Your backstage pass to the DFW music scene and beyond.
Ron Jenkins
Just got off the phone with Jerry Shults who, by this time tomorrow, should be the official owner of the Ridglea Theater. Everything's in line from the money to the plans, according to Shults, and all that's left to do is "sign on the dotted line."
Shults, who has already hired an architect (Sam Austin, senior project architect at Fort Worth's CMA; he wrote this poignant op-ed earlier this year) and an interior designer, says filming on a documentary on the theater's history is also underway.
What's more, Shults, who frequently sounded downright exuberant during our conversation, said that both AEG Live and Live Nation expressed an interest in booking national touring acts into the Ridglea as soon as possible. "Acts that would play the Granada would come here instead," Shults says. [I've reached out to local reps for both companies and will update when I hear back.]
Shults also says he's got his first tenant for the open space next door to the Ridglea: the Texas Musicians Museum, which is currently situated in Hillsboro. According to Shults, he's going to incorporate some of the museum's memorabilia into the theater's decor.
"I'm doing this 24/7," Shults says. "This is my baby. It's getting more exciting every day."
