WHAT? An opera company with record ticket sales?
November 29th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I have to admit-in this age of doom and gloom, it’s so nice to read that an opera company is doing well.
According to the Sarasota Patch, ‘Madama Butterfly’ gave Sarasota Opera its highest ticket sales ever for a fall opera at the Sarasota Opera House. The opera company announced last week that its fall production of Giacomo Puccini’s wildly overperformed opera grossed about half a million dollars in ticket sales for the fall season, which set the bar for the highest selling show since 2008 when the venue started fall operas.
Additionally, the opera company noticed more returning subscribers and first-time subscribers in the fall. Ten percent of the audience at each performance were new to Sarasota Opera, and 290 new subscribers signed up for the winter season, and the company is $300,000 ahead of where it was last year. OH YEAH!
Even though it’s a touch sad that this success comes by producing one of the most constantly performed top five operas-ever, this great news is music to my ears! I’m also very, very glad for the company because I have a vested interest in their success having worked there for a spell (in Development). (It was one of my most rewarding administrative experiences to date, and Susan Danis is an insanely great Executive Director.)
Ah, there is hope.
People are still going to the opera!
David Walker
