Arts patrons are used to receiving holiday greetings, usually with fundraising appeals, at this time of year. Hippodrome Theatre subscribers got a very different message about a week ago, something many of them apparently likened to an eviction notice.
A change in booking policy at the Hippodrome, from several multiweek shows to almost all one-week shows during the 2015-2016 season, will necessitate reseating thousands of people. A letter announcing the change informed subscribers of their new seat locations.
The Hippodrome has fielded over 1,000 calls from disgruntled people since then, along with any number of emails, letters and heated postings on Facebook.
Typical of the reactions is one from subscriber Joel K. Oppenheimer. He learned that his four tickets in Rows G and F of the center orchestra, which he has held for five years, would be moved to Row M, right orchestra — "practically out the door," he said.
"I always thought that you reward year-after-year subscribers with equal to, or better, seats, not move them to far worse seats," Oppenheimer said. "People like me, who were hanging on for three or four good shows we want to see per season, will not renew. It could be a death spiral for the Hippodrome."
Oppenheimer's disappointment over "how poorly this new program is being rolled out" is a view not entirely contradicted inside the Hippodrome.
"The letter we sent out didn't explain everything," said Ron Legler, president of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of the Hippodrome. "It also wasn't an invoice. It was a warning that there was going to be a change."
In addition, the communication did not make clear that the new seat locations offered to subscribers were not necessarily set in stone. They reflected what Legler describes as "the worst-case scenario."
That scenario imagined all 8,500 subscribers renewing. The box-office staff devised a way to seat all current subscribers in a single, eight-performance week after years of being spread out over two weeks and 16 performances.
"We understand that the seats are sometimes the reason people renew," said Legler, who has personally handled more than 120 calls from subscribers. "The seat changes have averaged a difference of seven to 10 rows. It's very difficult to put 100 percent of patrons in 50 percent of the inventory."
That inventory is likely to change, though, as it would in any other subscription renewal period.
"Every year, our renewal rate is 70 to 75 percent," Legler said. "We know that there may be an even bigger drop-off, maybe 35 to 40 percent, for next season because of the changes. But if that happens, everyone left will move up."
If 40 percent of subscribers chose not to renew, that could put about 3,400 seats into play for those people sticking with the Hippodrome season.
Legler noted that when renewal invoices are sent out in mid-January, patrons can indicate their wishes for upgrades. After the renewal period in mid-February, the box office will begin the process of trying to accommodate upgrade requests. That process will end in May.
If, at that time, a subscriber still unsatisfied with available options for seat upgrades chooses to cancel the renewal, "we will refund 100 percent of your money," Legler said.
Subscribers will have to put up their money first, however, by Feb. 20.
"Why pay first? It's just like buying an airline ticket," Legler said. "You have to buy the ticket before you can get a seat assignment."
Although some patrons have accused the box office of ignoring their seniority as longtime subscribers, Legler said that factor was taken into consideration in making the proposed seat assignments.
"Unless we had a lottery, this was the only fair way," he said.
In one case, involving a longtime patron facing an unusually distant move from Row A to T, it turned out that the man's subscription used to be purchased under a friend's account, but was changed to his own account a few years ago, affecting seniority.
Economics are behind the Hippodrome's move to one-week bookings. Multiweek shows have not always sold well enough to satisfy producers; last season's two-week run of "Peter and the Starcatcher," for example, played to an average of 700 people per night in the 2,250-seat house, Legler said.
Broadway Across America, the national organization that presents touring productions, operates in 46 markets. All but three now follow the one-week model being adopted by the Hippodrome.