Date: Fri 26-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Edmond-Town-Hall-Theater

Full Text:

Movie Price Drops As ETH Board Tries To Boost Attendance

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

In an effort to boost attendance, the Edmond Town Hall Theatre is reducing its

ticket prices to $2 for all seats starting Friday, January 26.

The new price drops the regular adult admission from $3 to $2, rescinding the

$1 increase which was established last spring by the Board of Managers.

"We are trying to be the community theater, and our goal is to attract

families," said Sandra Motyka, the board chairman. "In an effort to offer

affordable prices for young families and the rest of our patrons, it was

unanimously voted at a regular meeting of the Board of Managers to put this

new pricing in place at the earliest possible time."

The board increased ticket prices by $1 last March, the first increase in 10

years, in an attempt to recover some of the income that has been lost since

ticket sales began decreasing several years ago.

"We thought that if we could keep the gate (attendance), and raise prices by

$1, we would be able to generate funds needed to help keep the building in

good repair," Mrs Motyka said. "The building is more than 60 years old and

needs a lot of work. But it seems as though we are still losing gate and have

even bigger expenses facing us."

Mrs Motyka said the board doesn't know exactly what is to blame for the

continued slump in ticket sales.

"I have been on the board for 10 years and have seen the theater attendance

have its ups and downs," she said. "This is a cyclical business. We still

don't know whether the price or some other factors have been responsible for

decreased attendance. Weather certainly has been a factor recently. We really

can't judge how much of an impact video rentals have or the opening of the new

larger theater complexes near us."

The Edmond Town Hall Theatre will continue to focus on offering G- and

PG-rated movies with an occasional R movie "if it is interesting and would

attract enough viewers," said Tom Mahoney, the theater manager. "We're mostly

a family-oriented business."

Mr Mahoney said he is expecting a positive reaction to the change in the

ticket price. During the past year he had tried special promotions such as

ladies night to boost attendance. Books of tickets for use as gifts still will

be available at the theater box office and in the building manager's office,

he said, and the theater also can be rented for live entertainment or for

special fund-raising movie performances.

Mrs Motyka said the board had tracked ticket sales for more than six months

before increasing prices last March. Since then an in-depth study was done by

one board member and it indicated that G and PG movies draw the most

attendance.

"But we can't always get the movies we want," Mrs Motyka said, noting that the

big theater chains have more clout at getting and holding on to movies which

draw large attendance.

"The Edmond Town Hall Theatre is a nice theater where youngsters can come and

parents feel safe in letting them come. But it seems as though we've lost a

lot of the young people," she said.

"We were loathe to change ticket prices, but we don't want to sit idly by - we

have to be pro-active," she said.

Mrs Motyka said the board has decided to set aside the interest money from the

Mary Hawley trust fund for capital improvement use only. Recently it became

apparent that at least the flat sections of building roof may need to be

replaced or have substantial repairs, she said. The furnaces are antiquated,

the lighting in much of the building is inadequate and other major work needs

to be done.

All of the money needed to operate and repair the building comes from movie

ticket sales, rental of the Alexandria Room, the gym and other rooms,

including the theater, and from the trust fund interest. The town pays no rent

for the use of the building as town offices.

"We don't want to make a ton of money," Mrs Motyka said. "But we need a

reasonable amount of money to meet daily expenses and to attack at least one

big project a year above and beyond our regular patch and maintenace projects.

The building certainly should be a safe and comfortable place to work in and

for everyone to use and enjoy.

"We're trying to do the best we can with what we have," she said.