AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO BROADWAY THEATRES FROM MATT_G...

[Matt_G]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:21pm

Note - This was posted before but has been edited for content -

A few of you may remember my rant a few months ago about the current state of Broadway when on a trip here, 4 theatres told me they would rather keep their seats empty than sell me one of their many "student" rush tickets. Now I know I'm not a student but I am poor and these seats were going to be empty anyways.

Every once in a while I'll happen upon a few extra dollars and the theatre buff in me will want to use it on a show and that happened to me today. I was in midtown and decided I would try to see something tonight. That was over an hour ago and since that time, FIVE of your theatres told me yet again, that they would rather keep their seats empty than sell me a ticket.

HOW DARE YOU.

I go to your box offices, money in hand and you refuse me admission to your show because I am not in school. Could it be that not only can I not afford to pay full price for your shows, but I also can not afford to pay tuition to a school? After a show like GOOD VIBRATIONS turned me away, I was fuming. Do you think it's ONLY students who can not afford your ridiculous prices? Do you think it's ONLY students who must rely on discounted tickets (and I'm not talking $50 tickets from TKTS) to continue enjoying Broadway?

Your shows continue to close after only a few months and continue to play to empty houses and you sit back and wonder why. Are you people honestly THAT stupid? How long before you wake up and realize that you CAN NOT go on asking that much money for something that people just aren't willing to pay!!!

So...

That leaves people to search for alternate ways to see your shows. If you don't want my money, I know for a fact there are people that do and you have nobody in the world to blame for that but yourselves. You are preventing me and many others from attending and it's not from my lack of trying.

And for shows like SPAMALOT, LA CAGE, BILLY CRYSTAL, HAIRSPRAY, TWELVE ANGRY MEN, WHOOPI and PACIFIC OVERTURES...

Thank you. By offering not only "student rush" but also discounted general admission tickets, you understand what I said above. And I will continue to go back and see your shows again instead of the others which I will quietly sit back and wait for them to close.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:29pm

Matt_G

I will be in NYC later this year.
I will contact you before I go.
I will purchase a student rush ticket, which you will use and pay me back for.
How does that sound?

[Benzy92]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:32pm

Do you qualify for TDF? Its changed my theatre going life :)

[Matt_G]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:32pm

No, I don't.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:35pm

that's why broadway box is a godsend...

Updated On: 1/5/05 at 04:35 PM

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:35pm

Absolutely agree with that. What would I do without my Student ID??? *hugs scanner*

QM

[Plum]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:35pm

They'd rather keep a seat empty today than have to sell it at rush rather than full price 50 times in the future because non-students don't want to buy in advance. It's really annoying logic, but logic nonetheless. And yes, I'm really dreading my college graduation. Maybe I'll go to grad school just to hang on to my discounts.

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:36pm

"HOW DARE YOU"?

Good lord! Let's start with getting affordable health care for everyone...then maybe housing...transportation...education... I won't go on. Seeing a Broadway Show is a luxury. A big one. Sure it's nice when a producer cuts prices to fill the seats but to rip them a new one and say "HOW DARE YOU" because they won't cut you a deal....please.

[Tiny-Toon]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:36pm

I <3 TDF

[GirlfriendFromCanada]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:37pm

Three words:

Fake. Student. ID.

Works wonders. That is, if you still look you can be in school, which I believe I will for the next ten years or so, despite being out of college.

Updated On: 1/5/05 at 04:37 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:38pm

Yep. I must agree with Joe there. How many months, adding up to years, did I miss out on Broadway shows because I couldn't afford them? That's life. Shows are expensive. If you can't afford the discounts that are out there, then you need to find a second or more lucrative income.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:41pm

Joe, first of all give ME a break. I'm a theatre fan and I want to see shows. Don't give me that bullsh*t because you think you're going to come off sounding holier than thou. Get over yourself.

Oh, and thank you for the advice, Rath. It sure is helpful! Maybe I can get a job selling people's underwear on the internet.

Updated On: 1/5/05 at 04:41 PM

[QueenMuppet]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:42pm

You got it, Girlfriend. What would I do without mine?

QM

[Craig]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:42pm

Matt, I can understand your frustration. But from a production's standpoint - a show doesn't survive based on daily ticket sales but by the advance - money they know is coming. If they were to adopt a policy as you suggest, they wouldn't be able to "bank" on revenue because people wouldn't bother to book in advance if they could get cheaper tickets the day of. If you look at the statistics just after 9/11 you'll understand why so many shows suffered so greatly. The well dries up VERY fast once advance bookings stops...

[joeyjoe]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:44pm

"...if you still look you can be in school..."

Girlfriend, i know many many people older than i am who are still in school... would they qualify for the student rush if they have legitimate student ID?

[Matt_G]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:44pm

I understand that, Craig. But when I go to a box office 5 minutes before a show starts and they have 20 empty $20 seats and refuse to sell them because I'm not a student, well that's not fair to me AND the actors on the stage.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:46pm

Matt, I wasn't giving you advice just to give it. I eventually had to go out and find a job that would afford me theater tickets. I had to go into a completely different field in order to do that - to live better, and obviously part of living better for me is to be able to see Broadway shows. I won't be able to see every one, but at least I can see some, which is more than I was able to do before.

[Benzy92]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:47pm

looking at the production standpoint, Craig is 100% right. If they did adopt your idea, no show would make any profit

[Plum]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:47pm

But Matt, that's the whole thing. If they said they'd have general rush, but only 30 minutes before curtain, they'd get massive gluts of people 30 minutes before curtain.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:48pm

*applauds Matt again*

[Matt_G]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:49pm

Okay. This is what really pisses me off. There are shows that offer GENERAL ADMISSION seats or GENERAL RUSH seats for $20-$30. They are doing just fine. I'm saying that every show should do that and you say that it would cause the shows to fail?? Where is the logic in THAT?

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:49pm

Maybe they can allow only NYC residents to do what Matt is suggesting.

Because that wouldn't stop the majority of adavnce sales.

And it gives less-than-wealthy New Yorkers a chance to see shows.


So a Student/New Yorker Rush?

I dunno. That actually is a pretty crappy idea.

[GirlfriendFromCanada]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:50pm

I've always wondered that. A friend of mine is in her thirties and still is in college, and uses her student ID. I'm not sure how often the theaters check to make sure that a student ID is validated. I think it depends on the show, the box office crew, etc. Myself, I still have my college ID, which never had a date on it, and which I never got validated second semester of my senior year. So I would imagine they have to be somewhat lenient when it comes to things like that.

I think that shows should offer general rushes, instead of limiting them to students. As a student, I always appreciated having the opportunity to get cheap seats at the last minute, but now that I'm not, I would still like that opportunity. Shows like Rent and Wicked and Avenue Q have the right idea, offer those cheap seats, but have it be a standing offer to everyone. You don't see those shows suffering because people are banking on the rush seats. Long as the number of seats are limited, the show won't lose out, and neither will the people who would like to try and obtain the seats.

[Liam]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:52pm

its hard for ALOT of parents (including mine to some exstent)to aford the tickets

[Matt_G]

Posted: 1/5/05 at 4:52pm

EXACTLY, GFC. I'm not saying that all Orchestra seats should be $20. But simply one row of seats in the theatre. I don't care if it's the last row in the house. But at LEAST make theatre affordable to everyone.