We’re really excited about the five great shows we have lined up for 2010, including the timeless musical Man of La Mancha!  If Gypsy and Chicago were any indication, Man of La Mancha will sell out fast, but as a Subscriber you can reserve early and even get the best seats!

Our season will open with the drama/comedy Bus Stop, and we’ll also feature the classic play Steel Magnolias and the hilarious Sylvia. Rounding out the season is the longest-running off-Broadway musical, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, a wry and witty look at relationships that’s so popular it’s played the world over in 13 languages!

Read more about our 2010 season, or if you’re already sold, buy your subscription now!

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Our Alameda restaurant partners are all within a 5-minute drive of the theater, including C’era Una Volta, The Hobnob, Juanita’s, Bip’s Broiler, and Mona’s Table. Click here for more details, including restaurant descriptions, addresses, and maps.

If you’re a subscriber, we hope you’ll take advantage of this new and exciting benefit. If you’re not a subscriber, we still encourage you to patronize these restaurants and reward their support of Altarena Playhouse!

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The real news here, however, is that today marks the start of our 2008 Season Subscription campaign. Our subscribers (also known as season ticket holders) are the backbone of the Altarena Playhouse. Without the income and ‘guaranteed audience’ that our subscribers provide, it would be very difficult for us to make the up-front commitments necessary to produce such an ambitious season. Honestly, we love everyone who buys a ticket to one of our shows, but it’s our subscribers who really make it possible for us to do what we do.

Now, we understand that the idea of “supporting local theater” isn’t quite enough to get everyone off the fence and into a warm pair of season tickets. That’s why we offer a wide range of valuable and exclusive benefits to our subscribers. They’re all described in detail here, but let me take a minute to point out my favorites:

Priority Seating. How many times have you been in the Altarena’s lobby when we begin seating, only to watch our red-ticket-holding subscribers walk right past you and into the theater first? All you can do is look down at your white ticket and wait your turn. I’m at every performance, and I’ve seen the look in your eyes. If you were a subscriber, you’d be holding those red tickets. You’d be walking past the crowd and into the theater. And you’d be able to choose seats in any section… even the reserved-for-subscribers “section B”. Could life get any sweeter?

Flexible reservations. When you buy a subscription at most theaters, they make you choose something like “Third Friday” or “Second Sunday” and you’re assigned dates based on your choice. And if you want to change your reservation from a Wednesday to a Saturday, be prepared to pay an extra charge. Who knows what our schedules will be next January, much less next August? At the Altarena, subscribers can make their reservations as early or as late as they wish. Of course, last minute reservations are subject to availability, but our shows usually don’t sell out much more than a week in advance. Plenty of time for most folks to arrange their calendars.

And lastly…

Big Savings. Several months ago, Fred Chacon and I sat down with the Board of Directors and expressed our desire to offer a 20% discount on season tickets, across the board, in order to encourage as many people to subscribe as possible. The Board loved the idea. However, as this week approached, I started thinking “Am I crazy? $80 for 5 shows? $68 for seniors and students? An additional 10% off for renewing subscribers (before October 31)?? Who in their right mind sells tickets that cheap?” Well, the jury’s still out on whether we’ve completely lost our marbles or not, but there’s one thing I’m sure of… if you love live theater, you’d be crazy not to take advantage of this incredible value.

There’s still a lot of great stuff coming up this year at the Altarena, and we hope to see you at the theater at least a couple more times before year’s end. But it’s also not too early to start thinking about 2008 and becoming an Altarena subscriber. If you’re interested, please don’t put it off. The sooner you purchase your season tickets, the easier it is for us to begin working on next season.

Ready to pull the trigger? You can click here to purchase season tickets online. It’s the quickest and easiest way to subscribe. If you’re more of a “check’s in the mail” kind of person, we haven’t forgotten about you. We’ll be mailing out brochures and order forms in the next few weeks. You’ll be able to sign up and send in payment at that time.

Many thanks to all of our past, present, and future subscribers. We hope to keep you coming back for more.

Daniel Zilber
Managing Director, Altarena Playhouse

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