Of all the stations on all the car stereos in all the world,
Philadelphia entrepreneur Hal Real's dial happened to stumble on 88.5
one afternoon and a live music institution was born. An avid
concert-goer, Real became frustrated with Philadelphia's smoky stages.
When he heard
WXPN's World Cafe, hosted by David Dye, he knew he had
found his live music muse.
Six years later,
World Cafe Live is
one of the most popular music venues in Philadelphia, driving a
nightlife crowd to a sparse section of UPenn's campus. Earlier this
summer, Real began a crusade to bring live music to another
underutilized area as his company, Real Entertainment Group redevelops
the historic Queen Theater in Wilmington, Del. Real created
Light Up The Queen, a non-profit redevelopment group designed to restore this
storied theater to its former glory.
"You can't have a
monumental building like that sit there like a piece of urban blight,"
says Real. "It needs to come back to life."
Opened as a
vaudeville theater in 1917, the Queen went dark in 1959. But as downtown
Wilmington begins a $325 million Market Street redevelopment, buildings
like the Queen have been targeted for demolition. Real believes the
hype in Wilmington and hopes his venue can help draw visitors from
nearby Philadelphia and South Jersey. The Light Up The Queen foundation
has already hosted musical acts like Trombone Shorty at public locations
around Wilmington to promote the new venue.
"Geographically,
Wilmington is smack in the middle of New York City and Washington, DC.
It is five minutes off of I-95 and a 10-minute walk to the Amtrak train
station," says Real. "That's why Wilmington is going through this great
renaissance. Lots more acts would be willing to play Wilmington if they
had a venue."
Source: Hal Real, Real Entertainment Group
Writer: John Steele