BOM sets ticket price record

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 8:52am

Among the many things discussed in this article from the Huff Post, is the news that "The Book of Mormon" broke ticket price records this week with premium orchestra seats that go for $487.25!!
Theater news from the past week

[darreyl102]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 9:47am

Good lord! i don't think any musical is worth that!

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 9:53am

I know! As wonderful as I think BOM might be, hell, I could fly to Europe for that!

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:13am

Good grief...that amount would pretty much pay for my July trip in its entirety.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:19am

And people wonder why bootlegs are so sought after...

(Hey Egg, I commented on your thread!!!!! Aren't you thrilled???!?!?!)

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:43am

Another proof of Barnum's adage. Idiots.

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:47am

Yeah, Jordo I saw that! And as usual, for all your "caustic" self-aggrandizing blubbering, you said nothing.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:47am

I actually said quite a bit. Put your glasses on and read carefully.
Updated On: 6/17/11 at 10:47 AM

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:54am

Oh, yeah, I missed that part. So... you refuse to engage in discussion about such mundane topics as career, but boy you'll keep us updated constantly on your sexual appetite. Sorry if I'm unwilling to plunder the archives for more of your witty and informative posts. My loss...

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:56am

Even before they raised them a concierge friend of mine said they were going for up to 800 bucks through brokers. A month ago when I was at the box office I witnessed a woman throw down seven hundred ninety some bucks in cash for two premium tickets.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 10:57am

Listen to me you pathetic lonely old fart, where in this thread did I mention anything about sex? You tell me that.

You are a sad, sad human being.

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 11:05am

Oh, please, Jordo, try harder! All one has to do is review any number of threads to find numerous sexual comments from you.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 11:06am

I'm talking about this thread, Grandpa. You make baseless claims and refuse to back them up.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 11:31am

Is this argument going to pop up in every thread? Do we need to throw more sand and toys in the box?!

[once a month]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 11:56am

Thread-jackers!

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 12:33pm

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

[JMPlayer6]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 12:38pm

It all comes down to supply and demand.

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 6:17pm

^I love you. Thank you very much for that. I'm always happy to see people employing economics in their thinking.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 6:51pm

These are the same people who wouldn't give a dime to a homeless person. Mormon will run out of these idiots after awhile.

It is a sad state of affairs when I am not the only one complaining about high ticket prices. This means an angry letter to Chuck Schumer.

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:13pm

I know I will regret this- but what does Chuck Schumer have to do with the price of theater tickets?

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:15pm

You are certainly not alone in that complaint Mr Roxy. Particular, regular posters around here love to take me to task when I launch such compliants, but to me, it's the white elephant in the room. Stratospheric ticket prices have gravely effective the artistic landscape of Broadway in recent years. No wonder a modest thought-provoking play can't run for long. Now every friggin' show has to be a wowee-zowee knock-your-socks-off, trample-over-your-grandma to get tickets kind of hit to last.

Shows need an insane feeding frenzy in order to stay afloat. All because of ticket prices. It's extremely disheartening.

[madjulian]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:23pm

I haven't seen Book of Mormon yet ( I unfortunately live in Ohio... ) but I definitely noticed the prices of tickets when I was planning my next trip in October or November. Pretty ridiculous. A question for those who have seen it, do the actors go through the isles or something? Because those tickets are about 30 dollars mo expensive than other orchestra seats. Not that I can afford either of them.....

[egghumor]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:34pm

madjulian, sorry can't explain except by spelling G-R-E-E-D.

You might inquire when ever you're able to purchase tickets if the swings and understudies will baby sit your kids during the show. Perhaps that might be included in the airborne price.

Posted: 6/17/11 at 7:57pm

A "White Elephant" is a gift that is expensive or troublesome to maintain. People refer to "The elephant in the room" when they speak of a problem that is painfully obvious but ignored. I am not really sure what the "White elephant in the room" refers to. Ticket prices sure aren't ignored- It gets mentioned every single day here. You have brought the issue up repeatedly. You mention that fact in your above post.

Meanwhile, people want to see Book of Mormon. Far more than can be accommodated in a week or month or even several months of performances. Theater is NOT a mass market experience- at least not at this level. Movies, for example, are: When a new Harry Potter movie is released, movie theaters will show the thing around the clock to packed houses, and the film will play in five thousand theaters or more.

So why shouldn't Book of Mormon (or any show) charge more when they are hot? Despite how some folks here feel, theater attendance is NOT a need, it's a luxury. And the experience is available to a very few- a few thousand people in and around the New York Area. Eventually there will be more productions and more opportunities and yes, ticket prices will come down.

Meanwhile, just for perspective- I take a prescription medicine that costs about the same as one of those highly priced tickets. There is no shortage of it. It is not particularly expensive to produce. And I (and tens of thousands of people) need to take it to live. Why don't you get worked up about that?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/17/11 at 8:08pm

I fail to see how a show trying to make money is greedy. The bottom line is this is in demand right now so they are able to charge a lot of money for tickets. Every show on Broadway wants to make money, and when tickets are so in demand for a period of time, they need to take advantage of that. As tons of others have said, when the tickets are not as desirable, the prices will go down. If you don't want to pay that much for a ticket, do SRO, the lottery, or the cancellation line. There are alternatives out there for people who want to see this show but don't want to pay that much. I personally really wanted to see this show, so I bought a premium ticket since it was the only thing available. I don't have a problem spending money on it because I know it is something I will enjoy and I have a great seat. If other people don't want to pay that much, they can take advantage of the SRO, the lottery, or the cancellation line. They can also just wait for the prices to go down.