Chapter 5 illustrates how demand responds to changes in the forces on which it depends. Using the theory of consumer behavior, we start out by explaining the concepts of price, income, and cross-price elasticity of demand, as well as how to derive these elasticities. We will also cover empirical evidence on the actual value of the price and income elasticities of demand for the live performing arts in several countries over several different time periods.

This chapter lies the microeconomic foundation to understand consumer demand in the cultural sector. We start out by outlining the assumptions that underlie the economic analysis of consumer choice, followed by a breakdown of how to measure the utility of the consumer, as well as how the consumer maximizes utility. We also show how to derive demand and supply curves which are essential to analyze the market powers at play in the cultural sector. Finally, we will show how to use the market demand and supply curves to determine the market price.

In this chapter, we investigate the economic choices – especially the price-output choices – made by performing arts firms. We cover the factors that help in determining the optimal price–output combination for performing arts firms. Furthermore, we discuss a multitude of market types and how these market types influence the behavior of performing arts firms. We also present the objectives of the performing arts firms, which depend on whether they are in the commercial or the not-for-profit sector of the economy. Ultimately, we end up with a model for the performing arts firm that is able to predict both ticket prices and length of season.

Chapter 6 brings together evidence of all kinds from the whole period to create a vivid picture of popular opera and its audience in the theatre. ‘Theatre Size and Ambience’ correlates detailed historical information to produce a systematic overview of many theatre buildings, together with interior details and size of musical ensembles. Ticket admission prices at the Opéra, Comédie-Italienne and the Fair theatres are compared and assessed. Descriptions by a number of eyewitnesses (French, Italian, English, Irish and German observers) combine to give an impression of activity in popular theatre seen from the audience’s point of view. In a survey of staging, the evidence is both visual and textual: engraved and painted illustrations are analysed and ‘corrected’ so that the proportions of stage sets can be understood. Then a synopsis of stage directions suggests the material range of experience in popular opera. A survey of lighting effects is discussed in relation to stage context, showing how some comedies combined lighting effects with music.

It is clear that the productions in the West End and on Broadway of The Merry Widow marked a distinctive new phase in operetta reception. The massive success of The Merry Widow opened up a flourishing market for operettas from Vienna and Berlin. This was confirmed by the huge success of Straus’s The Chocolate Soldier in New York (1909) and London (1910). The Berlin operettas of Jean Gilbert were soon in demand in the West End and on Broadway. Continental European operetta entered a marketplace dominated by musical comedy. The first major blow to the operetta market, especially in the UK, was the outbreak of the First World War. After the war, many creators of operetta were eager to escape to the comfort of historical romances. In the first three decades of the twentieth century, many people were prepared to pay for operetta, and an assortment of theatres and ticket prices enabled a broad social mixture to do so. In addition to critical-aesthetic reception, theatrical productions were open to moral concerns. The chapter ends with reflections on the reasons for the decline in productions on Broadway and in the West End post-1933.

It is clear that the productions in the West End and on Broadway of The Merry Widow marked a distinctive new phase in operetta reception. The massive success of The Merry Widow opened up a flourishing market for operettas from Vienna and Berlin. This was confirmed by the huge success of Straus’s The Chocolate Soldier in New York (1909) and London (1910). The Berlin operettas of Jean Gilbert were soon in demand in the West End and on Broadway. Continental European operetta entered a marketplace dominated by musical comedy. The first major blow to the operetta market, especially in the UK, was the outbreak of the First World War. After the war, many creators of operetta were eager to escape to the comfort of historical romances. In the first three decades of the twentieth century, many people were prepared to pay for operetta, and an assortment of theatres and ticket prices enabled a broad social mixture to do so. In addition to critical-aesthetic reception, theatrical productions were open to moral concerns. The chapter ends with reflections on the reasons for the decline in productions on Broadway and in the West End post-1933.