SR, SRO, and $1200+ May 13, 2008
The Opportunities and Frustrations of a Theater Loving Student
While reading through the Cal Performances’ new 2008-2009 season, I ran across this notice for buying tickets to Yo Yo Ma’s concert:
Available only to $1,200+ Donors and above; see our Support Cal Performances section for full listing of donor benefits and to become a Producers Circle donor today.
Now Ma is an amazingly lyrical player, and he is playing the Bach suites – but this sort of blatant soliciting by opening up this concert only to $1200+ donors is sobering. I saw Ma play in Shanghai a few years ago, and I would actually rather fly to China and see him for the same amount of money than supporting this bold move. It’s not surprising that people call theater elitist and find it uninviting.
Note that even if you donate $1200, it’s an additional $150-250 to see the Yo Yo Ma concert.
Ticket pricing is an issue that’s near and dear to my heart, because it directly affects my ability to see shows. For a person who’s willing to devote time, gas, and effort to see as much theater as I can, ticket prices are the only obstacle to enjoying my favorite and notoriously expensive hobby.
I realize that it takes a lot of money to put on the quality theater that I enjoy. The San Francisco Ballet has reportedly poured in $3 million into the New Works Festival, with Silicon Valley royalty like Yahoo’s founder Jerry Yang sponsoring Elo’s piece, Double Evil. With this, I am eternally grateful to the many institutions in the Bay area that remember the peons the students and offer great discount ticketing options. My favorite is San Francisco Ballet, where you can buy tickets over the phone for same day discounts. It’s such a luxury, and one that I utilize often. (One small complaint: this luxury was yanked for certain days over the New Works Festival which prevented me from watching Program A twice – check out sfmike’s take on what he calls the “only serious misstep” over this decision.) San Francisco Symphony also offers Center Terrace seats (located behind the stage, great for a piano concerto but not so great for something like a violin solo where the soloist faces the front) and rush tickets for certain performances based on availability. Berkeley Repertory Theatre has the most aggressive program aimed at attracting younger audiences, with a great “Under 30″ program with half priced tickets and access to their great Under 30 parties. All these programs are great for reeling in new audiences otherwise intimidated of going to see theater, and hopefully keeping these audiences as salaries expand with age. These programs have allowed me to experience and to keep my theater hobby alive, and whereve I end up, I will be a season subscriber to as many of these venues (or similar ones) as possible.
Cal Performances doesn’t have a consistent general student rush policy except for Berkeley students, which I am not, and rare occasions when most of the theater is empty, which coincidentally don’t occur in the shows that I usually want to see.
It’s also impossible to completely boycott its ticket policies when Cal Performances is bringing Mark Morris’ new Romeo and Juliet and his L’Allegro this year, in addition to the Kirov Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and Alvin Ailey. It just means I have to limit my support and keep away from the programs that I could live without seeing. It also means no running to the Berkeley campus for last minute viewings when an evening opens up.
(On a side tangent: more information on Morris’ new Romeo and Juliet production. Not only am I looking forward to Morris’ ingenuity in seeing what he’ll do to the sweeping Prokofiev score, but this show will be a premiere in itself using the original music that Prokofiev was forced to rewrite in order to accomodate the strict Stalinist regime. Check out the new website for Morris’ Romeo and Juliet, www.lovelives.net .)
I wrote briefly about this topic before, citing a NY Times article that when NYCB changed its cheapest tickets from $30 to $15, sales tripled. Sometimes I wonder why I couldn’t have cheaper hobbies than theater, like movies or hiking. But thanks to the great student programs out there, it’s really allowed me to see as much as I can without too being too much in debt. I can only hope that these student policies don’t change.
From the NY Times article, If You Discount It, Will They Come?
Updated: Are you a student at UCSF or the SF Conservatory? Check out the SF Performances Culture Card, where you can see over 20 shows for $25. It’s got to be one of the best deals that I’ve ever heard of.
Don’t get me started on Cal Performances. It’s easily the greediest arts organization in the Bay Area and they are using public buildings and resources, which just makes it worse. The Yo Yo Ma fiasco just feels like a logical extension of their crappy style. I’ve been conducting a personal boycott for a number of years now, so you won’t be bumping into me over at Zellerbach Hall.
Is it really non profit? I just don’t understand. I’m sure if we get 10 people together, Yo Yo Ma may agree to play in my living room for $12,000. Talk about sticker shock.
Hi J,
Cultural events are an expensive hobby. But I’ve always said people should have an expensive vice, so they can’t indulge in it everyday or regularly. I thought if I smoked, I should only smoke Dunhill cigarettes, or Cohiba cigars, or if it’s brandy, that it’s 20 years old. But hiking and movies are so mundane and pedestrian.
Actually you could not get Yo-Yo Ma to play in your living room for 12K. I’m sure he commands a higher fee than that.
This isn’t related though I think Arts should be more accessible to everybody. here is a blog I think you might be interested in:
http://danceoutlook.blogspot.com/
Thanks Katrina! It looks like it’s written from an interesting point of view, I’ll definitely take a closer look at it when I get a chance.
To Anonymous #2: I wasn’t meaning to be specific, but to make a general point. I also didn’t mean to demean Ma and his playing by assuming that he would ever play in my living room; he sounds like how every musician strives to sound like, without technique getting in the way. Or at least in my music playing days, I would have loved to have sounded like in my dreams. He is a movingly lyrical player. Listening to him play is like riding a tidal wave of emotion. Thanks for commenting.
Hi Jolene
I don’t think you are demeaning Mr. Ma by assuming that he would play in your living room – back in his Harvard days, when his concerts would sell out, he would play mini-concerts in the lobby to those who couldn’t get in. For such a small venue as FCC, Cal Performances needs to try to recoup the cost of the event. There doesn’t seem anything wrong with trying to attract more donors so that CP can continue to present high quality events. Donors are what make it possible for all arts organizations in the US to continue to present quality programs. And Yo-Yo Ma is an artist who people are willing to pay a lot of money to see. Cal Performances does not have as large, or as generous a donor roster as the San Francisco Opera, Ballet, and Symphony and this could be a way they are trying to attract a larger donor base.
To defend Cal Performances, it is a non-profit, and a lot of their events are quite reasonably priced. Their recital prices are comparable to SF Performances, and less expensive than recitals presented at Davies.
They could have a better rush policy, but they are part of the University, and thus their priority is to serve the greater campus community and the students.
Thanks!
Hi Anonymous #2, I see that you’re associated with Cal Performances – thanks for the presenting your side of things in a logical way. I understand that putting on concerts is expensive, but I’m entitled to my opinion that $1200 is a lot for required entry to a concert, even with a performer as amazing as Yo-Yo Ma. And as a struggling student who happens to love an expensive hobby such as theater, it’s even more of a challenge not to feel marginalized and blatantly excluded by such prices. I also disagree with the way it was marketed as a public event, yet it’s obvious that a large percentage of the public will not be eligible to buy tickets. At least Cal Performances has a student policy, but I found that the rush is only available even less than half as often as other institutions such as the SF Ballet or the SF Symphony.
I just happen to feel that other arts organizations, such as the SF Ballet and SF Symphony, make an attempt to foster relationships with students such as myself. And when I finally graduate to become a doctor and hopefully have money to spend, I will be remembering these organizations that made an attempt to invest and foster a relationship with me, where I am familiar the organization, and donate and subscribe in return. Perhaps SFB and SFS’s outreach to the entire community is the reason why their donor base is bigger.
It’s certainly your prerogative to run an arts organization the way that you want to – I commend you for trying different ways to market and pull in more money in these unfriendly financial times, but it’s also my right to have a respectful opinion. There is a reason why this entry has hit a nerve amongst readers – I’ve received the most number of positive informative personal emails regarding this entry over any other entry (thanks everyone) and a few links as well. I know I’m not the only one who feels the way that I do.
I still hold that what I can’t donate in money, I definitely make up for in enthusiasm and dragging everyone I know to see shows that they would otherwise never see! That’s my contribution.
Why pay $1200 and an additional $150 to see Yo-Yo Ma when you can see him at the local Costco selling his crappy Appalachian Spring’s cd. How did he end up with a Stradivarius?
I don’t mean to play devil’s advocate, but the Yo-Yo Ma special event isn’t even in Zellerbach; it’s at the First Congregational Church. Definitely not a large venue, and one that probably would convince donors at the $1k level to pony up a little extra. This is common with many of the local arts presenters and companies (and I’ve worked for two different ones, so I’ve seen this in action). Would you prefer that they only advertised this to subscribers and patrons but not the general public?
But I have a feeling that our little posse of non-profit arts presenters (affiliated with a university or not) are probably having a tough time recruiting new younger audiences, and I’d think that student discounts and rush would be a real positive way of initiate the new (paying) audience and potential donor base.
Dear Becca: It’s called elitism, pure and simple. For instance, opening night at the San Francisco Opera is designed in every way, from its expensive dinners and balls and performance festivities, to appeal to the very wealthy and to encourage them to pony up large donations. Still, if you want to pay a nominal fee and buy a standing room ticket for that same performance, that option is also offered. In the case of Cal Performances, they are basically saying “eff you, you’re not invited to this performance unless you have at least $1,200 that you’re willing to donate to us.” It’s outrageous and I hope there are pickets out in front of the church on the night of the performance.
Hi Becca, I’m sure the view looks different from inside the administration, but from the outsider’s point of view of an average slightly obsessed overenthusiastic audience member, I agree with sfmike on this one. Click on the link below for another viewpoint – he’s much better at putting things into words than I am.
http://reverberatehills.blogspot.com/2008/05/glances-backwards-and-forwards.html
I never said I agreed with the lack of “affordable” Yo Yo Ma tickets, but I do see the other side of the coin. Remember that when you buy a CalPerformances, SF Ballet, SF Symphony, YBCA, SF Performances, etc., ticket, the price you pay does not fully cover the cost of one person seeing that performance. In fact, rarely do the presenters recoup their costs for the evening (for example, even with selling out YBCA’s theater of about 755 seats, a dance performance with a high-quality company can’t break even. The in-house and presenting costs are just too high.) Not-for-profits need to fundraise to cover a portion of their operating expenses. Otherwise, they need to pass on the additional dollars to you. So is it a good way to “rake” in some cash to support the rest of the season? Maybe. But is this the right way to gain new audiences? Probably not.
On a side note, if anyone wants to have an impact, picketing probably won’t have much of an effect, as your audience probably won’t care about those who can’t afford the performance. But what about writing letters to the Chronicle, CalPerf, and especially Yo Yo Ma/his management?