By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — If Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy gets her wish, Barry Manilow, Huey Lewis and the News and a soul jam by the Chi-Lites, the Manhattans and the Stylistics will come to the Lynn Memorial Auditorium.
Kennedy, James Marsh, the city’s community development director, and Henry Ryan, who helps book acts for the 2,200-seat hall, attended the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in New York last weekend. The goal was to meet with as many performers’ agents as possible.
“We went band shopping,” said Kennedy. “We’re looking for acts to bring to the Lynn Auditorium for this year and next. We would like to get away from doing just classic rock which has been our wheelhouse.”
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Their mission was to find country and other acts. While no deals have been signed yet, they are considering the Oak Ridge Boys and Hank Williams Jr. But they also talked with agents for indie-rockers Mumford & Sons and Death Cab for Cutie to see if there might be possibilities to break in some newer acts.
The trio joined more than 45,000 people from around the globe to access thousands of artists of all disciplines and genres.
Kennedy said when she was elected eight years ago, the city booked just three shows a year, acts such as Peter Paul & Mary and the Doodlebops, a children’s show, not major attractions.
“I am the mayor that took the auditorium to becoming a major regional venue,” she said. “I brought in air conditioning so we could sustain it and go year round with it, brought in a professional bartending and security service and signed a contract with Ticketmaster so we would have a bigger presence.”
The goal, she said, is not just to make money, it’s to bring people to Lynn.
“The income is secondary,” Kennedy said. “We want to attract people to eat at a downtown restaurant and have a drink after the show so people will get an improved perception of Lynn.”
She credited Jamie Marsh, who also books the acts, with being responsible for renovations to the auditorium. She said Henry Ryan, who had been working as a City Hall custodian, was put to work also booking acts because he had experience arranging shows in Argentina.
“It was a great 24 hours and we should see some great results,” Kennedy said.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].