Cheap tickets offer lasting value

Discounted tickets for students and young people are an industry norm – but where’s the proof they really help grow audiences?
[This is archived content and may not display in the originally intended format.]

Cassandra Seidemann in a publicity image for OperaQ’s la traviata. Photo by Stephanie Do Rozario

The challenge of recruiting newer and younger audiences is one that’s shared by performing arts companies around the world. In the USA, just this year the Met Opera’s 2015 season saw the introduction of the ‘Fridays Under 40’ program, offering discounted tickets to select performances for audience members aged 40 and under – and also pushing back the traditional curtain time from 7:30pm to 8pm in order to accommodate the later working hours of a new generation of young professionals.

Unlock Padlock Icon

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts