Broadway Audiences

[magictodo123]

Posted: 7/8/19 at 9:11am

So recently I've seen people complaining about how inaccessible Broadway is to people. Whether they don't live close enough, don't have the funds, etc. They encourage and ask for bootlegs (illegal, stealing from the production, I could go on but I'll spare you). But it made me wonder: not every person in that theater is paying premium prices. Not everyone in that theater could AFFORD to spend $100+ on a ticket. So I have to wonder what percentage of Broadway audiences are critics; what percentage of audience members got tickets through production or actors themselves; what percentage are lottery winners, rush tickets, standby...I mean, people don't really believe every audience member paid premium prices, do they? I know if the audience is full that most likely means SOME people have enough money to afford that. But people work hard to have enough money to buy a ticket. Some tickets are gifts. I know someone who is seeing Hamilton in a few months because his family members combined resources and bought him tickets. So before you think only privileged people see shows, think again and never, ever assume.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/9/19 at 10:13am

The numbers you are talking about are pretty small. Its amazing how much money people spend.

The overwhelming majority are paying full price..maybe not PREMIUM prices, but full price.

I seldom pay full price, but NEVER pay premium prices. I also never utilize rusn/lottries because I'm an out of towner.

My question to you is: to whom are you writing this post?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/9/19 at 10:26am

Also, actors and crew have to pay for their house seats, they aren’t given tickets for free. I have countless friends either in shows or who are involved with shows and yes, they provide me with their house seats that I pay for. Yes, I’m still paying the face value of the ticket based on its original price.

[DoTheDood]

Posted: 7/9/19 at 10:30am

dramamama611 said: "The numbers you are talking about are pretty small. Its amazing how much money people spend."

Yeah, this can easily be proven by looking at the weekly grossings posted every week. Theaters have to make money somehow.

magictodo123 said: "I know someone who is seeing Hamilton in a few months because his family members combined resources and bought him tickets. So before you think only privileged people see shows, think again and never, ever assume."

While not everyone who sees shows are privileged, some people do not have the resources to see any show, period. Even rush, even lottery. Mostly because not everyone who loves Broadway lives in NYC. I totally understand that people shouldn't be asking for illegal recordings of shows, but there is a plus that people outside of NYC who would never even have a chance to see a show can even get an idea of what it was like. Bootlegs are a messy conversation (which has probably been talked on here without end since the start of these boards), but they allow Broadway to become more accessible in a way (not the best way, but in a way). Now should their be more accessible legal recordings, yes, but those are not cheap to make. Then again, making shows any cheaper means theaters lose too much money to keep a show running. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/9/19 at 11:26am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Also, actors and crew have to pay for their house seats, they aren’t given tickets for free. I have countless friends either in shows or who are involved with shows and yes, they provide me with their house seats that I pay for. Yes, I’m still paying the face value of the ticket based on its original price."

Brody is correct that it's rare for actors and crew to have access to comps. It does happen every now and then, but usually if there's a very particular performance that the producers want to make sure is filled. There may also be a discount that they can give as well, but again, these are offered on fairly rare occasions. Just for example, the last time I had friends who were in a Broadway show that had access to comps was during that freak snow storm during the second or third week of previews for My Fair Lady, and they wanted to paper the house because of all the travel cancellations that happened that morning.