S.F. Ballet a Box Office Flop in S.D.

The San Francisco Ballet inaugurated the fall season for the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts last weekend, but despite the company’s international reputation and critical acclaim, the four-performance run at the 3,000-seat seat Civic Theatre was a flop at the box office.

“We’ve had some interesting signals,” managing director Fred Colby said after the close of the last show. “We’ve increased our subscriptions 100% over last year. We sold about 1,450 season tickets this year. That’s the most subscriptions we’ve had in over three years. On the other hand, we’re having trouble drawing single-ticket sales.

“We only missed our projections by about 7%. We expected to fill 65% of the house, and we ended up at 58%. It’s a good thing the rest of the season is at the Spreckels,” a much smaller venue, he said.

“Fortunately, we budgeted very conservatively,” Colby said. “We lost money, but we’re only talking about maybe 3% or 4% of our entire budget. That means it won’t really affect anything on stage. It will only mean making cutbacks in internal things, like marketing, and maybe some outreach programs.”

About 300 students attended San Francisco Ballet performances free of charge as a result of that community outreach program. However, Colby said, “the only way I can block those tickets off, is if we have more (underwriting). Even if we sell out, we’re still losing money. People don’t understand that, but it’s a fact.”

Although the poor turnout for the San Francisco Ballet will have no effect on the 1990-91 season, it might carry over to next year’s programming.

“San Diego is not ready for a lot of major ballet,” Colby said. “We had the Bolshoi here, and then the New York City Ballet up the road (in Orange County). Some people exhausted their budget on the Bolshoi alone. We even had the symphony open its season on the same weekend. That probably accounts for the 7% drop in attendance from our projected figures. We didn’t know the other dates when we were setting our schedule.

“But with a city this size we should be able to support them all. That’s why City Moves is so important,” he said, referring to the foundation’s new educational arm. “The first year alone, it will introduce 2,500 kids to dance. We had sell-outs the first time we brought in major dance companies like the American Ballet and the Joffrey. We’ve got to teach (audiences) to go back each time they’re here.

“We’ve also got to retrain people to come downtown. We know what we’re putting on stage is good, and people aren’t seeing it. That’s what’s so frustrating,” said Colby. “We don’t expect to make money on this. We just want people to see these things.”

Overall financial support for the foundation’s efforts is good, Colby said. “We have about $425,000 in contributed income either already in or pledged, so we’re way ahead of the game. This (the four-day stint at the Civic) was a calculated risk. Now, we’ll have to feel our way back to the Civic Theater. But this won’t stop us from doing what we have to do for the rest of the season. In November, we’ll have an improved plan for next year. We’re still learning.”