The Rosemont Theatre is getting a new name.
Harry Pappas, the theater’s executive director, today announced that the 4,400-seat venue will now be called the Akoo Theatre at Rosemont, following a $1.5 million, 5-year naming rights deal between the village and the Rosemont-based global media and technology company.
Akoo International, Inc., is the company behind an interactive music/television network system available in college dorms and shopping markets in what the company terms “Akoo Pavilions.” In addition to making on-demand content selections on AkooTV via free mobile app or text messaging, pavilion visitors can connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter, download mobile coupons and participate in special promotions, according to a company statement.
The theater opened in 1995 and is one of the area’s largest stages attracting a variety of entertainers over the years including Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, David Bowie, David Copperfield and Barry Manilow, as well as national touring productions of Broadway shows. Through the new agreement, Pappas said in a statement that Akoo will create and broadcast content featuring artists at both the theater and the nearby Allstate Arena, also in Rosemont.
In January, Akoo’s chairman and CEO Niko Drakoulis, was named to the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame by the Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which recognizes business innovators.
– Miriam Di Nunzio
