The Princeton theater company sold $102,000 in tickets in one day.
By: Jeff Milgram
McCarter Theatre officials have given boffo reviews to the first day of tickets sales for the 2000-2001 season.
In all, McCarter sold $102,000 in tickets, including $80,000 worth of individual tickets, and $22,000 in advanced group sales on Aug. 21, Marketing Director Barbara Andrews said Monday.
"I’ve been here three years and I’ve never seen this level of sales," Ms. Andrews said. "It’s a fantastic way to start out. This is going to be an amazing season."
On Aug. 22, the theater sold another $45,000 in tickets and $30,000 each day for the rest of the week.
The first-day figure tops the $72,000 sold on the first day of ticket sales for the 1999-2000 season. Last year, ticket sales dropped off to about $20,000 a day for the first week, Ms. Andrews said.
"It’s a very good indicator" of how successful the entire season will be, said Daniel Y. Bauer, director of publicity and community relations for McCarter.
"That certainly was the case last year. We broke a lot of records," Ms. Andrews said.
Last year, ticket sales brought in $5.5 million, an increase of $500,000 over the year before, Ms. Andrews said.
"Hopefully we’ll beat that this year," she said.
"The long lines, constant phone activity at the box office and unusually high volume of electronic transactions through our Web site ticketing system on Monday confirms our belief that this year’s artistic programming is one of our strongest ever," Ms. Andrews said.
"We have more events, more diversity in the kind of shows we’re doing," she said.
The theater also benefited from an improved Web site, which contains links to the artists’ own Web sites, audio clips, biographies and photos, Ms. Andrews said.
"I think we’re reaching out to more people," Ms. Andrews said.
"Based on the rush during the first two hours of the morning, we were able to predict the flurry of activity we were going to experience for the rest of the day," said Sales Director Annie Gribbin.
In addition to walk-up and phone business, the box office staff also sold 250 tickets via the Web site on Aug. 21.
The season opens Sept. 12 with an adaptation of Homer’s "The Odyssey," which will run through Oct. 1.
Ms. Andrews said the top-selling events were Lily Tomlin in "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe"; Black Watch Drums, Pipes and Highland Dancer and the band and choir of the Prince of Wales’ Division; British singer and songwriter Richard Thompson; singer and songwriter John Hiatt; and "A Christmas Carol."
Ticket prices range from $25 to $48.