Summer Festival attendance hits record

Summer Festival attendance hits record

Most-attended show was free performance by U.S.Army Field Band, Soldier's Chorus

BY ROGER LELIEVRE

News Arts Writer

Ann Arbor loved comedian Lily Tomlin. Same with the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus. Musician David Byrne did well, as did political satirists The Capitol Steps.

That’s the report as this year’s edition of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival goes into the history books. The annual event, which combined main stage entertainment with free outdoor concerts and music, ran June 11-July 4 and featured 19 performers in 23 shows.

With the capacity of the recently renovated (and air-conditioned) Hill Auditorium available to supplement the Summer Festival’s customary Power Center stage, more people enjoyed the Ann Arbor Summer Festival this year than ever before, said Evy Warshawski, outgoing festival director.

Total attendance for the festival’s 23 main stage shows was 23,504. In 2003, 16,534 tickets were sold to 19 shows. Gross ticket sales for this year’s Power Center and Hill Auditorium shows was $706,197.

SEE FESTIVAL, E2

FESTIVAL FROM E1

Hard to get an accurate estimate of TOP attendance

'I look at season as a portfolio. As long as the whole portfoliio is in the black, I am happy.'

Evy Warshawski, outgoing festival director

Last year, with Power Center as its only large venue, the Summer Festival took in $571,084, according to preliminary figures compiled by festival staff.

"In long-range planning, I hope Hill stays in the mix," Warshawski observed.

So who was hot?

"Out the door from the get go, Lily Tomlin was the bestseller," Warshawski said. Tomlin's June 15 show sold just two tickets short of 3,000 in the 3,700 seat Hill Auditorium.

The most attended show was the free appearance by the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers' Chorus, also at Hill, with 3,441 tickets distributed.

Other popular acts, all at Power were Byrne (1,000 tickets sold), the opening night of Cirque Eloise (1,089), a third visit by the Reduced Shakespeare Company (1,066), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (1,259) and Natalie MacMaster (1,066). The first show by Capitol Steps sold out, with the second show almost selling out.

Michael Feldman's live broadcast of the public radio show "Whad Ya Know," attracted 1,575 to Hill Auditorium. It was one of the shows with a buzz," Warshawski said.

Shows selling near the 1,000-mark were Cirque Eloize's matinees and evening performances, the Comedy and Pet Theatre and the rock band They Might Be Giants, which Marshawski called, "the loudest show I've ever presented."

In addition to the ticketed shows at Power and Hill, the Summer Festival also offered the outdoor Top of the Park program of free concerts, movies and food atop the Power Center parking structure. But it's hard to get an accurate estimate of how many attended TOP because people wander in and out of the area.

"It's really a revolving door, with people coming up for their favorite bands, movies, parties in the tents, to dance on the weekends, to hang out with friends," said Steve Guttman, Top of the Park manager. "We might have thousands throughout the night at any given point.

"The weather this season was kind of off," he said. "Last year, it rained at 4 and 5 p.m., and would go away. This year, if it wasn't raining it was cold."

Warshawski said she looks at the big picture.

"What I am most proud of is that the festival as a whole will remain in the black after the season, even though there may be losses at the TOP. Some of the shows we presented were wonderful, but they didn't sell out...and I don't think I could do a season in which every show sells out.

"I look at season as a portfolio. As long as the whole portfolio is in the black, I am happy."

She added that ticket sales are just one method of revenue for the festival. Money also comes from fundraising, grants, and the sale of souvenirs, as well as from donations made via kiosks placed strategically throughout TOP. Final number will not be presented until September. The festival's budget this year was $1.3 million.

Warshawski will leave Ann Arbor next month to become executive director of the Napa Valley Opera House in Napa, Calif.

For those who like to get a jump on things, the 2005 Ann Arbor Summer Festival will be June 17-July 10.

Roger LeLievre can be reached at rleliere@annarbornews.com