PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philly Pops will shut down after more than four decades of entertaining audiences. The final bow comes at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Pops President Frank Giordano and Board Chair Joseph DelRaso made the announcement in an online statement Wednesday and in a message sent to ticketholders and subscribers.
“Despite our best efforts, a combination of circumstances, including the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, led the Board of Directors to reevaluate how we serve the community that has loved and supported the Philly POPS since 1979,” they wrote.
The pandemic affected the industry greatly. The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance estimated the city’s arts and culture sector lost $371 million between March 2020 and 2021. For some organizations, it was too deep of a hole to get out of.
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In the first year after the pandemic had started, Giordano said there was an expectation that some guests would still choose to stay home. Hopes that they could turn that around were dashed this year.
“Our own experience was 25% of our audience had gone away — not purchasing tickets,” Giordano said. “As I did some research and talked to people around the country, it’s a national trend.”
Following that trend, that chunk of audience members would not be coming back. So, keeping the Pops going was unsustainable.
“We didn’t want to get further into debt,” he said. “I thought to go out on a high note would be the best thing, to finish out this season.”
The curtain is not closed just yet for the Pops. The orchestra vows to honor its commitments for the rest of the season, which includes 10 performances in December of the popular “A Philly POPS Christmas: Spectacular Sounds of the Season.”
And even though the Pops won’t be around, Giordano said The Philadelphia Orchestra is working on a plan to make sure the sound of the Pops will live on in some way.