I had an interesting discussion with some folks at the
theatre here today. One thing we discussed, about this article, is something I'm guilty of, I kind of passed over a couple of statements made in this article where they referred to the fact that the theatre in question, Signature, acquired a "sponsor" to help offset the cost of the tickets so they could make them availible at the lower prices. Even with this fact I still believe that some type of program which offers these "reduced price" tickets to the masses, is a great audience builder. The fact that they were able to change the mean demographic of thier theatre is amazing. Here in the States, it always seems that the "crowd" that goes to see theatre is extremely limited. This little expirement proves that the appeal of Theatre is alive and well, and can be fostered. I've often worried about the state of Theatre, wondered if it was a dying Art, nobody but Old folks in the seats, and funding drying up everywhere, but again the fact that these folks were able to invigorate an audience of theatre-goers, whose average age was -35 is really heartening.