Anyone know how to get a “papered ticket” to Paradise Square?- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 6:05pm

If a show is papering, those tickets being offered are off the market. They are set aside and will not be sold. The production has said “we are allocating X amount of tickets to give away.”  The unused tickets don’t go back into the pool to be sold, they get killed and the seats remain empty. 
 

Nobody is denying the production income by taking a comp. The loss has already happened, authorized by the production itself. There is literally nothing unethical about taking a comp. 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 6:52pm

Kad offers the definitive response. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 7:05pm

I mean…look, I’m “team paper” here, but Kad with respect I don’t think the logic of your particular argument really holds up.

Obviously an unused comp will go to waste, but I think the obvious rebuttal is that argument, is that the producers would rather see those comps go to waste if the people forgoing the comps instead opted to pay for tix from the remaining inventory of tickets on sale, which is what the other users in this thread were advocating for. 

But of course I otherwise I agree with the sentiment of your post, for the reasons I stated. 

Updated On: 6/20/22 at 07:05 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 7:29pm

Yes, obviously the producers would rather a house of paying audience members. But by flooding the market with free or cheap tickets, they are undercutting themselves. Demand isn’t there. 

We need to take this idea of “supporting the show” out of the argument. That is a purely fan concept- most audience members are not going to any show to “support” it. They’re going because they want to be entertained or because something about the show enticed them. And to do so, they’re going to try to find the best access. And if the production is offering comps, then that is the best access. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 8:08pm

To be clear, I’m not opposed to comps if it means going back and supporting the show in some capacity.

I do think it’s in bad taste (not saying the OP has done this, just in general) to be pro-papered tickets while also being “nervous” or “sad” for shows when they’re closing. Like, you didn’t care about the performers having a job when you took a free ticket…

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 8:33pm

IS it the same users saying these opposing things? If so, then sure, your point is well taken.  But it could very well just be different users with different opinions. 

For myself, I’m more in the camp of: when a show closes, it sucks for those employed, and it’s definitely not worth celebrating, but I accept it as part of the natural ecosystem of the industry. For every person who loses employment, there’s another person will gain employment when the next show moved into that space. I don’t feel happy when shows close, but neither do I claim to get nervous or even especially sad - though I respect that the current employees rightfully do. 

And I definitely won’t go out of my way to spend more money than I’m otherwise inclined to spend, just to keep a particular commercial venture from failing. 

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 9:48pm

VintageSnarker said: "UncleCharlie said: "BJR said: "Y'all sometimes forget how the market works. People want to pay what the show is worth to them. Rinse and repeat."

So according to that logic, if someone wants to pay nothing, that means the show is worth nothing to them, correct? If it's worth nothing to them, why would they want to waste 2 1/2 hours of their valuable time watching it in the first place? Are they unable to think of a more valuable use of their time?"

People generally pay about $10 a month for a streaming service. Depending on how many things you're watching, the cost per movie can be less than or equal to the $5 fee paid for a papered ticket. No one's saying it's not a valuable use of their time to watch a 90 minute to 2 hour+ movie or binge a show because they weren't willing to pay more."

I don't really see the equivalency in your comparison. One is a sunk monthly cost that is the full price being requested by a streaming service and in return you get access to thousands of titles. You watch as many or as few as you like. That's how that works. You're sitting in your living room with your remote or on your computer with your mouse and If you're watching something for 10 minutes and it doesn't grab you, you close it and move on to something else. Going to see a show on the other hand involves spending time and money to reach the theater because you've decided to see a particular unique show live and in person, not one of hundreds being offered on-line that you've already paid a monthly fee for access to. Even if the first 10 minutes don't grab you, you're not going to rush out of a Broadway theater and head home. You'll at least give it the first act. So I really don't see the equivalency you're trying to make.

Look, like I said earlier, it's about one's value and belief system. As another person stated, he wants to see all these shows each month but his budget won't allow it so clearly, he has no choice but to make use of free tickets cause not doing so would simply not allow him to see every show he wants to see that month and that result appears to be unacceptable. Others might look at the same situation and think they'll just have to make some tough choices and end up missing a couple of shows they would have liked to see, budgeting decisions millions of people make every day.. It's just about your belief system and what you believe your entitled to. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 9:58pm

UncleCharlie said: "Others might look at the same situation and think they'll just have to make some tough choices and end up missing a couple of shows they would have liked to see, budgeting decisions millions of people make every day.”

It's just about your belief system and what you believe your entitled to."

But even in this latter scenario, the shows in question still end up with seats that go unpaid-for. And in this scenario they are unpaid for AND unfilled, instead of just being unpaid-for. No one stands to gain from the “tough choices” you’re describing. Why make a sacrifice that won’t advantage anyone?

And I don’t see myself as entitled to anything. If a show’s producers choose not to paper, I don’t complain or judge them. 

 

Updated On: 6/20/22 at 09:58 PM

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 10:29pm

It's a messier argument but you can rent a lot of streaming movies for under $5 if they're not new releases. I didn't want to quibble over the exact price. There are also plenty of low-cost things that involve getting dressed and leaving the house. Not wanting to pay $25 for suggested admission to the Met doesn't mean you consider spending hours there a waste. 

I do factor in the hassle of "spending time and money to reach the theater" and the time invested in seeing a show. Some unknown quantities are not worth the potential disappointment at a higher ticket price. 

[Kad]

Posted: 6/20/22 at 10:39pm

Comps are an industry standard practice. Nearly every production offers them to some extent, even if it’s not to the general public. If you’ve worked in the industry in any capacity for a length of time, odds are a substantial percentage of everything you’ve seen has been with a free ticket. 
 

Comps are allocated with the expectation that they will be used. This isn’t some kind of trolley problem. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 7:36am

There is a difference between comps being offered to industry insiders, and a fan coming to a message board trying to score a comp rather than pay a small amount of money to see the show. Can you really not see that?

[BJR]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 8:17am

trpguyy said: "There is a difference between comps being offered to industry insiders, and a fan coming to a message board trying to score a comp rather than pay a small amount of money to see the show. Can you really not see that?"

There's no difference except someone asking for a key to the club. Let's not act like we don't gladly accept comps all the time. And let's not be elitist and clutch our pearls when someone asks how they might also, especially when there have been actual answers given in this thread.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 9:28am

BJR said: "trpguyy said: "There is a difference between comps being offered to industry insiders, and a fan coming to a message board trying to score a comp rather than pay a small amount of money to see the show. Can you really not see that?"

There's no difference except someone asking for a key to the club. Let's not act like we don't gladly accept comps all the time. And let's not be elitist and clutch our pearls when someone asks how they might also, especially when there have been actual answers given in this thread."

Do you ask strangers working in retail to extend their friends and family discount to you? Or expect an acquaintance who works at Disney to walk you in?

I don’t consider occasional fringe benefits of employment to be a “club” or “elite.”

And not for nothing, I purchased tickets to this show the same way I suggested that others do it. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:36am

Papering services like the ones named above are nothing like a retail discount or any fringe benefit of employment. They are services anyone can join if they pay a fee ($99 for the ones listed above). So...like a club.

And if shows didn't want people to get free(ish) tickets through them, they wouldn't list their shows on those services. Many shows don't. It's not for charity or out of the goodness of their hearts either. The fact that Paradise Square's producers have chosen to offer tickets on those services means they want the users of those services to take them.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 10:44am

trpguyy said: "There is a difference between comps being offered to industry insiders, and a fan coming to a message board trying to score a comp rather than pay a small amount of money to see the show. Can you really not see that?"

These are publicly accessible tickets, released by the production itself! Literally anybody who signs up for these services can avail themselves of them!  Why shouldn’t somebody ask for details of how to sign up? They’re meant to be used! 

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 11:43am

It's like saying, "We support bookstores! By sitting in them and reading, then leaving without buying anything!"

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 11:48am

^ WORD. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 12:06pm

Kad said: "trpguyy said: "There is a difference between comps being offered to industry insiders, and a fan coming to a message board trying to score a comp rather than pay a small amount of money to see the show. Can you really not see that?"

These are publicly accessible tickets, released by the production itself! Literally anybody who signs up for these services can avail themselves of them! Why shouldn’t somebody ask for details of how to sign up? They’re meant to be used!"

I thought I’d made it pretty clear that I’m talking about “comps offered to industry insiders,” not papering services.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 6/21/22 at 5:11pm

everythingtaboo said: "It's like saying, "We support bookstores! By sitting in them and reading, then leaving without buying anything!""

This is a useful analogy. In the way you're not supporting the bookstore, but you're supporting the nebulous concept of reading/literacy by doing that, one side is arguing that they're supporting "theatre," while the other side is arguing that it doesn't support the people making and financing the actual show. 

Again, I think this is separate from whether you should buy papered tickets when there are many companies that aren't particularly secretive about their services.