This was published 13 years ago
The arts defy spending downturn with record sales across the boards
By Joyce Morgan and Adam Fulton
RETAILERS may be struggling but performing arts companies are reporting a rise in ticket sales.
The long-held wisdom that audiences no longer want to plan their arts calendar months ahead and subscribe also appears to be changing.
The Sydney Festival, Opera Australia, Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony and Belvoir Street Theatre all say year-on-year sales are much higher.
Subscription sales for next year's Opera Australia season are up about 5 per cent on this time last year, with Carmen proving particularly popular.
''Swimmingly'' was how a Sydney Festival spokeswoman described ticket sales for January's three-week event. It has achieved 80 per cent of its box-office target, a significant increase on this time last year, when just 52 per cent had been reached and the festival failed to meet its projections, resulting in an accumulated deficit of $290,000.
Average ticket prices for the 2011 festival are lower than for the previous one but the big-ticket numbers have sold well, including The Giacomo Variations with John Malkovich and concerts by Sufjan Stevens and Emmylou Harris.
At Belvoir, subscriptions have risen amid anticipation of the baton change in artistic directors.
Subscriptions were up about 6 per cent on a year ago and on track to be one of Belvoir's best years, said the general manager, Brenna Hobson. ''We're really pleased,'' she said.
Subscribers tended to be loyal and wanted to support the incoming artistic director, Ralph Myers, who is taking over from Neil Armfield. The changeover occurs, officially, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.
''It might well be that our figures are being distorted by the fact that people are very generously saying: 'Well, let's give this guy a go,' '' Ms Hobson said.
Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, starring Judy Davis, is leading in popularity for its 2011 season.
The Australian Ballet's subscriptions in 2010 have been the strongest in Sydney since 1994 and in Melbourne since 1992.
Its associate executive director, Philippe Magid, attributed this to programming and the work the company had done to convince audiences of the benefits of subscribing.
''There has been a trend for subscriptions to be declining across the industry,'' Mr Magid said. ''But [with the Australian Ballet] people are understanding the value of a subscription, including that it's a priority system and means accessing the best seats.''
Its current Sydney season of The Nutcracker had sold out three months ago, earlier than previously experienced for a popular traditional ballet.
After a difficult first half of the year, the Sydney Symphony's ticket sales picked up dramatically in the second half and it has ended 2010 with record sales.
The symphony has also defied the declining subscription trend and received a large number of new subscribers.
So far about 19 per cent of its 2011 subscribers are new, almost double the anticipated 10 per cent, its managing director, Rory Jeffes, said.
The view from Sydney Theatre Company was also upbeat. Its general manager, Patrick McIntyre, said subscription sales were ''healthy''.