LINCOLN CITY – Visitors to Lincoln State Park might not expect to encounter the Lincoln Amphitheater, a state-of-the-art entertainment venue located inside the park. The fully covered outdoor venue kicked off its 35th season on Saturday May 14.
Marc Steczyk, director of the Lincoln Amphitheater, spoke about the changes, improvements and work that have been done to the amphitheater.
An exciting feature of the Lincoln Amphitheater is this year’s production of “Makin’ a Home on Pigeon Creek: A Celebration of Lincoln Amphitheater Musicals.” The concert is a celebration of crowd favorite songs that will take audiences back to the original musical “Young Abe Lincoln” and their newest musical “Here I Grew Up”. The concert will be presented for three evenings on June 23, 25 and 25.
In 2015, Indiana Destination Development Corporation took over management of the Lincoln Amphitheater in partnership with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Steczyk says they started working to deal with the amphitheater’s declining revenue and encourage attendance.
Once they started generating revenue and getting the place back to a sustainable place, they started running.
As the site began to stabilize from 2018, they began to focus and focus their efforts on off-season investment by improving different features and aspects of the site’s infrastructure. Improvements included lighting, sound systems and hoists. These upgrades are things that people may not physically see when visiting the Lincoln Amphitheater, but will definitely notice and are an expectation when visiting a venue.
Improvements have also been made with the recent addition of handrails in the seating area to create a safer and easier environment for spectators to enter and exit seats. The bathrooms on the site have also been renovated.
From 2015 to present, the Lincoln Amphitheater will achieve the closing achievement of $1 million in revenue that has been reinvested into the facility.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges arose, but they succeeded, Stecyzk explained. They were lucky because they are an outdoor venue and they have a bigger seating area. In 2020 they had limited capacity for the venue. But for the 2021 season, they have worked hard to incorporate a full season of shows from July to October.
For the 2022 season, the Lincoln Amphitheater looks forward to returning to a more normal season with full crowds in the seats.
Some of the things that make the Lincoln Amphitheater unique include that they are one of the largest covered outdoor venues in southern Indiana. They also acknowledge their connection to Lincoln and the history of Spencer County. Being located within the Lincoln State Park landscape adds value to the uniqueness and experience of the Lincoln Amphitheater.
Upcoming Lincoln Amphitheater shows in 2022:
• Saturday June 4: Henry Lee Summer, presented by PSC
• Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 23-25: Making a Home on Pigeon Creek: a Celebration of Lincoln Amphitheater Musicals, presented by MasterBrand Cabinets with support from the Lincoln Drama Association
• Saturday July 16: Ana Popovic, presented by Kimball International
• Saturday, July 23: The Lone Bellow, presented by the Spencer County Community Foundation and the Perry County Community Foundation
• Saturday August 13: here are the mummies
• Saturday 24 September: Who’s Who — a tribute to The Who
• Saturday, October 1: Midnight Rider — a tribute to the Allman Brothers, presented by Hedinger Beverage Distributing Company & Key Associates Signature Realty
The Lincoln Amphitheater is also presenting a Sunday afternoon summer series titled “Amp Unplugged” for the 2022 summer season.
Individual tickets for each of the 2022 Lincoln Amphitheater Performance Series events are on sale now at LincolnAmphitheatre.com.
