Posted September 4, 2026
The Dayton Business Journal recently held a conversation focused on Arts & Entertainment. Panelists included Gabriel van Aalst, President & CEO at Dayton Live and Patrick Nugent, President & CEO at Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. Cory Earl, Market President & Publisher of the Dayton Business Journal, moderated the discussion.
Cory Earl: Thank you both for joining me today. As we head into the fall season, how would you describe the current state of Dayton’s arts and entertainment sector, and what trends are most influencing your organization today? Gabriel, let’s start with you.
Gabriel van Aalst: Thanks Cory, appreciate you including us today. Dayton’s arts and entertainment scene is flourishing with fantastic offerings from professional performing arts including Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and The Human Race Theatre Company to intimate gallery exhibitions and everything in between. Here at Dayton Live, we’re presenting a variety of dynamic programming from Broadway shows like THE NOTEBOOK, HAMILTON, and CLUE to lively comedians like Fortune Feimster and Nurse Blake to cult classics like THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and the beloved A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL. There’s something in store for those who have enjoyed seeing Broadway tours, concerts, and family shows at our venues to people who may have never been on our campus. Today’s patrons are looking for reasons to laugh, smile, and relax. Stepping into the theatre is like entering another world. Audiences can fully immerse themselves in the stories being told on stage, listen to joyful live music, laugh out loud, and connect with the community around them. We’re bringing people together to experience the power of arts and live entertainment, share meaningful experiences that foster belonging, and transform our community for the better.
Patrick Nugent: Arts and entertainment in Dayton are evolving as audience habits change. Consumers are more selective as competition for their time and attention grows. That’s why performing arts organizations must put audiences first as we program, invest, and market.
For DPAA, that means investing in the performances that are most compelling and inspiring and have the greatest audience impact. This season, we made the difficult decision to retire our Pops and Rock series after demand declined dramatically over the past decade. We are now concentrating performances into fuller houses and investing more deeply in the experiences that interest our community most—our classical orchestra, opera, and ballet programming.
The larger lesson here is that organizations can’t assume that just because a product has succeeded in the past, it will continue to attract audiences indefinitely. That’s why we must continue to pay attention to changing customer behavior, reshape our offerings, and reallocate resources accordingly.
Earl: That’s a great segue into our next topic, Patrick. As you mentioned, consumer habits continue to evolve. How are your organizations attracting new audiences while also keeping long-time patrons engaged and coming back?
Nugent: We’re equally focused on developing new audiences and building the kind of affinity that turns a first-time ticket buyer into a longtime patron. Over half of our patrons return each year, so both acquisition and retention are essential to our growth. We’ve invested significantly in our customer database and our ability to understand the consumer journey. That allows us to identify highly targeted audience segments and tailor messages, offers, and communication channels based on where someone is in their relationship with us. We can introduce a new customer to the performance most likely to interest them, while communicating very differently with someone who has attended for years. We’re also applying those insights beyond marketing. Audience behavior informed the programming decisions we’ve made for the upcoming season. Data shouldn’t simply tell you how to sell your product; it can help you determine what your community wants most.
van Aalst: Dayton Live is committed to programming for a wide range of patron tastes and interests. For example, we’re bringing in comedians that appeal to patrons with varying interests this fall like viral teacher comedians from BORED TEACHERS COMEDY TOUR to viral standout Nurse Blake whose jokes nurses understand right away. In previous seasons, we’ve brought in comedy sensations like Josh Johnson and Tom Segura; beloved Midwestern comedians Dusty Slay and Charlie Berens; and longtime comics like Henry Cho and Brian Regan.
Likewise, we present programming that our current patrons love. World-renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is returning to discuss the science behind fiction, and the Wild Kratt brothers are diving into another family-friendly adventure this fall. In the spring, the Tony Award®-winning musical HAMILTON makes its third triumphant return to the Schuster Center, and so does KINKY BOOTS after ten years. We’re presenting productions that spark patrons’ curiosity and joy while encouraging deeper connections with the Arts community.
Earl: Arts and entertainment are often discussed in terms of quality of life, but they are also economic drivers for our downtown and region overall. How do you see your organization contributing to Dayton’s business community and regional growth?
Nugent: The arts aren’t optional for economic development—they’re indispensable to it. In the Dayton region, nonprofit arts and culture generate $239.4 million in economic activity and support nearly 4,500 jobs. DPAA’s workforce includes more than 350 local musicians, dancers, vocalists, designers, artists, craftspeople, and administrators, while our audiences generate revenue for restaurants, hotels, parking facilities, and other local businesses. But our contribution extends beyond direct spending. Businesses invest in DPAA because a vibrant cultural community helps them recruit and retain talent. We’ll also bring the arts into the business community through our new Executive Leadership Training program, which turns an orchestra rehearsal into a leadership classroom. We recently piloted the program with Wright-Patterson to great success. For us, quality of life and economic development are the same conversation. A region where people want to live and build careers is one where businesses can attract talent, grow, and thrive.
van Aalst: Our stewardship of the Schuster Center, Victoria Theatre, PNC Arts Annex, and the Metropolitan Arts Center (home of The Loft Theatre), in addition to our presentation of more than 100 touring Broadway, children’s, speakers, comedians, concerts, one-of-a-kind experiences, and sensory inclusive performances creates an economic impact of around $34 million each year. We’re the region’s largest employer of arts and entertainment workers, supporting more than 400 performing arts jobs in the Miami Valley region. In addition, we welcome more than 400,000 people into our venues every year. With an influx of community members and visitors coming to see our presentations, it fuels support for surrounding restaurants, cafes, hotels, and businesses.. Patrons enjoy eating meals before or after seeing a show, shopping in nearby small businesses, going out for coffee or cocktails, or spending time exploring downtown Dayton. Beyond the immediacy of the night out, a thriving arts and entertainment community is vital to attracting and retaining a vibrant workforce to the Miami Valley, and Dayton Live is proud to serve as a community anchor in this capacity. Companies’ decisions about where to locate their businesses are often influenced by the availability of a creative workforce and quality of life, and arts and culture can play a major role in community development by fostering an environment that attracts talented young workers.
Earl: What is the biggest challenge facing arts and entertainment organizations right now, and what strategies are proving most effective in building long-term sustainability?
van Aalst: The quality and number of arts and entertainment programming in the market is plentiful, but it comes with the challenge of determining how much the region can handle. As community members are more cost-cautious, they are looking for experiences that are unique, enriching, and entertaining. How can organizations balance these demands and keep introducing innovative programming into the market? For us, we’re always evaluating market trends, connecting with our Board members and our patrons, and seeing what shows can bring the value, inspiration, and entertainment that the community craves.
Nugent: The biggest challenge is that the traditional financial model for the performing arts is shifting. Historically, ticket sales might account for 20–30% of an organization’s revenue; today, ticket sales represent just 17% for DPAA. That makes contributed revenue increasingly important to long-term sustainability. Individual philanthropy is a critical part of that equation, but there is also an important opportunity for the business community. At DPAA, corporate support now represents about 4%. For businesses, supporting the arts isn’t simply charitable giving—it’s an investment in the quality of life they depend upon to attract employees and customers. Sustainability therefore requires work on both sides of the business. We must continually evaluate our programming and operations against changing consumer demand, while also building a broader base of philanthropic investment. Long-term sustainability requires arts organizations and the communities they serve to recognize that they have a shared stake in one another’s success.
Earl: Looking ahead to the next three to five years, what opportunities make you most optimistic about the future of arts and entertainment in the Dayton region?
van Aalst: The future is bright for the arts and entertainment scene in Dayton. We’re thrilled to continue bringing world-class presentations to our campus while building community around the Arts. As new programming enters the market, including immersive arts experiences and new Broadway blockbusters head out on the road, we’re excited to bring them to Dayton. Likewise, we’re looking forward to encouraging community members to engage with the themes expressed in our presentations and enjoying Dayton’s professional performing arts organizations like DPAA, DCDC, and The Human Race Theatre Company. Looking further ahead, we’re planning to expand beyond our current campus footprint. The work will take time, patience, and understanding to ensure the revitalization meets the needs of the community and creates a space for more arts and entertainment experiences to thrive. However, we are dedicated to working with the City of Dayton and Montgomery County to transform the space behind the Victoria Theatre to become a vibrant destination for even more members of our community.
Nugent: What makes us most optimistic is the generational shift we’re seeing in audiences. At DPAA, the largest demographic for single-ticket buyers has shifted from Baby Boomers to Gen X and Millennials. At the same time, 13% of all tickets we release are student tickets—a figure that has grown substantially since the pandemic. Those are encouraging signs for the future of arts participation across our region. At DPAA, we’re also seeing strong demand for our more collaborative performances that combine the opera, philharmonic, and ballet in creative ways, which are unique to Dayton and which have been specifically designed by our Artistic Directors for our community. Over the next several years, arts organizations have an opportunity to build on both trends: cultivating the next generation of audiences while creating ambitious, collaborative experiences that are authentically and distinctly Dayton.
Earl: I think that’s well said from both of you and it gives us a lot to consider going forward. With that, we’ll conclude today’s discussion. Thank you both once again for sharing your time and perspectives with our readers.