Document text
29 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, December 4, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 5, 2004 OSF attendance drops 25,000 By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune Attendance was off at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the second year in a row. The festival wrapped up its 69th season Sunday with final performances of William Shakespeare’s "The Comedy of Errors" in the Angus Bowmer Theatre and Charlotte Jones’ "Humble Boy" in the New Theatre. Attendance was 356,770 for the year, a drop of about 25,000 from 2003. The theater sold about 80 percent of its seats during the season, for ticket revenues of $12,854,751. Executive Director Paul Nicholson said he was pleased. "Although attendance did not quite meet our expectations, the quality of work on stage was extremely high, and our audience was wonderfully responsive," he said. Nicholson mentioned the artistic risks inherent in presenting new works. Advertisement The OSF’s 784-performance season included a world premiere production of "Oedipus Complex," created and directed by Tony Award-winning Frank Galati, a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s "Henry VI" trilogy by OSF’s Scott Kaiser and a new adaptation of Friedrich D�rrenmatt’s "The Visit" by OSF actor and director Kenneth Albers. The OSF’s attendance hit a high in 2002 with almost 400,000 tickets sold, or 88 percent of capacity. The 2003 season finished at about 86 percent of capacity. Both of those years saw 795 performances. Total attendance in the Angus Bowmer Theatre was 201,003, or 85 percent of capacity. Attendance at the New Theatre was 60,352, or 77 percent of capacity. Attendance at the Elizabethan Theatre/Allen Pavilion was 95,415, or 74 percent of capacity. Nicholson said the season reflected a nationwide trend of decreased sales in urban and destination theaters. Some analysts have attributed the decreases to a sluggish economy, record gas prices and changes in buying habits by baby boomers. The OSF also staged Lorraine Hansberry’s "A Raisin in the Sun," Kaufman and Ferber’s "The Royal Family," Suzan-Lori Parks’ "Topdog/Underdog" and Shakespeare’s "King Lear" and "Much Ado about Nothing." The festival will continue its focus on new play development in 2005 with the staging of "By the Waters of Babylon" by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan ("Handler," 2002) and "Gibraltar" by Octavio Solis ("El Paso Blue," 1999). Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities