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When I was a kid in the 50s maybe 5th grade, I
remember going on a field trip to see the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall.
It was a life-changing event.
When I was in high school in the 60s, it was
possible to get student tickets to some of the annual Metropolitan Opera
performances through school for about $1.25.
When I was teaching in the 70s, I offered those
same discounted student opera tickets to my students and sometimes the most
unlikely students would dress up and go to the opera.
I don't know how various theaters handle
encouraging young audiences to attend their performances today, but when I see
empty seats at theater, ballet, and opera performances,
I wonder if any effort is being made to offer
high school or college students those tickets at drastically reduced prices -
like those Met Opera tickets that I grew up using.
I understand that most theaters are
understaffed and that a program like this takes someone to be in charge of it,
but the first order of business in building an audience for
tomorrow is getting them in the seats
today.
Fred Dolan
WJCU-FM, 88.7 & wjcu.org
Arts On The Heights &
Visiting The Folks on Sunday nights from 9:00PM -
Midnight
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