The Eccles Theatre Facebook page recently posted a link to a short video about the thousands and thousands of Swarovski crystals and hours upon hours of intricate stitching it took to embellish the upcoming production of Disney’s “Aladdin.”
It’s not only ludicrous that a show spends that kind of money on a costume that could only be seen up close if it were in a lobby display, but sad that those costs are passed on to a public, many of which can’t afford the outrageous ticket prices.
The common argument is that good theater costs money. Umm, kinda. But I would offer that truly great theater is about illusion. It should let the viewer’s imagination do its work, to suspend reality, to fill in the details.
Publicly supported art should be accessible to all of the public. My guess is that a good portion of the audience can’t really afford to attend these touring shows either, but are simply clients and employees of wealthy businesses who use the write-off or have a connection to wealthy donors. If these productions didn’t spend such a garish amount of money on production details which can’t even be seen from the front row (let alone the third tier) more people could afford to see them, and exposure to the arts by all benefits us all.
If I want to see crystals and stitching and beautiful authentic costumes, I’ll attend an UMFA exhibit where those details can truly be appreciated. For about 18 bucks tops.
Scott Perry, Salt Lake City