The audience chimes in

The box office and I have been tallying the anonymous audience surveys that I wrote for my boss here at the opera company, and let me tell you, some of the "feel free to write comments" have been worth writing something as tacky as an audience survey (or tallying the results- very poorly, I might add).

From a 44 year-old Richmond, UT woman:

Do you anticipate returning next year?

No! We're moving out of Utah- yay!

Feel free to write any additional comments on the back of this sheet.

We're seeing Porgy & Bess tonight, which got rave reviews, but you've inserted this bizarre disclaimer in the program. Just what do you mean by saying 'people in that era could be truly ugly'? Isn't it also ugly to make yourself look superior? Or to censor the supertitles? Yuk- these productions are so juvenile sometimes. SO UTAH!

That was by far my favorite, though this 57 year-old man had this to say about next year's season:

Do you anticipate returning next year?

No. Michael [Ballam, the head hauncho] is not getting any younger. I am not coming again until he realizes this and no longer places himself in leading roles he is too old for.

Of course, that won't happen, as long as these 84 ish year-old ladies keep writing things like:

Please have more Michael Ballam concerts and put him in more operas, please.