earning acclaim, serving saint louis eugene onegin - Opera Theatre ...

GROWING AUDIENCES
AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
R Successful marketing included a re-imagined Young Friends
program, new social networking campaigns on Facebook and
Twitter, and a new “family pricing” program which helped build
audiences for The Golden Ticket. Eight performances sold at
100% or better, including opening night of The Golden Ticket and
the first non-subscription performance of The Marriage of Figaro.
R OTSL entered new collaborative partnerships with sectors of
the community including The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts,
Cabaret St. Louis, The Saint Louis County Public Library, Left
Bank Books, and others. Events ranged from an experimental
performance art collaboration at the Pulitzer featuring soprano
Christine Brewer and visual artist Ann Hamilton, to a new cabaret
series at the Kranzberg Arts Center, to all the Artists-in-Residence
performances and recitals that showcased exciting young talent
across the St. Louis area.
Contributed
operating support
increased
by more than
6% over the
prior year and
has risen 12%
since 2008.
R New audience development strategies resulted in a 5.5%
increase in total attendance since the start of the strategic plan
in 2008. In 2010 the total audience reached 90% of capacity.
15% of the audience was new to Opera Theatre in 2009, rising
to 22% in 2010.
R Contributed operating support increased by more than 6%
over the prior year and has risen 12% since 2008. Opera Theatre
also announced the largest-ever single contribution that the
company has received in its 35 year history – a $2 million gift
from the Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation to help endow the
acclaimed professional development programs which train more
than 60 of the country’s finest emerging singers, technicians,
and administrators each year.
R Our popular Spotlight on Opera series was revamped to
highlight the intellectual content in each opera. Guest speakers
included Isaac Mizrahi, as well as representatives from the
St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis
Symphony, Alliance Française, and others. Series attendance has
grown more than 45% since 2008.
R The new production of Hans Krasa’s childrens’ opera
Brundibár, originally performed in the Theresienstadt ghetto
during World War II, continued OTSL’s collaboration with
the Touhill Performing Arts Center at UM-St. Louis and the
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and drew a total audience
of 6,470 young people and adults for five school and public
performances in November.
6 EARNING ACCLAIM, SERVING SAINT LOUIS
OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS | ANNUAL REPORT 2010
7