The First Season

After a glittery opening year with the likes of Bruce Hornsby, CeCe Winans, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Crawford ringing up the curtain, entertaining the social set and offering never-before-seen ticket prices (in Newport News at any rate), The Ferguson Center settled into its freshman season with good routines and offerings almost every weekend. (The actual opening took place in late 2004, when crooner Tony Bennett held forth in the then newly completed Music and Theatre Hall, a 440-seat masterpiece we’ll talk about a little later).

Andrea Bocelli sang to a sold-out audience at the Ferguson Center for the Arts at Christopher Newport University on Thursday. JOHN H. SHEALLY II / THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT.

By the way, don’t be too taken in by the sensational ticket prices posted for Andrea Bocelli’s one night stand ($175 for the nosebleed section; $300 to count the freckles on his brow). There was, so I understand, a collective flutter from those who shelled out that much for his Newport News debut that merely obtaining his booking meant somehow that the area “had arrived”. I really hope they were kidding. Few recall that Virginia Opera staged an historic coup back in the late 1970s when Pavarotti was booked into Chrysler on a certain afternoon and tickets went in about half a day. Luciano’s recital fetched between $100 and $250 per seat, which by today’s standards would be double that amount. But enough about marketplace hubris. The range of prices this season at The Ferguson topped out at $50-60 for star attractions with the cheap seats going for about $40 on average but as low as $15. These prices are comfortable enough for most people to venture there every couple months if they wish.