Whats the point of the Wexford Opera House ?

McLoughlin

Apart from the festival during October/November what is the point of the Wexford Opera House for the rest of the year the main O’Reilly Theatre gets used every once and awhile with little variety in what is held here and the high price of tickets turns allot of the public away and the smaller Jerome Hynes Theatre is practically unused due to high hire costs.


For a place that was funded by the taxpayers of Wexford for the people of Wexford its in a position where people can’t afford to pay to go or even play there. Was it just one big mistake putting a venue of that size in a small town like Wexford for just a rather expensive festival once a year?

vicwatson

For a place that was funded by the taxpayers of Wexford for the people of Wexford

For a start it was funded by the taxpaying people of Ireland, not just Wexford.

Secondly, the Theatre Royal has been in place for donkies years, with the first Wexford Festival Opera taking in place (I think) in 1951, long before the new €35 million redevelopment of the Theatre to a now world renowned Opera House.

I saw Moving Hearts there one weekend night and they were amazing.

When Christy Moore plays you cannot get a ticket for love nor money.

That said, they should certainly be trying to fill it better and some more "rock/popular" music into it to make the dollars. And it would if someone tried harder.

Beautiful music venue, no matter what type of music.

borzaboy

well i think wexford is a great place to live anyway

McLoughlin

Yeah the Theatre Royal was there but at least it was used regularly and by various local groups but now its the Opera House all those local groups can't afford to hire the venue and put on shows there.

My perception seems to be the "powers that be" spend all the time working towards the Opera Festival and show little interest in the rest of the year and charging excessive prices on those that do use to venue with better management it could be a fantastic venue for modern bands/groups and as a place to develop local talent.

Tzar Chasm

There be's loads of stuff in the opera house, and anyway if it was locked up for the rest of the year the opera festival itself justifies it due to the amount of money it brings to wexford.

The question i'd ask is why is the dun mhuirre in such a horid looking state

Zhane

McLoughlin wrote: »

Yeah the Theatre Royal was there but at least it was used regularly and by various local groups but now its the Opera House all those local groups can't afford to hire the venue and put on shows there.

My perception seems to be the "powers that be" spend all the time working towards the Opera Festival and show little interest in the rest of the year and charging excessive prices on those that do use to venue with better management it could be a fantastic venue for modern bands/groups and as a place to develop local talent.

Some of the local bands barely fill the arts centre.

Judging by the Whats on section of the website theres a few things coming up such as Frankie Boyle, Des Bishop and Jedward.

Iv no idea of the costs in running the opera house and the price structure for the hiring of it nor how companies go about picking places to tour. But if its the OH job to source talent to fill it, they arent doing a good job of it.

I dont think the tickets are that expensive to be honest! they are much cheaper than say the Grand Canal Theatre, O2 or even the Olympia.

I usually go to the Light Opera productions and they are always nearly packed out so it is used, and of course its packed for the Opera Festival.

Corvo

In fairness in the last year or so I have see Tommy Tiernan, Keith Barry and have now booked Frankie Boyle. Gift Grub show is also coming up quite soon. The tickets cost no more that €27 including booking fee, they are delivered to your door or they can be picked up on the night.

It's brought something else to do in this town for once, and I for one am very thankful.

All of those shows have been packed to the rafters also which means surely there will be further acts/shows of the same popularity.

The Opera Festival isn't ny thing personally and its good to see that during the year they are pushing to
fill it with a wide range of acts.

Zhane

McLoughlin just has his grumpy pants on.

It's a great asset to have, I'm proud of it to be honest.

Could it be used more? Absolutely, but you would be better off directing your complaints to Brian Byrne in the operations department.