Is THEATRE Only for the Rich?

It's truly starting to feel to me that theatre is only for the rich. I used to think that only OPERA was only for the rich (and nothing about that has changed). Honestly.... how many people can afford to see a Broadway play for $110 ?? Me, but barely... and only every few years. Apparently there is no lack of ticket sales, though... because what aggravates me the most is where these $110 ticket seats ARE! In Dallas we have the Dallas Summer Musicals, at the Music Hall at Fair Park. Tickets tange from $15 (if you don't mind a nose bleed) to around $95. The theatre is HUGE, and it's kind of like seeing a play in a sports arena. Even if you get online the second the tickets go on sale, all of the good seats are taken. Between season ticket holders (honestly, who can afford or even WANTS to see ALL of them?) and the AGENCIES that have bought up all the good seats (to sell at twice the face value) there's really very little left. I desperately wanted to buy tickets to a touring company of SPAMALOT in July... but the tickets left were horendous! I wouldn't pay $10 to sit in the seats that they have left! I'm running into the same problem with Broadway tickets, where I'll be in June of this year. Got $220 each for tickets to WICKED? Then you might have an orchestra seat (either to the rear or VERY far to either side). Other than that? FORGET ABOUT IT! Turns out that nearly ALL of the theatres are charging 2 times the actual TICKET price for all the really good seats. Hell, I can't even get good seats to TARZAN. It's as if EVERYONE going to plays/musicals these days are flying FIRST CLASS! And they've got the money to do it! I'm going to Broadway - and I'm going to do what I can. In the future, though... I'm going to support all of the local (and smaller) theatres in Dallas/Fort Worth, because they're trying to make theatre possible for the masses (not that the masses care). I know, I know.... costumes, sets, etc. It's not like I expect to pay the same price as I do when I go to a movie! When the cost is over 200 bucks for my partner and I to go to a musical, I start to question if theatre these days has become the OPERAS of yesterday. We're fairly well off... but, well... I don't have to tell you how much $200+ can buy (and that's for LOUSY seats). I'd rather see a great play than go to Disneyworld... but they charge $60 to spend all DAY!
Now don't send me little pictures of myself playing a little violin... I'm only just saying... LOTS of people don't have as much money as I do.... and those people (and ME, dam*it) are being denied theatre as something to be enjoyed on a regular basis.

I definetly agree with you. They talked about this on Broadway: The Golden Age, but the dilemma is nothing new. Its almost paradoxical that as theater is becoming more and more friendly to younger audiences, the prices are skyrocketing. I have no idea how audiences - particularly young people, can afford to see shows so many times. Yes, the lotteries are great, but I live an hour north of NYC now and I don't really want to take the chance of not being able to see a show if my name isn't drawn....

So yeah, I hear what you're saying. Hopefully the pendulum will swing the other way soon..

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Yes, Broadway theater, and most theater in New York is for the rich. There is no theater for people who usually go to the movies.

Im only 30, but even when I was a kid, I could see shows for $15. I even saw Grand Hotel for $7.50 and that was the listed price for the last row of the balcony. I saw it 15 times.

The Met, however, is adressing this. Their lowest ticket prices are going DOWN and the highest ticket prices are going UP, making the rich pay more for their tickets and the poor pay less, which makes more sense, doesn't it?

The Met is also going to make some of their operas available via broadband now as well, imagine if a Broadway production did that? NO F'in way, is what you will hear, but why not? Because Broadway theater is build around the paradigm where only the rich can enjoy it. Well I say that's the wrong paradigm. The Met used to use it, but they are realizing that in order to survive they are going to have to go after a larger audience share, and that means catering to the middle and lower middle classes, which far from being ignorant, have a large interest in arts and fine arts, but have been priced out of it.

Broadway shows are out for tourists with a lot of disposable income and the rich that live here, this is why we have the jukebox and kiddy/teen shows we have now, that many say are the death of broadway. Well, imagine if the ticket prices were to go down for the cheapest seats and up for the most expensive, I say in about 30 years we'd have a crop of incredible well written, excellent musicals and plays on Broadway, but until someone decides, it's not going to happen.

So, in short, yes. Theater is only for the rich.

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Of course not! I can have an evening out, complete with dinner and a Broadway show for well under $40. Most times for $30 or less and that includes transportation! Honestly, there are ways to see a show that's less expensive than two movies.

Updated On: 3/31/07 at 12:23 PM

Ask this question in about 5 years

Better still, if there were no discounts or TDF & everyone always had to pay full price, I think you would get a much different answer from some

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You dont HAVE to pay full price for tickets. Get cheaper tickets in the Upper Circle if you have to, thats what we do. Upper Circle is around £25-£35 for most shows in the Westend ($50-$70) and I know that tickets can be gotton for just as cheap on Broadway.

So the answer to the question in my opinion is No, you just need to get the cheaper seats.

A cheaper Broadway will happen when they revive Lestat, In My Life, DOTV & Dracula in the same season

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I don't really mind the high prices for the orchestra SO much. As long as people keep shelling out for "premium" tickets, producers will keep selling them.

What DOES bother me is when even the rear mezz seats are expensive. For example, A Chorus Line's rear mezz. seats are $90 dollars without fees and such. I would love to see the show, but that is just too expenxive. I think there has to be a good mix of the "premium" seats and cheap tickets for those who can't afford them.

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"You can go to the Met for a little as $15 a ticket. They even have rush now, which allows you to see the opera from an orchestra seat for $20. You might want to amend that in your thoughts".
In DALLAS (Texas) the CHEAP seats to the opera are $150. ORCHESTRA? They go for $300! I'd LOVE to go to the OPERA (I've only been to 2 in my life), but the cost makes it impossible. You think OPERA is not that popular (that was my thinking)? Think again. Apparently $300 a pop is nothing to many people. Honestly.. if I had all the money in the world... I'd go to the Opera every weekend! Broadway shows, too. I'd just get online and buy tickets, and a thousand bucks a show (for me and the people I want to take) would be "NO PROBLEM". Ah, the life!

" NEVER pay full price for tickets (OK, once for Pirate Queen)... you just have to know where to look... ANd be willing to stand in line/ wait for rush seats/Lotteries respectivly".

Well, they don't have that in DALLAS. I'm only going to be in NY for 5 days. I got a lot of SIGHTS to take in. I can't spend all day in line for tickets that are not even guaranteed. If I lived in NYC you and I could just be best buds. LOL You could stand in line with me and I'll go get you a hot dog every couple of hours! And then if you DON'T win the "lottery" tickets, I'll be all pissed off for about 5 minutes, and we'll settle for a movie... not that there ARE any in MANHATTAN anymore.

The opera is very expensive here in Va too. And the fact is shows are selling out and Bway is having a financial boon so the producers have no need to make it any more affordable than it is. Whether or not this is good for the long term welfare of the industry is a much more important question.

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I'm a 24 year old un-employed college student, and I feel that theater is still relatively affordable. I'm only visiting NY for my first time this week, and I'm seeing as many shows as possible. Buying tickets a few months ahead of time put me in the first few rows for Drowsy, Hairspray, and Spring Awakening, and within the first fifteen rows for Wicked and Jersey Boys.

Having broadway near where you live is like having a variety of great musical groups performing everyday. Most of us around the country can justify a once every few years expenditure of $110 per ticket, even if it is somewhat pricey; who knows when we'll be back. Those that live around here, or visit here frequently probably can't see as many shows as they would like, due to the millions of visitors NYC has every month that are in direct competition for tickets (and also drive prices up).

"If a person could EASILY AND RELIABLY get inexpensive tickets -and by easily I dont meaning druding through a slew of websites and discount codes and getting to a theater at a certain time and putting your name into a hat and hoping you get picked- "

That was one heck of a post! THANK YOU! It left me breathless. I think you pretty much summed it up! Now... who do we need to CONTACT that might listen to you? LOL (Thanks).