Shakespeare & Company Sets Record
Sold 50,446 Tickets During Its Season
By: Charles Giuliano - Mar 25, 2010
"We are going to perform our way out of the hole" she told the astonished media. Her gonzo plan was to mount 18 productions. Arguably some of them were fairly minimalist. Aaudieces endured bare pipe stages and a few props. But Packer just bellowed "The play's the thing."
It was a bold strategy and a nightmare for the incoming artistic director Tony Simotes. Not only was he taking over a new job but also fighting a huge defecit. he even directed a play or two and assisted with the fght scenes of others. It's his specialty.
Surely Tony will do things differently. Part of the plan this time is to feature Packer's formidable skills in a compilation of Shakespeare in five parts called Women of Will. We sat through a three hour long preview. It was great theater but pretty tough on the ass.
But you just have to love the spirit of the company which is just charging ahead once more into the breach. Below is the official word from the company.
Shakespeare & Company today announced it has completed its 2009-2010 performance season by setting an all-time attendance record, while also earning its second-highest box office revenue ever. The season included eighteen full productions plus a host of special events, beginning with Romeo and Juliet in May 2009 and winding down last weekend with the final performances of the critically acclaimed Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons).
Shakespeare & Company issued 50,446 tickets this season, surging past its previous record by some three thousand patron visits. (The figure does not include the approximately 800 people who attended S&Co.'s annual July 4th Celebration and Reading of the Declaration of Independence, an un-ticketed event.) The box office revenue totaled $1.13 million, fewer than three thousand dollars short of S&Co.'s record, set during the 2008-2009 season.
"Of course we love it when the critics have nice things to say about us. But this stamp of approval from our patrons is really the biggest and best seal of approval we can get for our work," says Artistic Director Tony Simotes . "On behalf of everyone here at Shakespeare & Company, we want to thank all our friends in the community at large for their steadfast support of our work. We look forward to seeing you again soon!"
The 2010-2011 performance season builds on S&Co.'s expansion of its programming into the shoulder months in recent years, beginning with its full summer season (May 21 – Sept. 7) and followed by fall, holiday and winter titles (still to be announced). The summer portion of the season opens with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, presented by artists in the Company's Education Program from May 21 through June 13. The tenth anniversary season of Founders' Theatre opens on May 28 with the American premiere of Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer 's Women of Will: Following the Feminine in Shakespeare's Plays, featuring Ms. Packer and Nigel Gore. In the meantime, the Education Program offers the special presentation Shakespeare and the L anguage that Shaped a World on Saturdays from March 27 through April 24 (with additional performances April 21, 22 and 23 during school vacation week.)
TICKETS ON SA L E NOW! The 2010-2011 Performance Season includes: Richard III, The Winter's Tale, The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Women of Will, The Taster, Bad Dates, Mengelberg and Mahler, and Sea Marks. AND the entire 2010-2011 Performance Season will continue S&Co.'s longstanding commitment to affordable prices and fun for patrons of all ages, with discounts like the 40% Full Time Berkshire Resident Discount and many others from which to choose. L ast summer, S&C. introduced the very popular Groundling Seats at Founders' Theatre, offering the front row seats of every performance for just $15 apiece. Check out the website for a full list of discounts, freebies, plays, special events and to order your season tickets today! www.shakespeare.org
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