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You are > Home > Dramatic times at the Opera House
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Thursday, February 11, 2010
Dramatic times at the Opera House
IN AN exclusive interview with The Echo, CEO of Wexford Festival Opera (WFO) David McLoughlin speaks to David Looby about the rise of the company as it attempts to keep its foothold in the ever-shifting world of international opera.
With a new-look festival planned for October, (which will involve a Saturday launch and the return of short opera works) and the possibility of an 18-day festival to mark the 60th anniversary of the company, founded by Dr. Tom Walsh, 2010 will be another dramatic milestone in the colourful history of Ireland’s most popular opera festival.
What will the 2010 Wexford Opera Festival involve?
We will produce 15 days of opera and restore the short works, which are like the scenes in White’s. We are returning to White’s this year which is nice.
It was commented upon last year that we didn’t have the scenes; they were missed. If we hadn’t taken the decision to run the festival for 12 days last year, we wouldn’t be here today. We had an 18-day festival in 2008 and had hoped to do the same last year, but we worked out the cost and sponsorship income was affected. The Friends’ scheme income was hit also. People in the UK said they couldn’t travel last year. The signs were there that we wouldn’t have been able to do it for 18 days. Also we weren’t sure if the audience was there.
The building itself was the star in 2008. The number of seats went way up that year from 550 to 771 over an 18-day festival. 771 seats is a far greater sell than 550, it’s a 40 per cent increase in the number of seats. A lot of the costs over the course of an opera festival are incremental. Orchestra players, accommodation, per diem costs, all the cast being paid per performance. We are delighted to be able to do 15 days this year. At last we have good news.
Unfortunately, we had to announce a 12-day festival last year. We announced a 15-day festival for this year so we are going in the right direction.
Is WFO profitable?
In terms of costs, we have two sides to what we do. The opera production side is expensive. Since November 2008 we have taken on the running of the opera house as a venue, which is the other side of the business we do.
When you receive government funding for a €30m building like this, you must be open all year round. We are very happy for it to be that way. We receive a small bit of funding from the Borough and County Councils and we get sponsorship for the opera house.
We have box office income and rentals. Last year, month-on-month the number of events was going up all the time and that has continued. Ideally we want a situation whereby virtually every day there is something going on. Variety is key.
We have a MET Opera event which has been running since November, up until May, with nine shows. The number of people coming down from Dublin is great. These types of events remind people that we are here. Within a two-hour radius of here, there is a very large population.
We are currently trying to promote ourselves in Wales and are looking at package deals with local hotels. Fáilte Ireland has been good. We are looking with other organisations at how to best promote Wexford Town and give it a specific identity, as well as the whole county.
There is a lot of feeling out there that we have a good product to sell, what with the pedestrianisation of the town, the new library etc. The Arts Centre has been very good at developing their programme of events. Wexford is really famous for its culture and has an identifiable selling point. We need to give it branding.
Last year was a dreadful year for everyone, we hope to make more of it this year. The more people that are attracted to the town, the more people that become aware of us the better.
At the end of the day the Arts Council is really interested in the quality of the productions we produce. If they didn’t think we produced world class operas they wouldn’t be supporting us. (WFO receives €1.4m in funding this year, matching last year’s allocation). People say we should use more Irish talent. Last year we had Irish performers in our productions and in the orchestra pit.
There was a lot of savage criticism about the quality of the double act opera. How did you get it so badly wrong?
I don’t know if the criticism was savage. The double opera was the weakest of the three operas last year. If we had the funding we would have done a different opera. Saying that a lot of people liked it. It depends on your operatic taste, some people don’t like double bills. If in March of any year you have to change the programme it’s difficult. It really comes down to a cost decision.
You have an opera based on a Roald Dahl book? Is it suitable for children?
It’s called the Golden Ticket and we have the European premier. Roald Dahl’s widow is involved in it. It is based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Everyone has either seen a film or read the book at some stage. It’s our second co-production with the Opera Theatre in St. Louis. It’s still at a late stage of development. It isn’t suitable for children. The initial word on it is that it is amazing.
You have extended the 2010 festival by three days. Why was this decision taken?
We found the demand was there last year for a 12-day festival. Just under 20,000 tickets were sold, that’s a 94 per cent occupancy rate, the remainder going to sponsors, media etc.
We didn’t want to expand too fast too quickly. It was a painful decision to make to reduce the festival. Based on projections, we have the marginal costs of the three extra days this year is less than the marginal income. We could actually generate more income for less cost.
Why did you decide to move the opening from Thursday to Saturday?
Last year it started on a Wednesday. It wasn’t a good day to open because the Thursday and Friday weren’t great for hoteliers and retailers in particular. The best possible scenario was to have it open on a Saturday so you would have three weekends of business. The idea is to pack the town those weekends. We talked to the Chamber of Commerce about the Fringe Festival.
Our plan is to work closer with the Fringe. It would also give them the opportunity to have a big family day for the launch. Saturday isn’t a working day for most people. There could be a big event on during the day and then the activities on the quays with the fireworks.
By having the closing day on a Saturday it allows people to come on closing night, stay around for lunch the next day and then travel back to the UK, or wherever they are going.
Are you bringing back the opera scenes?
The Opera Scenes were cut last year and from the point of view of proving better variety, this year people will have lunch-time recitals. Last year there was a big gap in the schedule. We had the Postcards series at Greenacres and some events. We will have a repeat of the Postcard events. This year people can go to a Postcard event at 11a.m., followed by a lunch recital at 1p.m., followed by Opera Scenes at 3:30p.m. and the opera at night. There will also be the Gala concert. People want wallto-wall events when they are visiting the town.
The board has a new chairman. What is the role of the chairperson within the modern festival structure?
Peter Scallan is the new chairperson. The position requires him to continue the traditions of the forefathers. In terms of the modern festival the main thing is to oversee the strategy for the organisation, to set the policy and to plan for the long term development of the organisation, as well as to provide leadership. He works very closely with me and David Agler.
Who picks the operas?
The Artistic Director David Agler.
Is the board still as big and unwieldy as ever?
We have 12 board members. The board is effective. Peter (Scallan) has introduced a system of subcommittees to deal with specific areas. The board moves effectively and meets once a month. At the same time the board is always looking at fresh blood.
Will there be an 18-day festival?
I do think it’s important that we make sure we can afford to do it and make sure the demand is there. I think there will be.
Some people think 18 days is too long. People say it’s hard to keep the momentum going; others say it should be longer than 18 days. Less than half of the opera festivals since it was founded have been 18 days long. It’s a long stretch. We will be considering it for the 2011 festival as it will be the 60th anniversary.
Did the Johnstown Castle festival nearly bankrupt WFO?
The staging of the festival at Johnstown Castle was expensive. If the company didn’t have reserves maybe, it certainly lost money. It was before my time. It was an expensive festival, but the people involved feel it was worth it.
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