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The first production of the season, The Barber of Seville, did not meet expected ticket sales and overall subscription sales were down as well.

That was a surprise for the company’s general director, Jeep Jeffries.

Barber ended up about $185,000 short of budget, despite what Jeffries said were several positive developments in the weeks leading up to the opening at the end of September.

The company had hired a well-respected new artistic director, Timothy Vernon, and a new production director. It had a local singing star, Joshua Hopkins, in the lead. It brought in a talented conductor to lead the National Arts Centre Orchestra. And it had a version of The Barber of Seville that had been successful everywhere it had been before.

All of which has left Jeffries mystified as to why the production did not succeed.

“We knew the news was disappointing going in to the Barber, but a lot of things that normally happen with a show where the sales curve takes off, they never really happened and that’s kind of a bafflement, to he honest with you. I’m not sure we really understand why.

“To put it in a nutshell, we were looking for a production that we thought would be attractive to our existing subscribers and maybe help us attract new audience. We had wonderful Canadian talent. We revamped out marketing campaign, brought in a new agency and our media day had a great turnout.

“We did, as near as I can tell, everything right and the Barber is not an obscure show at all, it’s one of the top 10 most performed and best loved (operas) and best selling shows,” he said. “To have it do so poorly is a puzzlement.