Business of the Arts: Ticket Punch

Some directors of local performing arts organizations and live entertainment venues say they are seeing changes in audience ticket-buying habits, but the trend line is not entirely clear.

Their observations are backed up by Van Bridges, co-owner and production manager of Springfield-based Headline Productions LLC – a position that offers him a bird’s-eye view of the arts and music scene, regionally and beyond.

When it comes to concerts, Bridges said artists are more expensive than ever, and tickets are, too.

“Things are expensive, and people are a little wary of spending money right now, until it all starts making more sense again,” he said. “That has to come into play. You have people who don’t want to spend money and artists who need more money to play.”

Headline Productions provides lighting, audio and multimedia services for all sorts of productions, including concerts.

“We’re seeing promoters with lower budgets than before, and that’s interesting, considering how expensive everything else is in life,” he said. “We’re insulated from the problem of ticket sales, but we still get the effects.”

Sarah Abele, director of programming and development for the Springfield Regional Arts Council Inc., said there have been conversations in the arts community about slow ticket sales and declining audiences.

“It’s all anecdotal, but that’s the climate – people are very scared to spend money,” she said. “The arts are unfortunately something that’s seen as a luxury item.”

She said it is her opinion that arts organizations in the Springfield region offer very reasonable ticket prices coupled with high-quality presentations, but the challenge is that many see the arts as something that is easily cut.

“We’re in a time when we have millions of people that aren’t sure where their next meal is going to come from,” Abele said. “I hope that is something that we see turn around in the next couple of months.”

Josh Inmon, associate director of the 2,200-seat Juanita K. Hammons Hall, said via email that he hasn’t seen a decline in ticket sales, but he has noticed a trend: late purchases.

“We have noticed a shift in buying patterns, with patrons purchasing tickets much closer to performance dates than they have in the past,” he said. “That trend is shaping how we plan our marketing and communications.”

The good news, according to Inmon, is that audiences ultimately do purchase tickets.

“Audience enthusiasm remains strong,” he said. “Like many venues, we’re attentive to evolving audience behaviors and are programming recognizable titles and artists that resonate with our community.”

As an example, he noted “Wicked” is scheduled as part of the current season’s lineup.

Inmon characterized the Springfield community as vibrant and supportive when it comes to the arts.

“We never take that for granted,” he said.

Elevating the experience
At Ozarks Lyric Opera, General Director Sean Spyres has been watchful of local trends, but he also keeps his eye on the national and international opera scene.

In May, Spyres attended the national conference of Opera America in Memphis, where he noticed a trend for nonprofit opera organizations to diversify their funding sources through for-profit businesses, such as parking garages. Another trend was to diversify programmatic offerings, with companies like the Lyric Opera of Chicago mounting golden-age musicals, like “Fiddler on the Roof” and “West Side Story.”

“We’re trying a golden-age musical this year, particularly for ticket sales,” Spyres said.

OLO will perform “The Sound of Music” in April 2026, starring international opera star and OLO Artistic Director Michael Spyres with Tara Stafford-Spyres.

Another piece of advice from Opera America was for organizations to turn an event into an experience, rather than just focusing on the content of the show.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Spyres said, citing OLO’s Red Curtain Affair, for which an extra ticket provides a preshow reception and intermission drinks and hors d’oeuvres. “We want to elevate the experience so it’s more than just a show. We’ve got to do what we can to pull people out of their living rooms.”

Most performing arts organizations experienced a serious setback with pandemic shutdowns and have slowly inched their way back, Spyres said. He said OLO is still not where he wants it to be.

Spyres said the last opera that featured his brother Michael was 2022’s “Pagliacci,” and it sold well over 1,000 tickets for the weekend. The next-highest sales were for the most recent production, “The Little Prince,” which sold about half that.

Many opera companies have decreased the number of shows they offer, but OLO has gone in the other direction, Spyres said. Before the pandemic, OLO put on two or three shows per year, but now it does five or six. Because it has increased its number of shows, OLO has experienced more ticket sales, he said, and half-off season ticket sales have also offered a boost.

Another organization that is keeping an eye on ticket income is Springfield Little Theatre. Executive Director Beth Domann said in an email that ticket sales are going well.

One factor may be a lineup of familiar offerings, classics and Tony Award-winners among them. This season has already featured “Annie” and “Noises Off,” with “Disney’s Frozen” launching in late November.

“So far this season we are on track with ticket sales and are cautiously optimistic,” Domann said.

A much smaller venue than SLT is High Tide Theatrical Inc., whose tucked-away downtown Olive Street theater seats about 60.

Executive Director Grace Billingsley said as the organization establishes itself in the community, more and more people are checking it out. For instance, the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” brings audience members from multiple states.

Billingsley said the organization likes to mix things up and keep the offerings fresh, including how it formats its space – ranging from productions in the round to a central runway configuration to a thrust stage with audiences on three sides.

And what happens in that space is pretty dynamic, she said.

“We’re small and immersive, so we’re able to take some risks,” she said. “We can do things other theaters in a proscenium setting may not have the flexibility to do.”

Billingsley said Springfield is lucky to have diversity among its arts organizations.

“I feel like our arts community is just continuing to thrive,” she said. “We’re blessed with a community of people who love and support the arts, and that has continued to push us forward over the years.”

Vendor viewpoint
Bridges, whose business is to build the audience experience through light, sound and other technology, said people don’t want to accept anything less than they experienced before, but they do want it cheaper.

“Expectations are so elevated,” he said. “Everyone is just chasing that dragon, trying to meet that mark. People are going to come, and they expect something bigger.”

As a vendor, Bridges has a bead on some of the heightened production expenses most concertgoers don’t even think about, and these cause his prices to rise, resulting in a concurrent rise in ticket prices.

“There are certain things we can’t control – labor, trucking, gas, my building, insurance,” he said. “That’s all gone way up. We’ve got all these things raising costs, and we have to raise with it, though we try to do it in a fair manner.”

Bridges called this moment in the culture an odd tipping point.

“Entertainment dollars come from people, and people are having a hard time holding on to money right now,” he said.

The financial future for live entertainment is impossible to predict, Bridges said.

“What’s next? Does this bubble burst, and where does it go?” he asked. “Who breaks first to make this thing make sense again? I have no idea.”