By Carly Maitlen
Entertainment Editor

The entertainment business is ever-changing and Purdue Convocations director Todd Wetzel is along for the ride.

The process of bringing in an artist and deciding what kind of artist is a process that never stays the same, especially as the audience's taste in music and art dramatically change from year to year. As these tastes change, so do the kinds of artists who are available during the nine months of the school year.

Although getting artists to come to Purdue is driven by money, many other factors are also involved.

"There's certainly a trend in the popular entertainment area that for everyone involved, the outdoor amphitheater is much more profitable and a better quality of life for the artist," said Wetzel. This allows artists to only play when the weather is good as well as cut down touring time.

Wetzel said that with the extensive amount of sets and equipment used in concerts by some artists today, playing larger arenas allows them to play fewer concerts, thus maximizing their profits.

"It just means we have to look at a different kind of act," said Wetzel. He said it is important to remember that acts don’t change their prices just because they will be playing a smaller venue. An artist may charge $1 million dollars to play a large arena that seats 30,000 and will still charge $1 million to play Elliott Hall of Music - a price that Purdue can't afford because it will make the cost of tickets unreasonable.

However, the two-part project of the construction of the new Visual Performing Arts Building may help bring in more acts. In the second phase of the building, a midsize hall will be constructed that will have around 2,200 seats.

"Our programs could really evolve around that facility," said Wetzel. "It would change the way we could do Broadway, unquestionably."

The new facility would also be able to change the audience experiences by putting them in closer contact with the act that is performing.

He said the facility could also affect rock 'n' roll concerts by providing a place for bands that are not quite big enough to play Elliott but are too big for Loeb Playhouse.

"I think we could fit up and coming acts in a space like that," said Wetzel.

Prior to taking on his position here on Oct. 1, 1999, Wetzel had been at Purdue for two and a half years. He spent seven years at Valparaiso University, where he also received his degree in music management. At Valparaiso, he worked with the designing of the university's arts facility. One of the reasons he was brought to Purdue was to assist in the construction of Purdue's own Visual and Performing Arts Center, which will begin its first phase of construction after the first of the year. The second phase, which is when the new midsize theater facility will be constructed, does not have a start date because it is still waiting for the necessary gift funding to be raised. Wetzel's experience at Valparaiso will prove valuable as he helps with the plans for the arts center here.

After taking over his position last fall, Wetzel had until about the end of January to organize the next season's event schedule.

"We've taken a close look at the way we find out about our audience's interest," said Wetzel. "We wanted to make sure we understood the needs, wants and desires of the community."

Once that information is obtained, Wetzel can go to work listening to and reading about various acts that want to come to Purdue to perform. Not only has music changed in the last few years, but what the audience has taste for has changed as well. Part of Wetzel's job is to strike a careful balance between what the students want to see with what faculty and members of the Greater Lafayette community wants to see.

Hundreds of folders are sent to him with information about various artists. He said he spends a lot of time listening to music of artists and reading about their performances.

Besides picking acts to come to Purdue, Wetzel's job consists of being the "chief program officer" for all the umbrella organizations that stem from convocations, such as the Student Concert Committee and Friends of Purdue Convocations.

Wetzel encourages students to attend a variety of events at Purdue.

"I believe in creating as many opportunities for students to be able to see some of the world's greatest performing arts programs as possible," he said. Wetzel said that students should take advantage of these opportunities because once they leave the college scene, there will be few opportunities for them to see these types of performances at discounted ticket rates.

To encourage students to take advantage of these opportunities, Wetzel has had the convocations department offer the Big Deal Card to students all year around. This card costs students $50 and allows them to see five mainline shows (this does not include rock concerts because those are done by the Student Concert Committee). These cards were previously only available the first month of the school year.