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SALT LAKE CITY -- Ballet companies across the state and across the country are cashing in with their productions of The Nutcracker. But some companies have noticed a couple of problems with sales this year.
As productions go, this is the big one. Ticket sales for The Nutcracker account for more than half of Ballet West's ticket sales for the entire year. Ballet West Marketing Director John Roake says the same is true for most ballet companies across the country.
"Really, it's kind of the cash cow. It's what supports a lot of what they do throughout the year," he explained.
Roake says productions of the famous ballet have become an important tradition for many families, and that Utahns have embraced The Nutcracker more closely than people in other states.
It's kind of the cash cow. It's what supports a lot of what they do throughout the year.
–John Roake
"We have people who are great-grandparents who have their great-granddaughters now in the Ballet West performance. We've been doing it for 56 years now," Roake said.
Sales for The Nutcracker have been traditionally high. Roake says Ballet West tries to make improvements to the production every year to keep audiences interested. This year, singers have returned. Also, nutty Nutcracker performances have become more popular since they started four years ago.
But this year, the weather has not been kind to Ballet West.
"Snow, or the lack of snow, has a big impact on the attendance of The Nutcracker," Roake said. "It's kind of an interesting thing. This year, with the lack of snow, in our early performances, we saw a drop in the number of people who came."
Also, there's another problem the company has to deal with. The popularity of the production has many people wrongly believing that the shows have sold out.
"It's ironic that one of the things, as a marketing person, I have to battle is the perception that there are no tickets available," Roake said.
He says people are turning to scalper websites and getting hit in the wallet pretty hard.
"Just recently, we had [a customer] pay $203 for an $18 ticket," he said.
He recommends people check the Ballet West website first.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
