Just a few decades ago, cultural performances such as musicals, plays, operas, concerts were considered to be just for the people of high class in society. With growth of the number of people who enjoy these performances, the prices for tickets have become expensive. Ten thousand won tickets are now not less common and ticket prices have soared. Recently there was even a sixty thousand won tickets for sale. Is this a good phenomenon?
Skyrocketing ticket prices
The musical, "The Phantom of the Opera" which cost 12 billion won to produce, earned a pure profit of 2 billion won. "Cats" closed in March and the opera "Turandot" performed in May recorded a big success, and it became known that these types of grand scale performances are a good investment. In addition, many spectators want to see gorgeous and sumptuous performances, which mean they make much account of sight effects rather than auditory effects. To satisfy the audience's desires, producers invite world famous players who wear splendid costumes on the stage that is filled with numerous magnificent and splendid equipments. Of course, a huge amount of money was needed to present such performances - 2.3 billion won was spent for "Cats," 6.5 billion won invested in the outdoor opera "Turandot" and "Aida" cost 7 billion won to stage. Also, "Mamma Mia" will take 8 billion won to stage. To retrieve the high production costs, production companies try to draw as many people as possible to the performances.

Negative effects on other performances
Performances that are large and expensive cause lots of trouble. First of all, it brings about the prolonged depression of small-sized Korean performances, because the number of the audience for Korean cultural performances is limited. If someone saw one performance paying 100,000 won, that would mean he or she gives up five performances costing 20,000 won per ticket. That is to say, to make one large-sized performance succeed, many small performances have to die out. That is the reality of Korean performance culture.
Secondly, economic loss is considered as one of the biggest matters. The opera "Turandot" is a good example. Both the Chinese and Korean Turandot productions were directed by Zhang Yimou. Even though most visitors might think these are the same works except the location where the opera was performed, this is not true. "Turandot" in Beijing cost 15 million dollars and the most expensive ticket was 13 hundred dollars. 95% of the audience were foreigners, and the performance made it possible for China to earn over 80 million dollars. In contrast, Korean "Turandot" spent exorbitant foreign currency to invite the Chinese director, Italian vocalists and an Ukrainian orchestra, but there were few foreign spectators to see this expensive opera.
Third, it can induce a sense of incompatibility. "Turandot" gained commercial success. As most people expected, was it worth 500,000 won for VIP seat? There is a spectator who saw "Turandot" twice in totally different seats. A curator, Lee Seung-mi, stated that she had to look up and she was fed up with having a stiff neck. She could not see the players' faces and hear well because the music had spread out. "The VIP seats were not at all better than the cheaper seats. The VIP seats just seemed to cater for some people's vanity." she added.
Finally, the quality of the performances deteriorate. These expensive performances are first produced in made from foreign countries and then Korean producers obtained copyrights to Korea. If these phenomenon goes on, nobody will try to produce creative works. Maybe somebody can retort that if there are good performances, it does not matter where they are from. However, works imported from other countries are not the best quality. Let's look at the case of "Aida" performed from September 19 to 21. Many people expected "Aida" would be great, but it had just a terrible failure. In addition, it made the audience watch performances' appearance rather than their essential facts.

Creative idea needed
To solve the cost problems Performances have to be popularized. "Let's Opera" planned by The National Opera Company of Korea is a good example. "Let's Opera" is a series planned to introduce vital scenes to the public and to make opera more popular. They succeeded with great and creative ideas like staging of plays and not with sumptuousness. The attempts like "Let's Opera" have to be continued.
However, the most important thing is that an exclusive theater is needed. Many culturally developed countries have exclusive theaters, so they can develop their own performance culture. For popularization of Korean performances, the government must provide economic support.
It is natural to say the most important thing is the quality of performances. Everybody knows this. Both the producers and the audience must never forget this important fact for a more developed culture.