47 replies to this topic

[YouOverThere]

California, on 07 October 2011 - 03:32 AM, said:

One of the cancelled concerts was Romeo and Juliet, with a local dance ensemble, the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. Colorado Ballet did a very successful Romeo and Juliet last February and I'm not sure how the Symphony was going to perform this in symphony hall. Guess we'll never know!

I hadn't been planning on attending that one. I haven't gotten over the last time these 2 organizations got together. It was a most bizarre production of Cinderella, with Cinderella being portrayed as a prostitute whose clients were soldiers returning from Vietnam.

[YouOverThere]

Helene, on 06 October 2011 - 10:35 PM, said:

There are all kinds of outreach, public performances through educational outreach, clubs for teens (Seattle, across orgs) and groups for people in their 20's and 30's, pre- and post-performances lectures and Q&A's, special concerts that are more familiar and less intimidating, etc.

Promotion and outreach are not items that any of the arts organizations in Denver seem to be particularly adept at, other than Ballet Nouveau Colorado, which has had some imaginative ideas. Believe it or not, the Colorado Ballet's website does NOT list the schedule of performances for Swan Lake, nor do any of the emails about Swan Lake that they've sent out contain the schedule of performances.

[California]

YouOverThere, on 08 October 2011 - 04:09 PM, said:

Promotion and outreach are not items that any of the arts organizations in Denver seem to be particularly adept at, other than Ballet Nouveau Colorado, which has had some imaginative ideas. Believe it or not, the Colorado Ballet's website does NOT list the schedule of performances for Swan Lake, nor do any of the emails about Swan Lake that they've sent out contain the schedule of performances.

If you click over to "purchase now" you'll see the schedule of performances. But they haven't announced casting anywhere on the site.
http://tickets.color...ail.aspx?psn=92

They don't have the sort of pre-performance talks you see at many other companies. But they did have a really nice open house on a Saturday in September for all donors and subscribers. They walked us through three rehearsal rooms for Swan Lake (watching for about 15 minutes in each), with the corps and then with some principals, then a Q&A room with the artistic director. And some really great food! They moved us through in groups of about 15 as so many people RSVPd.

[YouOverThere]

California, on 08 October 2011 - 04:55 PM, said:

If you click over to "purchase now" you'll see the schedule of performances.

I looked Saturday morning, and they had no performances listed for Saturday at all(according to the Colorado Public Radio website, they had both a matinee and an evening show).

[California]

YouOverThere, on 09 October 2011 - 09:22 PM, said:

California, on 08 October 2011 - 04:55 PM, said:

If you click over to "purchase now" you'll see the schedule of performances.

I looked Saturday morning, and they had no performances listed for Saturday at all(according to the Colorado Public Radio website, they had both a matinee and an evening show).

Very strange -- I wonder if same-day purchases cannot be made on-line. I was at both that day. They did well on sales (about 75% full at the matinee and a little more in the evening).
All the remaining performances are listed on this page: http://tickets.color...ail.aspx?psn=92

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Fri 10/14/11 7:30PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Fri 7:30  More Information    Purchase  
Sat 10/15/11 2:00PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Sat 2:00  More Information    Purchase  
Sat 10/15/11 7:30PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Sat 7:30  More Information    Purchase  
Sun 10/16/11 2:00PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Sun 2:00  More Information    Purchase  
Wed 10/19/11 6:30PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Wed 6:30  More Information    Purchase  
Fri 10/21/11 7:30PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Fri 7:30  More Information    Purchase  
Sat 10/22/11 2:00PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Sat 2:00  More Information    Purchase  
Sat 10/22/11 7:30PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Sat 7:30  More Information    Purchase  
Sun 10/23/11 2:00PM:  Ellie Caulkins Opera House  
Swan Lake Sun 2:00  More Information    Purchase  

[dirac]

It can be very difficult to figure out the truth of these matters from news reports.

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I might be totally off base on this, but it's been my impression that many classical music organizations seem to embrace the image of being elitist. I don't think that's an image that's going to maximize the number of new fans. I think a good first step would be to ditch the tuxedos and switch to clothing that is more contemporary.

I don't think you're off base at all. Rich donors are attracted by exclusivity. Some of them may also be motivated by love of the arts, but arts patronage has always played a role in social climbing, and if you ditch the dinner jackets you may also be ditching the deep pockets, with only an unreliable audience to replace them. It's a fine line for arts organizations to walk.

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But if I me employer had been telling everyone that their financial position was solid and then all of a sudden they say that they are losing money and they want me to take a pay cut rather than the pay raise we just negotiated a few months earlier, I'd want to take a few days to investigate what is going on.

A variation on the foregoing has been happening in statehouses all over the country.

And Timmy did fine yesterday, so perhaps it is time to get him off the bench.

[bart]

Of all the possible BAD strategies for survival, the Colorado Ballet has apparently hit on one of the worst -- by making it difficult to find out when there are performances and where to buy tickets.  That's a new one.     

Or has some agoraphobic billionaire bought all the tickets so that he/she can watch 9 performances of Swan Lake in solitary spendor?

[California]

bart, on 10 October 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

Of all the possible BAD strategies for survival, the Colorado Ballet has apparently hit on one of the worst -- by making it difficult to find out when there are performances and where to buy tickets.  That's a new one. . .

Respectfully, I am baffled by the complaint someone posted in this regard. If you go to their home page, you can get to the complete list of performances in multiple ways -- by clicking "Swan Lake" at the bottom left, or by clicking Performances or Tickets or News at the top. You then need just one or two more clicks to get to the detailed, complete list of dates and times from any of those starting places. When I look at sites for ABT or NYCB or other companies, I don't see the complete list of performances on the home page. You always need one or two clicks to get to that list.

http://www.coloradoballet.org/

[bart]

My apologies to Colorado Ballet.  I misunderstood the situation and withdraw my comment.  Thanks for the clarification, California.

[YouOverThere]

California, on 10 October 2011 - 01:29 PM, said:

If you go to their home page, you can get to the complete list of performances in multiple ways -- by clicking "Swan Lake" at the bottom left, or by clicking Performances or Tickets or News at the top. You then need just one or two more clicks to get to the detailed, complete list of dates and times from any of those starting places.

I can only find any info by clicking on Tickets. not by the other scenarios that you mentioned, and only for shows that aren't on the current day. I'm a grouch when it comes to websites. To me, if it's not obvious how to find basic information, the website design is poor. I gave up Saturday when I couldn't easily find out whether they had any performances (I know, the odds of not having at least one performance on a Saturday is pretty remote). Who knows if I was the only one.

[bart]

I confess that I also found the website design to be less than ideal.  At least for those looking for quick information on schedules and ticketing.

[YouOverThere]

Getting back on-topic: The Denver Post just came out with an article that stated that the CSO had hired an interim CEO. I hadn't been aware that the CEO position was vacant.

[dirac]

Interesting, YouOverThere. I wonder how long they've been without one. Nothing helps like a leadership vacuum.

[YouOverThere]

YouOverThere, on 09 October 2011 - 09:22 PM, said:

California, on 08 October 2011 - 04:55 PM, said:

If you click over to "purchase now" you'll see the schedule of performances.

I looked Saturday morning, and they had no performances listed for Saturday at all(according to the Colorado Public Radio website, they had both a matinee and an evening show).

The Colorado Ballet apparently has fixed the problem with not listing the current day's show(s) on their website.

[YouOverThere]

YouOverThere, on 16 October 2011 - 11:36 AM, said:

YouOverThere, on 09 October 2011 - 09:22 PM, said:

California, on 08 October 2011 - 04:55 PM, said:

If you click over to "purchase now" you'll see the schedule of performances.

I looked Saturday morning, and they had no performances listed for Saturday at all(according to the Colorado Public Radio website, they had both a matinee and an evening show).

The Colorado Ballet apparently has fixed the problem with not listing the current day's show(s) on their website.

In fact, it is not only possible to purchase tickets online for tonight's performance but the system shows a lot of good seats available that were shown as not available when I bought my tickets .