar) or scan a QR code to enter their contact information, which then enters the patron in a drawing to win tickets to the opening night performance of that show. The mixologist who gets the most votes and engagements for their specialty cocktail creation during that time period also wins tickets to opening night.

Broadway at the Bars has been a fun way to get the community more involved in the exciting Broadway national tours we bring to Reno. Several of the touring casts have done local bar crawls of their own just to sample the variety of themed cocktails while they are here in Reno during the performance run. Since launching the Broadway at the Bars program, we have partnered with dozens of locally owned small businesses in downtown, midtown, and south Reno. We’ve received positive feedback from the bars and restaurants as well as great social media engagement from people who love the wide variety of creative, delicious specialty drinks that get them even more excited about the shows coming to the Pioneer Center stage. We add new establishments to the competition for every show and are thrilled to watch this fledgling program continue to expand. If you’d like to join in on the fun, we encourage you to follow our Instagram account for upcoming opportunities – including the Beetlejuice cocktail competition, which kicks off Thanksgiving weekend!

The success of Broadway at the Bars led us to another collaboration, this time with a local craft brewery. Brian Holloway, the brewmaster and co-owner of Pigeon Head Brewery in Reno, reached out with an idea for creating a themed beer to celebrate the Pioneer Center. The brand-new Pioneer Center Spotlight Kölsch made its debut in our lobby concessions locations in October of this year and became an instant hit with our patrons. It features a custom label created by the talented team at Design on Edge, adding another collaborative element to this special new beer that is a true testament to “the power of partnership” that inspires and motivates our team. The Pioneer Center and Pigeon Head Brewery co-hosted an official launch party for Spotlight Kölsch in early November with a Broadway-themed takeover of their popular weekly Trivia Night. The packed room of Broadway and beer lovers competed through four rounds of trivia about the Pioneer Center, the Broadway Comes to Reno series, and historical facts about Broadway shows and movie musicals.  A raffle to support our education programs included prizes such as tickets to Eddie Izzard, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, and Beetlejuice – and of course packs of Spotlight Kölsch to take home! This launch party offered yet another way to engage with our community and build deeper relationships beyond just the moments that take place inside our theater walls. It was the first Broadway-themed trivia takeover, but it certainly won’t be the last! 

The opportunity to cross promote the performing arts within the thriving food and beverage scene is something we are excited about, and we know our patrons love the invitation to immerse in the theme of each Broadway show well before the tours actually arrive here in Reno. We continue to explore ways to further expand these engagement and collaboration opportunities, including bringing themed cocktails into our own lobby concession locations during the performances. Earlier in 2024 we were fortunate to hire an experienced, creative, and skilled professional bartender, Demerey Grant, onto our team in the new position of Concessions Manager. Demerey’s knowledge of the craft cocktail world has further enhanced our offerings to our patrons throughout the season, and she continues to innovate delicious new cocktail and mocktail recipes for each show here at our theater. Attending a live performing arts event is a celebratory experience, and we know first-hand that treasured memories are made at special events and performances – memories that are further enhanced with branded, interactive, one-of-a-kind add-ons like signature themed cocktails. The next time you are here at the Pioneer Center for an event, be sure to visit the Cocktail Lounge in our lower lobby and check out our evolving selection of beverages. You are sure to find something you enjoy that will enhance your special experience even further! 

Dennyse Sewell is the CEO of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno, Nevada

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Bringing Reno to Broadway – And Beyond by Dennyse Sewell — April 12, 2024

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