Theatre panic in Milan — theatres empty with even the big names not selling — Bourne’s Swan Lake deserted

This sea­son has star­ted dis­mally in Milan. Mat­thew Bourne’s Swan Lake at the hug Arcim­boldi theatre was half empty on the second night, and this afternoon’s mat­inée only a third full. Stage Entertainment’s Mamm Mia! at their Teatro Nazionale is cau­tiously book­ing until the end of Decem­ber, three months earlier than the run of their Beauty and the Beast last sea­son, and with the house only half sold around Christmas.

Even “niche” enter­tain­ment such as Beckett’s Happy Days in the cel­eb­rated Robert Wilson pro­duc­tion with Adri­ana Asti at the Pic­colo Teatro wasn’t full for the first of only a hand­ful of dates. This is all wor­ry­ing news for pro­duc­tions that are mov­ing to Milan soon such as Flash­dance (again pro­duced by Stage Enter­tain­ment), and I Promessi Sposi (again at Teatro Arcimboldi).

Most theatre news­let­ters are offer­ing reduced price tick­ets, runs are being trun­cated, and even La Scala was put­ting out full-page ads for its sea­son tick­ets, when just a few years ago they were dif­fi­cult to come by.

As one Mil­anese theatre dir­ector said last week: “We’ll be reduced to filling seats with card­board cut-outs like in Ken Branagh’s film ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’!”

Share