How Much Does an Opera Cost: Simon Boccanegra and the Bel Canto Opera

This software is to accompany the case. In this case study, students will be asked to play the role of Pietro Grandi, the general manager of a prestigious Italian opera house to make the right decisions regarding opera production. The crucial task is the correct costing of the opera productions, which involves allocation of indirect costs. Students will need to mobilize accounting knowledge, but they will also be asked to be sensible to an artistic mindset in order to meet both the financial goals and the cultural and artistic objectives of a non-profit opera house. After a short introduction about the organization and the production process in the opera house, the case study presents three actual problems Pietro Grandi is facing and that require students' input: the choice of the allocation base for indirect costs, a problem with the death spiral, and the presence of joint costs.