Entertainment with added value
- Source: Global Times
- [10:05 July 29 2010]
- Comments
"The new scheme will offer members the current advantages as well as preferential bookings, and discounts," Xu said. "And a few lucky members will even get to meet the stars of some of the major productions."
The SOAC, near Century Square in downtown Pudong, is another major venue. Unlike the SGT, the SOAC set up its membership scheme at the end of 2006, the most recent of the city's subscription schemes.
There are more than 9,000 members in the SOAC scheme and theatergoers can join by filling out an application form when they purchase a ticket at the theater.
The SOAC also offers regular lectures, but there is only limited seating for the members. The speakers to date have included Lang Lang, Tan Dun, Stephen Norrington and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
However, like the SGT, the SOAC's membership scheme does not offer cheap tickets for its members yet.
"But we have a free delivery service," said Lin Hongmin, the general manager of the SOAC.
"Not long ago, one member who lives near Pudong Airport booked a ticket costing 30 yuan ($4.43) and asked for it to be delivered to his home on the same day. We did this even though it was worth a 70 yuan express courier fee."
The SCH and the SDAC have their own relatively stable audiences who make it slightly easier to organize their membership schemes.
The SCH, which achieved worldwide fame when it was physically moved, brick by brick, 66 meters to a new site in 2004, has four types of membership: an ordinary membership costs nothing but offers invitations to lectures and a magazine; the other three cards are prepaid cards costing between 5,000 and 20,000 yuan and offer discounts from 5 to 12 percent on tickets.
He Yanan, the vice marketing director in the SCH, said that of their 6,000 members, most were white-collar workers aged from 25 to 35. The most popular membership activity was being able to attend rehearsals.
A member of the SCH, Wang Kai, said: "It is an amazing experience watching how a professional orchestra or a famous musician practices." She told the Global Times that she was an office worker for a computer company and wanted to do something different after work.
The SDAC membership scheme is similar to the SCH scheme but costs less. The SDAC offers two cards: ordinary membership costs 5 yuan and a VIP membership costs 60 yuan a year but gives a 10 percent discount for every two tickets purchased.
Lu Liping, the marketing manger of the SDAC, said that every two months members can attend play rehearsals and even offer criticisms of the cast and director.
