The 'A Little Night Music' ticket pricing scale.... (ugh)- Page 4

Posted: 10/1/09 at 11:06am

thanks Bettyboy... I'm so looking forward to this show!

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 11:46am

Logan, I went and checked CZJ's filmography (I didn't realize she had done so little work since Chicago), and I would say her last real hit was Ocean's Twelve in 2004.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:18pm

Since when did the current resume of a movie star have anything to do with their marketability on Broadway? Lauren Bacall and Angela Lansbury's film careers were shot when they became Broadway musical stars. Melanie Griffith couldn't get a job in Hollywood when she sold a bunch of tickets in Chicago, even though she was terrible.

Zeta-Jones is a glamorous woman married to Holywood royalty. She's a red carpet diva who's photographed constantly for the tabloids. She's the personification of what will sell on Broadway.

All of the nit-picking about this production seems kind of silly.

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:23pm

Correct, in which she was a secondary character to the ring of gentlemen who led the film.

I think she's a fine actress who will no doubt be great in this role, but when we're discussing her box office draw as related to the justification of these prices: I think the producers are banking on movie star power that has faded dramatically in the past 5+ years.

This fact coupled with ALNM not necessarily being a recognizable commodity (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the film made a huge splash or lasting impression that would cause people to want to return to the material to see it live) may bring about lowered or heavily discounted tickets in the near future.

As for the Kerr's policies: I hope they make a decision regarding (and in favor of) a Rush/Lotto policy as it changed depending on the box office attendant, and sometimes what felt like the weather, during the run of Grey Gardens which was more than frustrating.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:31pm

Wow. GoSmileLaughCryClap. I agree with you 100%!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:37pm

"Correct, in which she was a secondary character to the ring of gentlemen who led the film.

I think she's a fine actress who will no doubt be great in this role, but when we're discussing her box office draw as related to the justification of these prices: I think the producers are banking on movie star power that has faded dramatically in the past 5+ years.

This fact coupled with ALNM not necessarily being a recognizable commodity (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the film made a huge splash or lasting impression that would cause people to want to return to the material to see it live) may bring about lowered or heavily discounted tickets in the near future."

I'd have to agree with GoSmileLaughCryClap. Maybe she doesn't have a current hit movie on her résumé, but [insert GoSmileLaughCryClap's second paragraph here].

[Marianne2]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:40pm

I'm going to agree with you, logan0215. I don't know if the movie was popular, but I definitely did not know the show until I saw a filmed stage version in a class once.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:42pm

The movie was/is NOT considered a success. Sondheim is VERY embarrassed by it. At the Frank Rich conversation I saw, Sondheim said he was sorry if the audience had the "misfortune of seeing that movie."
Updated On: 10/1/09 at 12:42 PM

[Rudy2]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:45pm

logan, thank you for taking what I tried to say and explaining it better.

[BdwyOpal]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:55pm

The seats in the rear balcony at the Shubert aren't much different.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:57pm

When people talk about the movie, are they talking about the awful adaptation of the musical or the original Ingmar Bergman film? Either way, not exactly the stuff of blockbusters, so I doubt anybody is counting on a movie version to sell tickets to this.

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:57pm

I'm speaking in terms of tourists being drawn to purchase tickets at the current price scale.

Yes, her name is big enough that it would catch someone not knowing what ALNM was, BUT I think that the fact that she has been off the scene for a while WILL effect their decision. I think this would be a feasible scenario:

Tourist 1: What should we see, honey?
Tourist 2: What's "A Little Night Music?? Oh! It has Catherine Zeta-Jones in it!
Tourist 1: I loved her in Chicago (Oceans Eleven, Entrapment, Zorro, T-Mobile commercials, what have you)! I'd see that!
Tourist 2: Alright... well wait... the tickets are all $100+ except for the final rows of the balcony...
Tourist 1: Well I don't like her THAT much
Tourist 2: We can see "Billy Elliot" in the same seats for $20 less AND it won the TONY for best musical. Let's do that.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:58pm

I was referring to the musical movie, as was Sondheim at the conversation I saw. He even told stories about Elizabeth Taylor and Diana Rigg.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 1:14pm

I guess I saw the "awful" stage adaptation. I don't remember much from it, but it was one of my least favorite musicals we watched in that class. I'm saying musical because we watched both movies and stage versions. I would be willing to give "A Little Night Music" another chance though.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 2:37pm

"Tourist 1: What should we see, honey?
Tourist 2: What's "A Little Night Music?? Oh! It has Catherine Zeta-Jones in it!
Tourist 1: I loved her in Chicago (Oceans Eleven, Entrapment, Zorro, T-Mobile commercials, what have you)! I'd see that!
Tourist 2: Alright... well wait... the tickets are all $100+ except for the final rows of the balcony...
Tourist 1: Well I don't like her THAT much
Tourist 2: We can see "Billy Elliot" in the same seats for $20 less AND it won the TONY for best musical. Let's do that."

While this is a totally feasible conversation, it will most likely take place at TKTS and the tourists will opt to see a movie star over Billy Elliot at a discounted price.

CZJ is an international movie star. People LOVE to see movie stars on stage. We aren't talking seeing an "actress" like Sigourney Weaver on stage, we are talking "movie star." Like GoSmile said CZJ is a fashion icon, an Oscar winning actress, international spokeswoman for products and charities, and an actress with roots in musical theatre. Plus, she is stunningly gorgeous and known for her beauty. International tourists will flock to see her and will shell out the big bucks.

Again, I am not feeling that 132 is so obscene. Has anyone who is complaining gone to a concert or a sporting event lately?

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 3:10pm

Most recently? I saw Lady Gaga @ Terminal 5.

It cost me $25 and was an AMAZING concert. At the end, she promised that she would continue to do small venue tours and the tickets would not be more than $5 more next time she came through New York City.

I think that the outrage on here is less about the $132 on the price scale but more in response to the cheapest seats (i.e those accessible to young people, students, starving artists, etc. who should be enabled to witness this piece) being $50+.

[nealb1]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 3:30pm

The way I look at it this........there's nothing we can do about the ticket prices. Not 1 thing. So, why worry about something that you have no control over? What's the point? Life is too short to "sweat the small stuff." In the whole scheme of life, it's not the end of the world.

We have 2 choices - either go or not to go. Should people not go - that's fine. But, don't be so negative & bitter about it. It doesn't do you or anyone else, any good at all.

Nellie Forbush has that wonderful line in "South Pacific"

"I could never imagine working myself up, to be so low."

[Attendthetale331]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 3:42pm

They have a splash page up: http://www.nightmusiconbroadway.com/

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 3:46pm

Being a poor student living in Florida, I obviously won't be able to go see this, but if I still lived in Pennsylvania, I wouldn't mind paying the prices to see this.

But, in response to the movie, I never thought it was THAT bad. aside from cutting the Overture/Night Waltz and making it into "Love Takes Time", I thought the movie was pretty good. And I love Diana Rigg as Charlotte.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 4:38pm

"Lady Gaga cost me $25 and was an AMAZING concert. At the end, she promised that she would continue to do small venue tours and the tickets would not be more than $5 more next time she came through New York City."

Well she lied. She is playing arenas (not so intimate) with Kanye West and a comparably intimate seat would cost you $130 bucks at the minmum. The "good" seats are sold in packages that run $250+. You're lucky you saw her when you did because those days are over regardless of what she "said." Just give it five years when her star fades and she'll be playing on the bar at Splash for free.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 5:44pm

Wasn't the movie version of ALNM the movie where a critic said something to the effect of it looked like Harold Prince had never seen a movie before?

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 5:52pm

I bit the bullet, took a deep breath and got a 4th Row Center Orchestra Seat for December 26th matinee. And retired my AE card for the rest of the year. What we do for art, eh?

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 8:26pm

I think some of you should maybe be grateful that you have the chance to actually SEE this production. I live nowhere near New York. Yes, it's a lot of money, but consider yourselves lucky that you actually can afford to live in that area and have the opportunity to go see this show if you choose to. Some of us don't have that option.

[binau]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 8:32pm

EponineThenardier, too true.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 8:36pm

To Neal

There is something you can do. If enough people say I am not paying & they have a ton of empty seats, they will get the message. If people are willing to pay it & if some will see a show 30 times, than they know they can raise prices with impugnity.