WHEELING — There have been great shows taking place at the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling this summer, however, a good number of them struggled to bring in a sizable audience.

Members of the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority board met on Tuesday for the first time since June. The summer has typically been a slower time for indoor events, and a number of construction and improvement projects have been unfolding inside WesBanco Arena, where very few big events have been booked in recent months.

But several concerts and other shows have continued to take the stage on a regular basis at the Capitol Theatre through June, July and August.

Kelly Tucker, executive director of the GWSEA, said that while some shows have been smash hits in terms of ticket sales, others unfortunately have failed to fill a decent number of seats at the venue.

“Since I’ve been here, this was the first time we’ve actually tried some show content in the summer,” Tucker said, noting that when she first took on the role of executive director of Wheeling’s two marquee indoor entertainment venues back in the fall of 2022, much of the calendar for the following summer was already booked. Last summer, the Capitol Theatre had its fly system installed and was closed during the construction period.

Tucker said this summer has been a learning experience in terms of getting to know what genres of shows appeal to people in the local market – which ones are sure wins and which ones are rolls of the dice. A number of different styles of shows were offered – from classic rock to country, bluegrass and heavy metal – with an experimental approach to offering concertgoers a number of options.

“We kicked off at the end of May with Travis Tritt, which was almost a sold out show – a great show,” Tucker said during her operations report to the board Tuesday.

Several shows in the summer – from Steve Earle to the Little River Band, Indigo Girls and Buddy Guy – delivered fantastic performances, Tucker said.

“They were all really great shows – but we were always short like 200-300 tickets,” she said. “So none of them were winners for us.

“It was really sad to see Buddy Guy … with 500 people in there. That show was unbelievable. And he was not a cheap act – he was $65,000. So we’ve really got to weigh it all out.”

More recent shows helped bring the numbers or at least the attendance back up, Tucker noted. The “surprise rental” for the Bernie Sanders rally packed the house. The Theresa Caputo show was sold out, and last weekend’s concert by Kansas and Jefferson Starship was well attended.

“It was a great show,” Tucker noted. “Things kind of picked back up.”

However, in the future, Tucker indicated that they will likely remain focused on booking events during the summer months that are sure to be revenue producers during the time of the year when indoor attendance typically slows down.

“We’ve kind of taken a back seat on pushing weddings, but I think we found out that summer is just not our thing,” Tucker said. “It’s a tough sell in the summer when there’s so many things to do outside. There’s so much competition, where we don’t have as much competition in the fall and winter. Not to say that I don’t want to try new shows, but I think they’ve got to be the shows we know are (going to be successful).”

Tucker indicated that weddings in the Capitol Ballroom, the successful First Friday events on the WesBanco Arena patio and other smaller events can be peppered on the calendar with shows that are sure winners to get through next summer.

In the coming months, some big events are already at or are nearing capacity crowds, Tucker noted.

“We have a nice run in October, when it really kicks off at the theater,” she said.

Neal McCoy’s concert at the theater on Oct. 11 is almost sold out. Robert Plant on Oct. 30 at the Capitol – where he will kick off his U.S. tour – sold out in a matter of hours.

“We have a lot of content coming up,” Tucker said. “We’re heading into the busiest time.”

Improvements are underway at WesBanco arena, where hockey season gets underway in November. Tucker said ice will return to the arena floor on Sept. 2, and a new grab-and-go style Pepsi Marketplace vending area is being eyed for the concession concourse this fall.

Despite sluggish ticket sales for certain summer shows at the theater, the financial figures for the GWSEA have been strong in many areas, fiscal officer Nancy Hughes reported.

Operating revenues for March, April and May have been significantly ahead of previous years, and revenues for June of this year were the second highest for that month compared to the past seven years worth of historical fiscal data.

“Wrapping up fiscal year ’25, we ended the year with a preliminary unaudited revenue of $3.6 million,” Hughes said, noting that concession revenue has a tremendous impact on the financial success of the events held at WesBanco Arena and the Capitol Theatre. “It seems that any event that we have that hits over $15,000 in concession revenue ends up being one of the top events.”