Asked to Go Above and Beyond

By CHRIS PASLES

June 11, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Is it something out of Rossini’s “The Thieving Magpie” or is it just “The Force of Destiny”? More and more opera companies are compelled to ask subscribers renewing prime seats to give a donation above the cost of the tickets.

Opera Pacific has joined a list of prominent companies, including Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric and the Met, that observe the practice.

“This is relatively common,” said Joanne R. Kresic, director of media and audience relations at the Washington, D.C.-based service organization Opera America.

“About 30% of the universe of 160 opera companies in the United States do it. Donations really vary, though, from $500 up to the thousands of dollars.”

For the upcoming season, Opera Pacific subscribers are being asked for either a $2,500 donation for some orchestra seating or $5,000 for the Tier One seats that are closest to the stage at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. Subscribers who balk at the cost may be reassigned to other seats in the same general area.

“The seats we’re talking about moving existing subscribers to are not bad seats,” said Adrian Stevens, Opera Pacific director of development and marketing.

“They’re just not as prestigious or, in the orchestra section, as central. We’re talking about a maximum of 350 seats, which is less than about 11% of the total house.”

The driving force is economic. Box office at best accounts for only about 60% of an opera company’s annual operating budget (see graphic, below). The rest must come from individuals, corporations, foundations or the government.

Companies in New York or San Francisco can draw on major businesses that have a tradition of giving to the arts.

“[Southern California] doesn’t have the well-established, large Fortune 500 corporate head offices that you can tap into,” Stevens said. “Around 80% of our [contributed income] comes from individuals.”

San Diego Opera is another company that asks for donations openly. The majority of people in its best seats, particularly on opening night, are “significant donors,” according to general director Ian Campbell.

“We do not say the only way to use those seats is to be a donor because there are people who have been in their seats for 30 years,” Campbell said. “If you’re there, we’re not going to throw you out [if you don’t pay].

“But if a pair of tickets becomes available, we do require a donation, and we negotiate that with the donor. The minimum we accept is $30,000, payable over four years.”

San Francisco Opera used to list donation amounts for particular seats in its season brochure. But the company stopped doing that about six years ago.

“With the change in the tax laws, that was not something we could do any longer because it could be perceived as a surcharge rather than a donation,” said Elizabeth Connell, company public relations director.

Instead, when season brochures go out now, a letter accompanies them acknowledging any past gifts and asking for more. Some patrons were asked for $500, some $3,000.

“Our most valuable and most loyal constituency are those individual donors,” Connell said. “It isn’t just the wealthiest. It’s the people who can give $50 a year. Individual donors make the difference.”

Los Angeles Opera used to allocate its seats by donor levels in a program that tied together subscriptions, the opening night gala and other social events. That program capped at about $4,000.

“We’re now not doing that anymore,” said Elizabeth Kennedy, director of development. “Now we ask every last person who sits in the house to give. We’re very democratic that way.

“But our subscribers are guaranteed their seats as long as they continue to subscribe. We can’t require them to give. A contribution is not mandatory, by its nature.

“We do everything we can to take care of our donors and give them premier treatment and seating, and we are upfront about that. But we don’t move [subscribers] out of their seats if they don’t give.”

Nor does the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

“We have a ladder of giving, as most not-for-profit organizations do,” said media spokesman Peter Clark. “If you’re a subscriber and you give money, you do get some preference in seating. The more you give, the higher you go up that ladder. Your orders are filled first. But renewing subscribers get their seats whether they give money or not.”

Although some Opera Pacific subscribers were taken by surprise by the policy, it actually isn’t new. For the last three years, it’s been in the subscription brochure but not enforced. “We felt that people needed a certain amount of time in fairness to take the information in,” Stevens said.

Some patrons are not pleased.

“I wish the opera would not have to do that,” said Dr. Francisco J. Ayala, professor of genetics at UCI and an Opera Pacific subscriber since 1989. “But it’s difficult to see any other way.”

Others are resigned.

“[Our donations] help put opera on the stage for everybody,” said Helen Timpe, a Newport Beach investment counselor and a company subscriber since 1984, its first year. “I don’t know how else opera could be funded.”

And if they don’t give?

“There are certain nights where demand on the prestigious seats is particularly high,” Stevens said. “That is, we have patrons who have given the required donations to reserve their seats. Only when this occurs would we actually re-seat an actual subscriber who will not have given the donation.”

The company says that enforcing the policy hasn’t diminished the subscription renewal rate, which is at 80% for at least three of the five performances of each opera in the 2001-2002 season.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Orchestrating Income

Box-office receipts at best account for only 60% of an opera company’s annual operating budget. The rest must come from individuals, corporations, foundations or the government. Annual budget comparisons for 2000-01:

Opera Pacific

Annual budget: $8 million

Fund-raising from corporations, foundations and government: 9%

Individual contributions: 49%

Ticket sales and earned revenue: 42%

San Diego Opera

Annual budget: $12 million

Fund-raising from corporations, foundations and government: 18%

Individual contributions: 22%

Ticket sales and earned revenue: 60%

Los Angeles Opera

Annual budget: $25 million