$10 Blackfriars tickets this week
Staff Report
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The American Shakespeare Center announced today that it is offering $10 tickets for every performance this week of the three productions now playing at the Blackfriars Playhouse: Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, and The Alchemist by Ben Jonson.
This special promotion is the ASC’s response to the snowy weather that has hit the mid-Atlantic region in the last few weeks and has kept theatre patrons and retail shoppers home.
“For our patrons who can make it safely to the Blackfriars Playhouse, we’re offering a reason to dig out of their snow bunkers and come enjoy a show,” said ASC Artistic Director Jim Warren. “We also want to help boost business for local hotels, restaurants, and shops that count on the Blackfriars to bring folks out to enjoy a night on the town.”
In an economy already hard hit by the recession, downtown businesses in Staunton have reported decreased sales since December due to loss of customers during the worst winter weather the area has seen in more than a decade.
“The ASC always works with the local business community to bring both tourists and local people downtown. Now, we want to do our part to help stimulate the economy during bad winter weather,” Warren said.
Last year, the ASC and its patrons spent a combined total of nearly $4.5 million in the Staunton area, supporting 123 full-time jobs, generating household income of nearly $2.4 million, and yielding tax revenue of nearly $350,000 for state and local governments.
While dozens of arts venues throughout the mid-Atlantic area have been cancelling performances due to heavy snow, the Blackfriars has not cancelled a single show. Under the ASC’s “Snow Days are Show Days” policy, all scheduled performances will go on unless the Blackfriars loses electrical power.
“As corny and cliché as it may sound, we really do have some of the most talented and hardest working actors in show business,” said Warren. “And they’ve helped us keep the Blackfriars open over the last few weeks as a warm place for our patrons to see hot theatre no matter how much it was snowing and blowing outside.”
The special $10 tickets are available for performances from Thursday, Feb. 11 through Sunday, Feb. 14 at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton. Information and tickets are available from the box office by phone at 1.877.MUCH.ADO (682.4236), online at www.ASCstaunton.com, or in person at 10 S. Market Street in Downtown Staunton.
