"AIDA."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19713, 12 August 1927, Page 14

"AIDA."

Sir, —Will the honorary publicity officer of the Auckland Choral Society state why the sum of 7s is demanded for &s tickets for performances of the above, in view of advertisements advising the price as 6s ; plus tax, no booking fees charged and the price 6s 7d being printed on the tickets ? ii it is necessary to charge 7s, why not advertise that charge publicly, instead of resorting to a method which borders on profiteering ? Non-Subscribeb. Sir, —If I again refer to this matter, it must not be thought that I do so in a spirit of carping criticism, but the hon. publicity officer of the society has been pleased to make an explanation of the point raised and it is only the inadequacy of this explanation which leads me to further comment. All that Mr. Fairburn says about the society being an educational one, the heavy expenses, etc., is gladly conceded, but it is difficult to reconcile his earlier remarks with the facts. If the 2000 seats at 4s refer to the two performances taken together, howis it that only 1000 seats at 6s are mentioned ? There must be well over ihat number already reserved for Thursday night alone. The next point is more important. On Monday last, when awaiting my turn at the booking office, I could see no 4s seats marked, except in the top gallery. To make sufe, I. specially asked the attendant, and was told that this was the case. It appears that either the instructions to the office were incorrect, or that the plan has been altered since Monday afternoon. In any case, I would submit that my original point was substantially correct, viz., that when the box plan opened the number of 4s seats available for reservation was considerably less than the number advertised. H. Sharp.