IF YOU THINK PRICES ARE TOO HIGH DON"T BUY TICKETS- Page 2

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 10:35pm

Everyone has priorities, for some people its theatre, for others prostitutes. People do what they need to (second jobs, extra hours, selling organs) to pay for their hobbies. Broadway prices are on par with current concert prices for artists.

Hell, even current D-listers riding on the nostalgia factor (like Bryan Adams) are charging $100 bucks for an acoustic gig. The problem is that many theatre fans want to go a few times a week or see the entire new season-that might not happen. Thats where entitlement steps in and rears its ugly head.

Make some choices about where you want to spend the big bucks for good seats and which shows you want to rush or do lotto for and stop whining. Seriously-it gets old. Theres plenty of opps to get cheap seats, but wait, I forgot the people who whine about expensive tickets don't want to inconvenience themselves either.

Sacrifice, scrimp and save. Thats the name of the game.

[logan0215]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 10:41pm

The theater is supposed to be affordable.

It is not right now because it has found consumers willing to pay exorbitant prices. Those consumers are tourists who do not take risks on unrecognizable commodities or non-smash hits thus the survival of solely shows like West Side Story (revival which had a huge hit film), Jersey Boys (huge hit that everyone knows is a huge hit), Wicked (the same) etc.

6:47

Updated On: 1/15/10 at 10:41 PM

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:05pm

To the whole "No one's forcing you to buy tickets," "You're not entitled to cheap tickets," "The theatre owes you nothing," "Stop whining," "Suck it up," "Find something else" brigade:

I say, you obviously don't understand the pain it causes anyone who has to give up something he/she desperately loves, and even more, desperately needs. And I would say that you don't understand a love that is, in the words of Poe, "more than a love." And if you don't feel this love, or understand the nature of this love, or at the very least, empathize with those who feel this love, then, well .... what's the use of even talking?

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:16pm

After Eight-we all understand the disappointment having to sacrifice what we love, namely theatre due to cost. However, I think part of the reason many people are in financial trouble is that they do not practice what our grandparents and parents did-which is understand that you can't afford everything you want and you can not do everything you want. A lot of people don't do that anymore.

For those who feel deep "pain" over having to miss a few shows due to cost, I worry about their values and their perspective of real problems are.

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:18pm

Oh, God. You don't NEED anything except food...water....air. That's it.

Theatre is not a necessity - it's an added bonus. xoxo

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:27pm

"Oh, God. You don't NEED anything except food...water....air. That's it."

Only if you're a fungus.

Otherwise, baloney.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:41pm

Haven't you people ever heard of discount codes, general rushes, TKTS (or Hottix in Chicago) or EFFIN' BALCONY SEATS!?!?! (which still go for about $25 bucks at most theatres!)

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:46pm

Stephanie:

Have you been checking balcony prices lately? If so, you'll see that $25 is defintely NOT the price "at most theatres."

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 1/15/10 at 11:50pm

No you're right, because I'm in Chicago and never pay over $25 to see a show. And everytime I'm in NYC I pay about $25 (let's see for example: to see Patti LuPone front row center in Gypsy, front row for Raul in Company, 5th row for Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens....I could go on) and maybe about $35 if they don't do student/rush tickets....because I do research and I know I never have to pay full price unless there is some stupid tv or movie star in the show. and even then I'll probably find cheap tickets.

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 12:19am

"we all understand the disappointment having to sacrifice what we love, namely theatre due to cost."

Based upon the comments in the threads on this subject, I don't think so.

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 1:12am

AfterEight wrote:

I say, you obviously don't understand the pain it causes anyone who has to give up something he/she desperately loves, and even more, desperately needs. And I would say that you don't understand a love that is, in the words of Poe, "more than a love." And if you don't feel this love, or understand the nature of this love, or at the very least, empathize with those who feel this love, then, well .... what's the use of even talking?

I'll try to ignore the part of your post where you attempt to divine what I understand or don't understand and go further to suggest that your love of theatre is more profound and somehow runs somehow deeper than mine, and go on even further to suggest that if indeed I still don't see things your way, I am therefore not worth the conversation. Suffice it to say, that you know nothing of my love for theatre and the fact that I'm unsympathetic to your point of view doesn't betray some sort of lack of understanding of or love and devotion toward theatre on my part. Please...save your condescension for someone else. Or better yet, skip it.

(OK, maybe I didn't do such a good job ignoring that part).

Here's my real question:

Without checking exact statistics, I daresay that 90% of the Broadway shows that open every season (if not more) open with a price scale that includes a ticket somewhere in the theatre that costs $70 or less. Probably 60% or more of them offer discounts that are easily accessible for most performances and which reduce the price to the $50-$60 range, if not lower. Perhaps 20% of them (if not more) find themselves on TDF at some point with a ticket in the $30-$40 range. Probably 40% or more of them have a mechanism for obtaining drastically discounted tickets in the $20-$30 range, be it via rush seats or via standing room. At almost any price point, there are options for a very healthy number of shows every year.

So what's the problem?

Is your true passion to see theatre or is your passion to see theatre from good seats at an inexpensive price? And if it's the latter, then I submit, "what's the use of even talking?"

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 1:44am

WELL SAID, NUT. xoxo

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 4:06am

I'm a single parent, public school teacher with 2 kids. Money does not flow in abundance in my house. But since theater is important to ME, that is where I choose to spend my moeny. We don't take 'real vacations" -- I've never been to Disney, BECAUSE this is where I prefer to spend my money. For me, for my kids. We take weekend jaunts, WHEN WE CAN.

Today everyone feels as though they have the RIGHT to anything that exists. You don't. Unless you take the necessary steps to afford to do so. Perhaps if you save your money and WAIT until you can afford it (discounted tix or no) then you might actually appreciate the opportunity even more.

I seldom pay full price for tix, but will when I can afford to do so, and if I feel the show is truly worth it, I will. I'll sacrifice decent seats to be able to just "see" a production. The only way I was going to be able to see ALNM was to sit in the balcony seats....so I did. And yes, sometimes I don't get to see a short lived show at all. And you know what? The sun still comes up in the morning, and my life goes on.

[After Eight]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 8:43am

"Suffice it to say, that you know nothing of my love for theatre and the fact that I'm unsympathetic to your point of view doesn't betray some sort of lack of understanding of or love and devotion toward theatre on my part."

I don't think you even understand my point of view. My point of view is not that one is entitled to affordable theatre tickets, but that for those who have to give up going to the theatre because of high ticket prices the pain is real, and that pain should neither be mocked nor dismissed, as has been the case here. Are you unsymapthetic to that point of view? If so, then, yes, you're right, there's nothing to discuss.


And incidentally, you know nothing of my passion for the theatre, just as I know nothing of yours. So maybe it is possible that mine IS more profound than yours.

"Please...save your condescension for someone else. Or better yet, skip it."


Follow your own advice.

"(OK, maybe I didn't do such a good job ignoring that part)."

That's correct.


"Here's my real question:

Without checking exact statistics, I daresay that 90% of the Broadway shows that open every season (if not more) open with a price scale that includes a ticket somewhere in the theatre that costs $70 or less. Probably 60% or more of them offer discounts that are easily accessible for most performances and which reduce the price to the $50-$60 range, if not lower."


$50-$60 is a still a lot of money, especially for someone who wishes to go to the theatre as regularly as an ardent moviegoer.




"Perhaps 20% of them (if not more) find themselves on TDF at some point with a ticket in the $30-$40 range."


Not everyone can belong to TDF.


" Probably 40% or more of them have a mechanism for obtaining drastically discounted tickets in the $20-$30 range, be it via rush seats or via standing room."


Not everyone is a student, or under 30, to whom these seats are generally restricted.


"At almost any price point, there are options for a very healthy number of shows every year.

So what's the problem?"


I've explained the problem. The problem is the "shut up," "stop whining," "wah wah wah," "get lost" attitude in the face of other people's unhappiness.


"Is your true passion to see theatre or is your passion to see theatre from good seats at an inexpensive price? And if it's the latter, then I submit, "what's the use of even talking?""


Personally, my passion is to see as much theatre as I can even if I have to sit on the floor to do so-- and I have. I'd like to have the opportunity to continue to do so, but if I can't, I'd like to think that there were a theatre forum where I could express my unhappiness about it without being told to shut up.

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 10:15am

Probably 40% or more of them have a mechanism for obtaining drastically discounted tickets in the $20-$30 range, be it via rush seats or via standing room.

Most of the rush seats are reserved for students. That leaves me out. My student days are long past.

I don't mind doing standing room and I have done this with Spamalot and 3 Days of Rain, but most shows won't sell them unless -- get this -- the show is close to selling out.

I have tried lotteries. Out of the 10 times I have tried them, I have won 2x.

I am not eligible for TDF.

So, in the end, I don't buy tickets some shows.

[musicalsFan]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 10:28am

And you know what? The sun still comes up in the morning, and my life goes on
And who said it doesn't?

I do everything you do. Scrimp and save, but that does NOT mean I have to like the direction Broadway ticket prices are going.

Ticket prices have easily doubled in the 9 years since I moved to NJ. Even my rent hasn't gone up that much. Neither has my utilities.

Broadway ticket prices are out of whack.

Posted: 1/16/10 at 10:38am

I have to fly to New York if I want to see a Broadway Show. Round trip first class airfare is like $1000. A room at the Plaza is about $500 a night. Do you think I can afford that every year like I yearn to?

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 11:36am

After Eight - what YOU don't understand is "where there's a will, there's a way."

If your all-encompassing desperate need for theater is so great, then you'll find a way to get it.

p.s. I don't think very many people appreciate your telling them they don't understand the love.

[jakebloke]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 11:57am

I guess I understand why prices increase, and it is what it is, but what frustrates me is some of the pricing scale in the theaters. The most recent example is Sondheim on Sondheim. I can find a seat in the front of the orch (Row A center) for $121. For the same performance I can get a ticket in row NN Mezz (the last row in the theater) for $121. OR I could sit one seat over in row NN and pay $36. The fact that 2 seats next to eachother in the same row have $85 difference is ridiculous. Nor do I think that pricing in the rear mezz should be the same as orch.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 11:59am

How about an extreme side seat in the orchestra being priced the same as one in the center?

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 12:11pm

Because it's an expensive commodity and one that makes less returns, as well as an event, New York theater belongs more to the rich and privileged. However, they've made a place for the rest of us with TKTS, and balcony seats, and the like.

I myself tend to prefer balcony seats. I've never sat in the house, and with ticket prices as good as they are for most balcony seats, I don't think I ever would unless I got free tickets.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 12:21pm

"$121. OR I could sit one seat over in row NN and pay $36."

It's just as crazy as seats on an airplane. I've paid as low as $125 round trip on a flight with the person next to me paying $900 for the same flight.

As far as theaters pricing the last 2 rows in the mezz much cheaper than the rest of the theater - I guess they have to offer some lower priced seats so there they are - the minimum number of them that is required.

Anyway, if you're resourceful in life, you can do almost anything.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 1:01pm

"Anyway, if you're resourceful in life, you can do almost anything."---Very true.

Just because you're not a student doesn't mean you're stuck paying full price. take www.broadwaybox.com for example. When I go to new york I print off all of the coupon codes for shows i MIGHT see, if I can't get a better deal with student rush (I still use my id), or general rush, or lottery or tkts or whatever, I use this. I never, ever pay full price. OR I just sit up in the damn balcony. Though usually that isn't neccessary.

[FeelingElectric2]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 1:33pm

This is ridiculous.
Are ticket prices high? Yes, but there are many ways to see a show without paying that amount. Now if posters here don't wan to sit in the balcony, try lotto or rush, then that's their problem.

Someone here mentioned how the theater is a luxury, and I have to agree. I'm a college student, so you can imagine my budget. And if all I can afford is the balcony, then so be it. Do I wish I had a better seat? Heck yeah. But so what? The reality is I'm poor. Boo-hoo.

I'm happy sitting ANYWHERE in the theater, because to me that is a privilege.

Hopefully after I graduate I'll be able to get a decent job that pays well (or gives sweet comps!) because you can bet I'll be paying those ticket prices. Why? Because I love the theater.

Everything will happen in it's time, today balcony, tomorrow orchestra!

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 1/16/10 at 1:52pm

After Eight,

I didn't tell you to shut up. Others may have, but I did not. I simply expressed my opinion -- which is my right as well on this board -- that the basis for your complaining is not supported by the facts. It is absolutely your right to express it on this board and it is my right (and that of the others who have responded similarly) to note how unjustified it is.

But one particular item in your last post caught my attention. You wrote:

"$50-$60 is a still a lot of money, especially for someone who wishes to go to the theatre as regularly as an ardent moviegoer.

First off, are you actually suggesting that the experience of seeing live theatre should in fact be equated to that of seeing a movie? Coming from such a theatre fanatic as yourself, that's preposterous. If we agree on nothing, I'd expect we could agree that the list of things that makes live theatre more unique and special than a movie is endless. Do you honestly expect, then, that the cost for such an experience can or should be the same?

Furthermore, in your quest to make theatre as affordable as movies, do you have any sense of the economics involved? I could write page and pages on this but in a nutshell, major movies play on thousands of screens, multiple times per day to hundreds of people. In a given DAY, a major movie can easily have 100,000 tickets to sell. In a given WEEK, Broadway shows generally have 8,000-13,000 tickets to sell. Do the math.

Also, forget movies. Look at food. My best friend is a foodie of the highest order. Does he have the right to complain so vociferously that he can't eat at the most expensive, best restaurants for the same price that he can eat at the local diner? Sure. Is it a ludicrous, preposterous argument? Absolutely, and were he to make it, I would call him out on it just as I have called you out.

Finally, if $50-$60 tickets don't satisfy you, then it seems pretty clear that nothing will. But if you insist on still being so deeply unhappy about your inability to see as much theatre as you'd like, even when you acknowledge that producers do indeed provide you with ways to see shows at markedly more reasonable prices, you deserve all the mocking you've received.