my response

[gwen]

You know what's weird?  We have a very active following for classical
music, and I think theater, for a city of this size.  I know that a
small cabaret put on by the Bach choir at the Cultural Center in the
Strip District pulled a full audience for two nights in a row, both
very very cold nights, just this past month.  And they've been
consistently attracting fair-sized audiences this past season.  I know
because my mom's in the Bach Choir, and I attend her concerts of
course.  Similarly, I'm in the Renaissance City Choir, and we had a
smaller-than-usual audience for our Holiday concert at 750ish people.

Also, I've had to miss a couple of theater shows ("The Importance of
Being Ernest", and a friend's local play about Lyme Disease) recently
because I waited too long to obtain tickets for the showings that
friends were going to; so it seems to me that theater is doing pretty
well.

I also know that the Mendelssohn Choir and the Pittsburgh Symphony
continue to do well for audience attendance, especially for a city of
this size.

So it's not like people aren't going out for live performances at all.
 I think it might be productive to figure out why there's an unusual
following for Classical music and shows here, but an under-par
following for band-oriented concerts.

--
gwen.
gamergothgeek