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If students help finance OnStage, program should cater to our needs

Editorial

Published: Friday, February 26, 2010

Updated: Friday, February 26, 2010 13:02


If you are an IUP student, the likelihood that you have been to a performance brought to campus by OnStage is pretty slim.

While the organization brings the occasional performance that is interesting to the people of Indiana who aren't staring retirement in the face, most of the shows they sponsor don't sell any significant number of tickets to students.

They hit the mark once or twice a year with a popular musical – this year it was the raunchy puppets of Avenue Q, which sold out and clearly had a college audience.

But the other shows – Michael McDonald? Lord of the Dance? Clearly, the 18-25 crowd was not the target audience. And this has been the pattern with OnStage events.

The Co-op board made the right move in denying OnStage funding for the 2010-11 school year. Out of 13 shows this season, less than five could easily be considered as targeted to the demographics of university students.

The reported ticket sales have confirmed this. Student ticket sales for most OnStage shows were abysmal, even when they were discounted to $10.

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1 comments

K
Mon Mar 1 2010 20:20
I am currently part of the volunteer group for Onstage and as such am directly involved with the process of choosing the performances that the program brings to campus. Many of the shows that would be more popular with the 'college crowd' run upwards of $500,000 for only one night, which would cause the price of tickets to increase drastically, and the number of shows provided during the season to be significantly less. That said, I do feel that more of campus should be involved in the selection process and that the programs should not be chosen just to fill an empty spot in the schedule. If it won't sell well, don't pay to bring the show in. Furthermore, the price of tickets is definitely an area that needs to be explored in detail. I would definitely attend more shows as an audience member if I could actually afford the tickets. I don't believe the program should be dropped entirely without a look at how the problems can be fixed and a whole-hearted attempt to change. It has the potential to become an excellent form of entertainment for the university community and with the scare of being shut down, those in charge will hopefully feel the pressure to change.






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