Paramount, Moore theaters unveil new services

Building on their growth over the past year, The Paramount and The Moore theatres are launching a rebranding effort and some novel features: a new Web site, 24-hour ticket kiosks and a new ticketing system.

The Paramount and the Moore are run by a parent nonprofit company called Seattle Theatre Group, which also has started presenting shows at other venues. In 2008, STG hosted Kanye West at KeyArena, David Byrne at Benaroya Hall, and other artists at The Triple Door, Town Hall and The Showbox.

"Over the last year, business went really well. We had five to six performances a month outside of our own venues," said STG executive director Josh LaBelle. "At the same time, it's been a bit confusing, seeing STG outside of the historic Paramount and Moore Theatres."

Now, STGpresents.org will be a "mother site" to the two theaters' Web sites: www.theparamount.com and www.themoore.com.

"We're a nonprofit, but we had a dot-com as an address," said LaBelle. "We have not been as clear about who we are, under theparamount.com, so for us, this really is very important to improve our nonprofit branding."

The site will also include promotional offers; links for easy access to news online; social networks such as Facebook and MySpace; and social messaging services like Twitter, as well as a new blog.

Along with the new Web site launch, STG is transferring the majority of its engagements from Ticketmaster to tickets.com/">Tickets.com.

"I've got nothing but respect for Ticketmaster," said LaBelle. "But we're a pretty unique organization, in terms of ticketing needs. In a given season, we sell 500 to 600 thousand tickets. At any time, we sell 3,000 tickets in 4 minutes."

The switch, adds LaBelle, will be cheaper for patrons as well, averaging at 20 percent less.

Currently tickets.com serves more than 2,000 clients and venues worldwide, such as the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, along with 13 Major League Baseball teams.

"Our best differentiator is our technology," said Brian Roberts, vice president of sales of Tickets.com.

The service's most recent innovation is the ability to purchase and deliver tickets via cellphone. A bar code for each ticket is sent to a phone and the code can then be scanned off the phone's display by a ticket taker at the venue.

Tickets.com is owned by MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball. So, LaBelle is hoping STG can utilize some of its features, like the video playback system, so patrons can review performances online. Potentially, customers can order their tickets and concert merchandise at the same time online.

There will also be new 24 hour ticket kiosks near the theaters, so fans can purchase tickets at their own convenience.

"It's like a brand new world for our staff, and eventually for our patrons," said LaBelle.

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com