‘Aida’ Dropped In Tokyo

Last week, three performances of the opera “Aida” scheduled for Tokyo Dome in the middle of September were canceled due to poor ticket sales.

Local promoters had partnered with the Arena di Verona of Italy to bring the stadium-sized production, directed by Franco Zefirelli, to Tokyo.

The production was very expensive, as evidenced by the ticket prices, which ranged from 8,000 yen ($82) for nosebleed seats to 70,000 yen ($721) for floor seats in front of the stage.

The promoters expected to sell 100,000 tickets for the three performances but, according to Tokyo Shimbun, had sold 4,000 as of the end of August. Perhaps this shouldn’t be so surprising considering the onsale wasn’t until the middle of July .

Normally, tickets for large international opera touring companies are put on sale as much as a year before the performances take place so local presenters have plenty of time for publicity and promotion activities.