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.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
