We’ve often wondered how well an arena show does during its brief stops and now the Columbus Dispatch, a news source in the Columbus, Ohio area where Saltimbanco stopped recently, sheds a little light on that subject – unfortunately it’s not a bright one.
- Cirque du Soleil’s recent tour of Saltimbanco didn’t do as well as previous Cirque productions in Columbus. The French Canadian art-circus show sold 25,851 tickets during its two-week run in mid-August at Nationwide Arena.
More than 75,000 people saw Cirque’s Dralion here in 2003, and about 84,000 attended Varekai in 2005 — both in monthlong tent runs in the Arena District. More than 61,000 people saw Corteo, which had a monthlong tent run in 2007 at the Ohio Expo Center.
Although the poor economy has affected ticket sales, Cirque du Soleil plans to continue its pattern of visiting Columbus every two years or so, according to Reggie Lyons, media manager for Cirque touring shows. “It was lower than our expectations,” Lyons said, “but the economy is affecting the entertainment business across the country.”
{ SOURCE: The Columbus Dispatch }
