Calgary mother asking provincially-owned theater to revise child ticket policies

CALGARY(660 NEWS) — Jubilee Auditorium’s ticket policies are putting a damper on what was supposed to be a fun night out for Dominique Yankilevich and her sister. The new mother received tickets for the upcoming Illusionist at the Jubilee as a gift. Her original plan was to leave her three-month-old son at home when she attended the show, however, he is still breastfeeding. Knowing that some theatres have a no child policy she emailed Jubilee Auditorium to find out. She was told that they are a family-friendly venue but she would need to buy a full-priced ticket for him.

 

 

“I was told due to safety regulations you are required to have a ticket,” she said.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Calgary Fire department stated: “Fire safety code officers only determine the maximum occupant load of a building. They have no role in determining entrance fees.”

“I just responded [to Jubilee] by saying: is there an option to register my child as attending? Is there a zero to whatever age where you could provide a free ticket or a reduced rate?”

The answer was no. In an email to Dominique, Scott McTavish, operations manager at Jubilee, stated that every attendee was required to have a ticket because of fire code regulations. If the reason that a ticket was required was for safety and not profit, then Dominique wants to know why the provincially-owned theatre isn’t adopting similar ticket policies for children that are taken by other venues, such as reduced rates for children under a certain age? When 660 NEWS checked Ticketmaster, it found that the cheapest price for a ticket to Sunday’s Illusionist performance is $45.

 

“I just knew that other venues that consider themselves to be family-friendly deal with the maximum occupancy differently than the Jubilee does,” she said. One of those venues is Stage West, which offers reduced pricing for kids. Jubilee Auditorium issued this statement in response to the policy complaint.

“For public safety, all patrons of the Alberta Jubilee Auditoria (Edmonton and Calgary) need a ticket to attend performances to ensure that the theatres are not over capacity and helps account for all patrons in the event of an emergency.

The Jubilee does not set ticket prices. Ticket prices are set by show promoters. Many other performance venues have similar practices.”

Dominique has not received any communication from Jubilee about changing their ticket policies.