Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
``They were fairly insistent about the request,'' ballet Director Phil Crosby said. ``We didn't feel pressured into it, but what are you going to do? It's cost-benefit analysis at this point.''
The administration had requested 14 freebies from the ballet, which receives 5 percent of its annual $2 million budget from the state. Crosby said he considered Allen's request for the $36 choice-seat tickets unreasonable, but allowed most of it ``for public relations reasons.''
``When we asked whether there would be payments for any of the tickets, the staff member was a bit taken aback and informed us that we should consider it an honor for the governor to attend,'' Crosby said.
Karen Van Veldhoven, spokeswoman for the ballet, said the free tickets were mailed Tuesday.
Allen spokeswoman Melissa Herring Dickie blamed the request for free tickets on an error by a staffer she would not identify. She said $309 in private money was sent to the ballet to pay for the tickets.
``When Governor and Mrs. Allen realized free tickets had been requested in their name, because of the show's popularity and the fact that the seats could have been sold, [they] insisted on paying for the tickets,'' Dickie said.
But she could not say Wednesday when payment had been made for the tickets or provide proof of payment. The ballet said Wednesday it had received no payment for the tickets.
The governor's request for complimentary tickets came as Virginia arts organizations reel from sharp reductions in their state subsidies.
Peggy Baggett, director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, said the state's annual appropriation for the arts fell from $5.3 million in fiscal 1990 to $1.4 million in 1992. It has crept back up to $2.1 million for the current fiscal year.
Cuts in arts subsidies directly affect the Richmond Ballet, which receives about $100,000 of its current budget from the arts commission. That makes box office receipts from the year-ending ``Nutcracker'' even more vital.
``It's the show we're tightest about giving tickets for, because it accounts for 25 percent of our annual income,'' Crosby said. ``Needless to say, watching those dollars and cents is important to us.''
Crosby said the ballet was told the free tickets would be used by the Allens, their two children, three security guards and ``friends and guests.''
Other politicians, including Allen's predecessors, have received free tickets to the ballet in the past - but apparently not in such large numbers.
Kathleen Maccio, former operations director for the Richmond Ballet, said that in the seven years she worked there, beginning in 1987, the total number of complimentary tickets available for any performance never topped 10.
by CNB