Arts Alive! podcast: Palladium Theater director Paul Wilborn

And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain ….

With apologies to Paul Anka, who wrote “My Way,” it’s not really a final curtain. Nothing so dramatic.

In the case of Paul Wilborn, who’s been the executive director of St. Petersburg’s Palladium Theater since 2007, it’s more of a metaphorical curtain, anyway. And it’s coming down at the conclusion of Act One.

Following tonight’s sold-out jazz concert with Bryan J. Hughes & The Crew in the Side Door Cabaret, the Palladium’s small-ish downstairs room, the entire facility will be shutting down. For a year.

Wilborn, who did it his way, and will continue to do so, guests on today’s Arts Alive! podcast to chat about the closure – it’s for much-needed and long-awaited renovations – and what it might mean for the Palladium’s legion of regular customers, the bay area performing artists who call it home, and for the Big Boss Man himself.

“We’ve been working at this for three years,” Wilborn explains. “It really does need to happen. And the good news is, we needed to raise about 10.5, 11 million dollars, and we exceeded that. And we had to get real money in the bank, because it’s not something you can just do on credit.

“So the hard work for me was raising that money. And that’s what kept me up at night.”

The renovations focus on “seating, sightlines and audience experience” in the building which is 101 years old. “It’s going to be a big change,” he admits, “but I’m excited about it.”

Coming in 2027: Act Two.

Click on the arrow to listen to the conversation.