The recent news of free tickets to the opera and, for students, to Broadway shows demonstrate that culture is still important in our city.
Mayor Mamdani’s support of opera, an art form that many consider elite, is a welcome surprise, especially since support for the arts had not been front and center in his campaign.
But what’s also fascinating is that the concept of free or heavily discounted admission to our performing cultural institutions is not new to New York City — far from it.
Over the decades, government and private-run programs have enabled thousands to take theater seats. You can call them “populist,” but these programs have resulted in undeniable financial benefits that even the purest, “government-shouldn’t-give-anything-away-for-free!” capitalist would appreciate.
I know because I was part of it.
In 1984 I was given a remarkable assignment by Bernie Jacobs, the president of The Shubert Organization, then and now the biggest owner and manager of Broadway theaters. He wanted to give 50 public school kids free tickets each week to the hottest show on Broadway, “Cats,” and needed me to arrange it.
Why did he do this? I can’t honestly answer. But I think Jacobs simply wanted to do something good for the city, and its young people.
This assignment led me to create Inside Broadway, an arts and education nonprofit that for 45 years has introduced three million public school students to Broadway, and has brought Broadway to them.
But I wasn’t the first to help make culture accessible to all New Yorkers, just like Mamdani is not.
Back in the 1940s, Jean Dalrymple was a press agent and Broadway producer, a tough lady in a field of men. She had been a friend of Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia.
LaGuardia wanted to open a People’s Theater — the Germans call it a Volks Theatre — a place where folks could enjoy music, dance, theater and opera at low prices.
With Dalrymple’s help and connections, the vacant Masonic Temple building on W. 55th St. was converted into the New York City Center. It eventually became the home of the New York City Ballet and New York City Opera, among others.
As I compose this, I’m in Brussels. In the last two weeks I’ve visited major cultural institutions here and in Paris and Amsterdam. Do you know what I saw that you don’t see enough in New York? Young people in the audience.
That’s because culture here is seen as not elitist but for the public, and because of that it’s financially supported by the government, bringing down ticket prices.
The highest-tier ticket for a modem dance performance at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris was $90. The highest price at the Brussels Opera was $95 — and that was an opening night performance for a new premier.
A Concertgebouw Orchestra concert in Amsterdam was $150 tops. The Bastille Opera in Paris ranged from $150 for a revival to $175 for a new production.
By comparison, a ticket at the Metropolitan Opera in New York can cost more than $400. And while the average ticket for a Broadway show is $131, the most expensive seats can reach $600.
So what’s the financial payoff for the city? When folks in the arts world talk about audience development, they often miss the most important word — development. By investing in young people we develop educated and sophisticated cultural consumers.
And one day they will have jobs, perhaps big jobs, and they will spend money on the arts.
Presser is the founder and executive director of Inside Broadway, an arts education organization.