How the historic Madison Theater positions itself in a crowded market

Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati have a lot of music venues. Are you feeling classical? Try Music Hall. How about enjoying the sunset on the lawn in Devou Park? Maybe a sold-out concert at the MegaCorp Pavilion?

These venues all serve their purposes and have unique charm, but the Madison Theater in Covington remains the “hometown choice” for many music artists, with its roots dating back to the early 1900s.

The Madison Theater opened in 1912 as a silent movie theater. Overtime, it transitioned into a standard movie theater, as “talking” movies became the norm. During the theater’s long history, there was a fire that caused the building to be defunct for many years, according to Program Director Frank Hulefeld.

“Esther Johnson bought it from the city of Covington for a dollar with the promise that she would put her own funds in to rehab it,” Hulefeld says. “That’s what she did, over the course of about 20 years. It opened in 2000.”

The Madison has hosted artists from all genres—indie, rock, pop, country and everything in between. But as other venues are rapidly popping up in the Tristate area, the Madison prides itself on being the hometown option for musical acts small and large.

“We’re booked and operated by local Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky natives,” Hulefeld says. “We focus, especially, on our smaller rooms. We book a lot of local stuff—a lot of local acts, a lot of regional acts—which the newer rooms can’t do just because of their size. They’re too big to host local and regional talent.”

When booking larger, national acts, Hulefeld says the Madison has to be a “little bit more aggressive.

“There is so much more competition, but we pride ourselves on being the hometown option,” Hulefeld says. “And just keeping our ears to the ground of the types of bands that the people in this area really want to see, and just sort of differentiating ourselves in that regard.”

Covington itself is a historical city, with its beginnings dating back to the early 19th century. There are still plenty of historically significant buildings in the city—like the Madison Theater—that creates a charming atmosphere that many other venue locations don’t have.

Hulefeld says the Madison works as part of an ecosystem, where concertgoers will grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant before a concert. Or patrons of local bars will see the Madison’s advertisements for upcoming shows and decide to buy tickets.

“A lot of people who come to the concerts, they’ll go and grab dinner beforehand, or they’ll go and grab drinks after the show. That all filters into the local neighborhood. If you look at the amount of restaurants that were in the central business corridor on Madison Avenue in Covington 10 years ago versus how many there are now, it’s a night and day difference,” Hulefeld says.

The success of the Madison Theater, Hotel Covington and dozens of other local businesses has allowed the central business district to thrive—benefiting the locals who frequent these venues, as well as the business owners.

“We’re a big part of the ecosystem, and we’re happy to be because there’s a lot of great restaurants, all with their own distinct offerings,” Hulefeld says.

Part of that ecosystem is Hulefeld coordinating with the local business owners, giving them a heads-up about the Madison’s shows so they can adequately prepare for an influx of patrons.

“We’re proud to be a part of that, and I try to talk to as many of the restaurant owners as I can and let them know when we’re going to be having big shows so that they can prepare—just coordinate with them and try to bring as many people down to the area as possible to get dinner, to get drinks afterwards,” Hulefeld says.

Like all music venues, the Madison remained closed during much of the pandemic. When the theater reopened, patrons were excited to return to live music.

“We realized that people were really missing that live music component in their life,” Hulefeld says. “Once we did reopen, the shows were very well-attended … I think what [the pandemic] did is it made not only concert goers realize how important live music was to their lives, but also the people that work at the venues. We all realized how much we missed it.”

The love for live music will continue, as owner Esther Johnson wants the Madison to remain a music venue, according to Hulefeld.

“The last couple of years, we’ve made a lot of progress in terms of the amount of shows that we’re bringing in—not just to Madison Theater, but to Madison Live and the Rooftop,” Hulefeld says. “We look forward to being even stronger and a bigger part of the local music scene, and also solidifying our position as an important tour stop for a lot of national acts for the foreseeable future.”

Who Has Played at the Madison Theater?

• The Killers
• Skrillex
• Arctic Monkeys
• Breaking Benjamin
• Lucinda Williams
• Fitz & the Tantrums
• The National
• Third Eye Blind
• The Pixies
• Walk the Moon