AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO BROADWAY THEATRES FROM MATT_G...- Page 6

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 11:51am

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 11:52am

Heck, even if they AIN'T hot, if the seats are in the first 8 rows it's worth it!

Now who do I gotta "love" for two on the aisle for La Cage?!

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 11:54am

Arthur Laurents.

And don't forget the Viagra and poppers.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 11:54am

Hell, Eddie, for a couple of percocet I'll perform it for you in my living room and feed you dinner after!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 11:55am

Oh robbie - not even GYPSY with Merman is worth that!!

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 11:55am

CHECK!

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:01pm

Aw come on, Eddie!

Five minutes of work for tickets worth a total of $202.50.

It's better than the job you got now.

You do have a job, right?

[DAME]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:06pm

I have caught Sueleens performance and even without the percocept it is worth every drop.

[EddieVarley]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:15pm

Ok, robbiej I'm making the call...

"Hello, um, Hello, Mr.Laurents..."

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:18pm

NOOOO EDDIE!!! DON'T DO IT!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:22pm

I knew this thread would get back to being screwed by producers ONE way or another!

[OhSoWicked]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:32pm

"By offering discounts to younger people who cannot really afford going to Broadway (I guess it's assumed that students aren't making much money cause they are in school), producers will be investing in a new generation of theatregoers who, when they are out of school and gainfully employed, will remember their wonderful times in the theatre and spring for full-priced tickets."

I'm a college student and I still spring for the full priced ones, LOL...The box office must love people like me. And the reasons I get the full priced ones are that I dont live close enough to the city to just show up for rush on a whim, I like having my choice of seating, and I like planning in advance. It's painful to spend $200 on two seats, but I love theater so I think it's worth it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:50pm

I don't know about anybody else, but I WORK for every dime of all that so-called "money to burn" I have -- no trust funds or inheritances here (my parents were school teachers). Heck, I'm at work right now. And principally because of all the theatre I see (which includes subsidizing the tickets of several theatre-loving friends who can't afford to go otherwise), that mythical bank balance you refer to spends much of the year hovering precariously near zero.

I recall that when I was 25 and a poor struggling grad student, in order to take in all of the theatre and concerts and movies I wanted to see, I didn't waste my energy complaining about the lack of cheap seats (most theatres didn't offer even student discounts then, let alone general rush), I just worked extra hours at the job I had at the time. I didn't see discounted theatre as some kind of right or entitlement -- I was as happy to patronize those who offered a rush (usually not-for-profits) as those that didn't. While these theatres deal with the arts, they're still a business, first and foremost (and a business only a tiny percentage of producers or other theatre professionals ever make any money in) and I was well aware of that fact.

And to follow up on the point about the vast number of inexpensive, but outstanding non-Broadway options out there, I just went back and looked at my top ten list for last year. You know what the average ticket price for those ten shows was? $37.50. And the average price for the ten I gave Honorable Mention to was $36.30. There was only one show of the 20 that I paid more than $55 to see (Raisin in the Sun -- no discounts ... one of only two times all year I paid full price for Broadway) and half of the shows (10 of the 20) cost me $30 or less (3 were $15). Whether you agreed with or loved all of my choices or not, the point is there's awful lot of theatre of the very highest quality out there for heck of a lot less than $100, or even $50.

Discounts are available for every show in town, except for a couple of soldout Broadway hits, and you should take advantage of some of the generous subscription programs out there (Roundabout and The Vineyard, to name two, offer heavily reduced memberships for those under 30, student or not; The Public offers a 4 play preview membership for $120 - that's $30 a play). There's a TON of GREAT theatre in this city for $15 or $20, year round and veritable glut of it during things like the Fringe Festival (200 shows at $15 a pop), New York Music Theatre Festival, the downtown HOWL festival, The WOW Festival at the Public (two dozen new, free, works-in-progress -- I first saw Lisa Kron's "Well" which I named the Best Play of the 2004, for free at the 2003 WOW Festival), and so many others. If you must see Broadway, fine .... just know that there are hundreds of other (often better) options out there for a fraction of the price.

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:54pm

God Margo I love you.

But...doesn't anyone Second-act any more?

Posted: 1/6/05 at 12:56pm

Joe - many places are really cracking down on checking tickets for re-entry at intermission. As a smoker, I got caught once and had to go to hell and back to be re-admitted.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 1:38pm

Disneyworld in Florida has special Florida Resident rates. Perhaps this could be considered. New York residents' rush rates or something to that effect.

Having empty seats and no money for the seats when a show starts is to NO one's benefit. Additionally, selling "rush" tickets to a realm beyond that of students is not going to mortally damage the finances of any show playing in any Broadway theater.

It is a different crowd looking to buy and indeed buying "rush" tickets. These are in part "bargain hunters."

Many of the arguements against expanding rush policies were used when the TKTS booth was first being developed.

"No show will ever have an advance again! Everyone will wait to buy half price tickets, its the end of Broadway!"

We all know the Theater Development Fund's founding of the TKTS booth has been an amazingly successful tool for the Broadway theater. Those who feared it would cause financial doom were incorrect.

It is indeed time to expand the audience of those available for "rush" tickets. It is simply a "NO LOSE" proposition.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 1:41pm

Is it really unreasonable to ask adults who are out of school and in the work force to use one of the other methods of obtaining discounted tickets instead of that which is reserved for students?

Really and truly???

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 1:47pm

yes, dammit, wobbie, it's far and away too much to ask. i am ashamed of you for even suggesting it, you elitist b*st*rd! now what we have to do is work together to achieve these discounts for all through any means necessary. perhaps a national day of not humming show tunes? a national day of not dancing? we could enlist the broadway community to have a world wide theatre "sick out" day in support of discounts. i for one will refuse to pay a cent for a broadway ticket until those who don't want to pay full price don't have to.

no discounts/no peace!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 1:49pm

Count me in, papa!! We'll show those producer b*stards who want to make their weekly payroll!!

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 1:52pm

I'm as socialist as the next pinko, as I'm sure you know, papa. I believe in healthcare being made available to every citizen and it takes a village and all those other things you and I disagree about.

I'm also for a national, subsidized theatre in NYC. But Broadway isn't subsidized (except for a few not-for-profits now working on Broadway). It's commercial and capitalistic and ya take it as it comes. Lord knows I've taken quite a bit as it comes.

[etoile]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 2:00pm

"Lord knows I've taken quite a bit as it comes."

Oh robbiej, my love, you just know I want to say something dirty to you right now.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 2:02pm

Pipe down there, starina!

You know some names and places and circumstances or some of my past friendships!

Be discreet, my dear!

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 2:14pm

Correct me if I am wrong but what I take from Matt_G's post is :
He went to box offices who specify that they sell STUDENT RUSH TICKETS to STUDENTS with a VALID STUDENT ID. He didn't have one but still got angry with the box offices for not selling him a student ticket.
Where is the logic?
There were times when I didn't have a student ID,but most shows offered a general rush and even SRO.If they didn't then I would save up untill I could afford a rear mezz seat that was affordable to me. While the idea of empty seats may frustrate you, it is simply impossible for the box office and producers to start popping off cheap seats at 30 to curtain.
I also defend Craigs first post. I don't think he meant to offend anyone and was making a good point that there are many, many people who are too poor to even own a computer, and would give anything to see a Broadway show just once. We have the amazing priviledge to have such access to them even if all we can afford is a 20$ seat.Because of that I certainly can't complain.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 2:17pm

MY GOD!

This post even brought Renee (sp?) back to the board!

Welcome back and atta girl!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/6/05 at 5:32pm

oh wobbie! what an icon!!