The culmination of many years of discussion, planning and activity by Durham city officials came to fruition with the opening of the Durham Performing Arts Center late last year. DPAC, as it is commonly referred to is now the crown jewel in downtown Durham’s development. Situated next to the American Tobacco complex and the Durham Bulls baseball stadium, DPAC, with seating for 2,800 is the largest entertainment venue in the Southeast.

Phillip Szostak’s (Chapel Hill) architecturally striking building was designed around the stringent demands of meeting Broadway production standards and of also providing a great audience experience. The result is a fabulous venue with no seat farther than 135 feet from the stage.

A great building has to be complimented with great entertainment and the Triangle is lucky to have one of the best venue managers in the country in charge of DPAC. Bob Klaus is the General Manager of DPAC and is a Triangle performing arts management veteran.

Bob got his start in the business by promoting rock concerts in Gainesville, Florida while attending the University of Florida. He has done everything from building and managing stages to being a roadie. He progressed to working for a small promotion company that promoted and managed small shows throughout the Southeast for the likes of Charlie Daniels, .38 Special and Molly Hatchett. These valuable experiences lead him to be hired by a large promotion firm, Pace Entertainment out of Houston, TX.

His tenure at Pace gave him significant experience with both promotion and facilities management. He worked in their Broadway division and was soon put in charge of promoting the productions in about a dozen cities. As Bob states, “That was a great experience… traveling, getting to know the nuances of different markets, establishing relationships with theatres, media and the big touring Broadway shows at the time like Cats.”

Bob’s career got a further boost when Pace asked him to help open the Starlight Amphitheatre in Pittsburgh. The theatre was a success. “We opened with two sold out nights of Billy Joel. This facility went on to become one of the top ten amphitheatres in the country.”

Once the Starlight was established, in 1991 Pace asked Bob to come back to Raleigh to be a part of the management team at the new Walnut Creek Amphitheatre. In 1994 Pace promoted him to be the General Manager of the Blockbuster Pavilion in Charlotte. This was his transition to the facilities management side of the business.

Bob was asked to come back to Walnut Creek in 1997 and remained there for almost 10 years. It was about this time that he heard about the Durham project. After Raleigh decided to expand the Memorial Hall complex, Bill Kalkhof, president of Downtown Durham, Inc., cold called him and informed him they were also interested in doing something in Durham. Bob kept in contact with the responsible parties because he was intrigued with the project. The city eventually put out an RFP (Request for Proposal) and Nederlander responded and won the contract. Nederlander is a highly accomplished and respected national and international owner of concert venues and Broadway theatres. Nederlander, in partnership with PFM Productions, manages DPAC. Over the development years, one thing lead to another and Bob was eventually selected to be the GM for DPAC.

Bob and his longtime sweetheart, Kim, where married in 1993 just before their move to Charlotte. They have two little miracles, Sam, eight years, and Ellie, four years old. To achieve some balance in their lives, Bob is a yoga devotee and Kim plays tennis. Of course their favorite activity is being outdoors with the children. Whether it is biking, hiking or going to the beach the Klaus’ are spending time together at every opportunity. Bob and Kim are also active members of United Methodist Church in Cary.

So what keeps him motivated to put in all of the long hours? Bob responds, “I think what attracted me then [at University of Florida] and still does, what makes it so easy to get up in the morning and go to work. There’s always something different… I am so thankful to be in a business where you have that kind of variety and change.”

When asked, “Why are you the luckiest man in the world?” Bob told Boom! “ I get to go to this $50 million dollar performing arts center. Every day there are new challenges, new shows, so many wonderful things to work on that bring new life and vitality to this region.” Boom! magazine salutes Fifty & Fabulous Bob Klaus. See you at DPAC!