Performing arts organizations across the United States are slashing ticket prices to fill seats, according to an article by John Jurgensen in the Wall Street Journal (Feb 14-15, 2009).
The crux of this story is that in a down-economy, with non-ticket revenues (which usually account for more than half of any performing arts organization's income) in retreat, it is better to fill your seats AND cut costs. At least you can try to build audience for when things pick up.
This has always been a standard business approach for anything with fixed capacity, whether it's a winery or a hotel or a theater. First, fill your barrels/tanks or rooms or seats, and THEN figure out how to increase your revenue from that capacity.
Unfortunately, since most businesses are not beginning from a zero-base, cutting prices on excess capacity may (well, usually does) result in concomitant price reductions to that part of the businesses barrels/tanks or rooms or seats that had been selling for a higher price.
Reduced-price "rush" tickets sold at the Boise Contemporary Theater filled the house and built buzz for its current production, but couldn't offset the revenue shortfall resulting from a 20% decline in season ticket sales. My guess? Some theater-goers frugally declined to renew their season subscriptions, then attended the theater using discounted single show tickets. Very thrifty. And very costly for the theater.
In order to save $50,000, Boise Contemporary Theater cancelled the last show of their current season, a production of Sarah Ruhl's "Eurydice" scheduled for April. An email message from Ms. Ruhl was quoted in the WSJ article:
"This is going to happen more and more in this economy -- the only good I can see in the economic crisis is that we might go back to the primary roots of theater, which is poor theater ... It might be a new epoch of theater, and it might actually be more naked, and more alive. We can only hope."
I can only hope, too. I suppose there's a place for expensive, special effects-laden theatrical experiences (although I don't think that's what they were planning in the 230 seat Boise Contemporary Theater space). But I would prefer to see more focus on theater that is more alive and human based. Smaller in scale. More connection and less spectacle.
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