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Los Angeles Opera says ticket sales jump in its anniversary season

The Los Angeles Opera staged "Pagliacci" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in September.
The Los Angeles Opera staged “Pagliacci” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in September.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times )
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Los Angeles Opera said unaudited figures for its recently ended 30th anniversary season show a 19.9% increase in the number of tickets sold and a 27.6% rise in ticket revenue compared with the previous season.

L.A. Opera sold 118,565 tickets for the 2015-16 season, compared with 98,861 for 2014-15, the company said. Ticket revenue was about $14.2 million for the 2015-16 period, compared with about $11.1 million during the previous period.

The revenue includes ticket sales from mainstage productions at the company’s primary home, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, as well as from its side-bar series known as Off-Grand, which presents smaller-scaled shows at venues including REDCAT.

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The company didn’t provide full results for the most recent fiscal year, as tax documents aren’t normally made public until later. But the revenue increase can be partly attributed to higher ticket prices. The company said that the average cost of tickets purchased was $126.05 in 2015-16, up from $116.95 in the previous period.

L.A. Opera said it produced six mainstage productions, with a total of 40 performances, for the 2015-16 season. The previous season saw six mainstage productions with a total of 37 performances.

Including Off Grand performances, L.A. Opera had 53 performances in 2015-16 versus 54 in the previous period, a spokeswoman said.

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The company didn’t disclose costs related to its 30th anniversary season. Those figures are disclosed in the company’s tax filings and other statements to be released months after the fiscal year has ended.

L.A. Opera recorded a drop in net assets for the 2014-15 fiscal year, the most recent period for which the company provided audited financial statements. Net assets fell about $8.1 million to slightly under $50 million.

The decrease was largely due to a change in its temporarily restricted assets, which included a large number of multiyear gifts in the earlier year, a spokeswoman said.

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L.A. Opera’s new season is scheduled to kick off in September with a new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” starring Placido Domingo, who is the company’s general director.

david.ng@latimes.com

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