Success Story | Opera Colorado’s Pay What You Wish Ticketing

When you have a 2,225-seat opera house, you’re bound to have a few extra seats available for your performances, even for the most popular operas like La bohème. Selling the last of your remaining inventory for a given performance leaves organizations with a challenge— and an opportunity. You could hold prices steady and hope that the buzz around the performance brings full-price buyers in at the last minute. You could run a fire sale and slash your prices in the hopes of motivating price-sensitive buyers who have been on the fence—though we wouldn’t recommend it! Or you can do what one of our clients, Opera Colorado, did and use this remaining inventory as an opportunity to embrace radical pricing.

We introduced the concept of Radical Pricing back in 2021. Radical Pricing draws on the principles of Radical Hospitality by creating an approach to pricing that puts extraordinary emphasis on making people feel welcome. It uses pricing not only as a revenue management tool, but also as a form of access for audiences of all backgrounds. It recognizes the importance of value-based pricing principles and brings them to another level by giving patrons new control over how they want to reconcile the value they place on art with the dollars they pay for it.

Pay What You Wish Pricing at La bohème

Opera Colorado’s Pay What You Wish ticketing is a wonderful example of Radical Pricing. On Thursday, February 27, 2025, Pay What You Wish tickets became available for that evening’s performance of La bohème. Patrons were able to purchase up to 4 Pay What You Wish tickets. The suggested price was $35, and patrons were able to purchase tickets for as low as $15. For comparison, the top ticket price that evening was $179.

The initiative was a resounding success for Opera Colorado. The opera sold 101 additional tickets to that evening’s performance, bringing in an additional $2,341 for inventory that likely would have gone unsold. And they saw something wonderful in the sales data: although many patrons paid the $15 minimum price, there were several patrons who paid more than $35 suggested price. Some buyers paid as much as $75, showing that they were eager to embrace the notion of “Pay What You Can.” Based on availability, most patrons were seated in the top 2 price zones—meaning, they received excellent seats. A key aspect of radical pricing is making sure that buyers are included, and these folx were, as they sat in prime seats. And finally, of the 51 households that purchased Pay What You Wish tickets, more than half of them, 26 households, were first-time ticket buyers!

There were many benefits to opening up these Pay What You Wish tickets, from bringing in additional last-minute ticket revenue to welcoming a new audience to the Opera. The initiative was so successful that Opera Colorado offered Pay What You Wish tickets again later in the season for their Opera’s Greatest Hits concert. For that performance, they sold 80 tickets, bringing in an additional $1,732 in ticketing revenue. They are planning to continue to expand Pay What You Wish ticketing in their 2025-26 season, and we look forward to hearing future updates on how this Radical Pricing initiative has enriched the work that they do!

Making It Work: How JCA Helped

Opera Colorado has been a client of JCA’s since 2024. After a key staff member departed the organization, Opera Colorado contracted with JCA to outsource Tessitura database administration tasks. What began as an interim solution has since grown to be a multi-season partnership.

Opera Colorado’s Director of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Colgan had the idea to offer Pay What You Wish tickets to La bohème after learning about a similar program from her friends at Seattle Opera. As their database administrators, JCA stepped in to figure out how to turn Jenn’s idea into reality, using documentation from Seattle Opera as a starting point.

Close to curtain, Opera Colorado’s Patron Services team moved the patrons from the “dummy” house into the actual performance, seating them as close to the performance as possible to make the best possible use of remaining inventory. After the performance, we also helped with reporting and data analysis, to help Opera Colorado understand the impact that these tickets had.

Finally, when the time came to sell Pay What You Wish tickets for the Opera’s Greatest Hits concert, JCA provided documentation and training so that Opera Colorado’s team could continue these initiatives on their own.

“Pay What You Wish ticketing has been a powerful way to welcome new audiences while making meaningful use of our final seats,” said Colgan. “It aligns perfectly with our values of access and inclusion. JCA’s partnership helped us bring the idea to life quickly and seamlessly—from setup through reporting—and we’re excited to keep building on this momentum in future seasons.”

Work with JCA

Our team is committed to being a partner in our clients’ journeys, providing tailored solutions that ensure their missions continue without interruption. If your organization is in need of interim staffing or pricing guidance, we’re here to help.

Let’s discuss how JCA can help you maintain momentum and achieve your goals, no matter the challenges ahead.

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