EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — An opera called “Nixon in China” was not a big hit for Eugene Opera, which finished its season $100,000 in the red. So it’s turning to perennial favorite “Pirates of Penzance.”
General director Mark Beudert doesn’t blame “Nixon” for all the opera’s problems.
He tells The Register-Guard (http://is.gd/TsyJlt) that audiences during the recession have been smaller and his opera company relies more heavily on box office receipts than many others.
Still, he says the unusually expensive contemporary work with largely unfamiliar music lost $12,000.
The opera hopes to fix its deficit by aggressive fundraising this spring and summer and by putting “Pirates” into the key New Year’s Eve slot next season.
The Gilbert and Sullivan standard can be done for much less money and is more crowd-friendly. Eugene Opera already owns the sets and costumes for that one.
