1st People at Spider-Man Box Office refused to buy tickets- Page 2

[Taryn]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 3:58pm

There is no show, anywhere, ever, that is worth $300 a ticket.

A show is worth exactly how much people will pay for it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 4:05pm

TONS of people pay $300 a ticket or more for a hit- usually to Scalpers.

[denali.fire]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 4:27pm

Looks like Spiderman is more like "Batman and Robbin' "

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 4:30pm

Yes, and those people are dumb, or rich. Or rich AND dumb.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 5:30pm

My friend in NYC who works for a hotel told me he is amazed at what people will pay for tickets. Even for shows that are at TKTS or on discount online. He said it slowed down about a year ago with the economy but is starting to pick back up a bit. And they are buying more than one ticket for a show. But they have the money to do it.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 5:43pm

"Hey, Vodka, sit down and have a drink. I was exaggerating, obviously. I guess the sarcasm didn't come across to you? "

I would imagine that it did, which is why vodkastinger said this:

"Wow, some people (sundaymorning) have a talent for hyperbole. "

Maybe you should look up hyperbole, sundaymorning? 'Cause, y'know, it means extreme exaggeration. - just like 'stinger said. It's to be used sparingly.

I also don't understand the extreme hate for purchasers of premium seats (seriously, wishing bedbugs on them?). You can't afford them, don't buy them.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 5:51pm

Aadd to that, if enough people don/t buy them the prices will come down

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 6:00pm

Who cares.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 6:30pm

"I also don't understand the extreme hate for purchasers of premium seats"

Obviously it's jealousy.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 6:41pm

John Doyle Be-Your-Own-Band (tm) Edition of Teeny Todd.

I loved the show, but this made me laugh aloud. It sounds like a video game that comes with a plastic toy tuba.

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 7:07pm

Your arguments are humorous. This show is lacking names though... maybe more people would see it if it has some bigger names
billed above the title Updated On: 9/13/10 at 07:07 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 7:25pm

I think Bono & the Edge are pretty well known.

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 7:28pm

@JoeKv99: Joking :)

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 7:32pm

>>>"I think Bono & the Edge are pretty well known."<<<

Not to those of us with backgrounds in symphonic music and opera.

Nor do we care.

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 7:35pm

@Dollypop thank you for taking it upon yourself to speak for the masses!
Updated On: 9/13/10 at 07:35 PM

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 9:59pm

To my knowledge -- and perhaps there are those out there with far better knowledge of the NYC building and public assembly codes -- the law requires no more than seven seats between the patron and the aisle of egress. Theatres like the Minskoff were grandfathered in when the new law took effect but certainly any new theatres or new seating configurations would be subject to this law.

I was curious which other theatres also had a large number of seats in a row, and here is what I found looking at the seating charts on Playbill.com:

The American Airlines theatre has a crazy mezzanine that is 40 seats wide.
Circle in the Square has sections of 20+ seats.
The Gershwin orchestra is 18 seats wide.
The orchestra of the Marquis is 28 seats wide.
As you mentioned, the Minskoff is the winner with 30 across in the orchestra and an insane 50+ (!!) in the mezz.
The mezz of the Neil Simon is 27 across.
Studio 54 has over 20 seats across in both the orchestra & mezz.
The Winter Garden also has 20+.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 10:17pm

The only people who are outraged at the cost of premium seating are the people who can't afford to buy those tickets. This horse has been beaten over and over -- there ARE people - a great many who will pay those prices - and be grateful that they do - not just for SPIDERMAN but for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and NEXT TO NORMAL, and THE SCOTSBORO BOYS and RED...

Producers of almost all the shows on Broadway offer reasonable ticket alternatives by way of TKTS.. They balance the loss of people paying half price with the group that pays double.

Tickets not sold at premium are made available at regular price close to performance date.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 10:27pm

Exactly. 24 to 48 hours, depending on the show. There are people who are willing to pay the premium for the convenience of being sure they get what they want when they want it. As MB has said, quite often those are released to the hoi polloi a day or two before the show.

Besides, from what I hear, the mezz is the place to be for this one. For those of you complaining, take a long hard look at Michael Bennett's post. Those "stupid rich people" are helping subsidize your ticket and keep the show running. Why on earth would you have a problem with that?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 11:06pm

Premium seats make student rushes and TKTS possible. It's as simple as that. There's people out there who are willing and able to pay $300 for a ticket, and it's because they do that that most shows offer cheaper tickets through TKTS or dirt-cheap ones through student rush. Theatre is a luxury, not a necessity - I don't know where this sense of entitlement comes from.

[backwoodsbarbie]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 11:10pm

You know I love to bitch as much as the next gal but I actually really want to see this show do well.

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 11:26pm

Cape Twirl...

Circle, the Winter Garden, the Gershwin and the Simon would be grandfathered in like the Minskoff.

The American Airlines, the Marquis and Studio 54 are indeed a mystery to me and I'd love to better understand how they are permitted. I wonder if it has anything to do with the width of the aisles, as the aisles in those theatres are a anywhere from a little bit to a lot wider than those in other theatres.

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 11:33pm

Fascinating.

The whole thing with "Spiderman: Turn Off the Lights" is WHO is buying tickets? Obviously not the fans who took the time to show up at the box office, and were told they needed to spend $400.00 per ticket. (That is SO obnoxious.)

Honestly? The "Spiderman" fans are teenage boys who don't particularly like musical theatre, and would much rather have their mothers spend $400 on a new X-Box or Playstation. You can get a lot of games for $400.

Charging $400.00 for "Premium" tickets worked out so well for "Young Frankenstein,' in the same theatre, that Julie Taymor can use this as a way to get more investors in, and justify her ludicrous budget? Really? We're in a recession!! That house will be papered within an inch of its life, the first week. Probably the second, and then it will close. I'm just guessing.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 9/13/10 at 11:45pm

^ Nobody told them they had to spend $400. It sounds like they were told that anything behind row S were not premium seats. Plus you have the mezzanine and it sounds like a balcony? (Never been in the theater before.) If they weren't happy to accept what they were told, that is their problem.

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 9/14/10 at 12:00am

"Nobody told them they had to spend $400. It sounds like they were told that anything behind row S were not premium seats. Plus you have the mezzanine and it sounds like a balcony? (Never been in the theater before.) If they weren't happy to accept what they were told, that is their problem."

Marianne2, this theatre is really, really cavernous, which is problematic. Anything beyond Row S, you might as well be sitting at the McDonalds across the street.

To ask FANS to pay that much money is kicking your ownself in the face. Mel Brooks lost a fortune trying to be greedy in the same theatre. I don't think that Julie Taymor is being greedy, she's just being stupid. Perhaps the show will be so great that Goldman Sachs bankers will be convinced to spend $400 per ticket for their clients. I doubt it. And it does nothing for the actual fans, who might want to see the show.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/14/10 at 5:58am

I don't think the people annoyed with the premium seating policy are concerned with the fact that there ARE premium seats, but that there seem to be so darn many of them!

I don't see how row S, in ANY theater, is a "premium seat" except for the price. It's obnoxious, but I suppose that goes along with all I've heard about the show.