Current state of various "papering services"

I know not to mention either a specific service or shows but I want to know if anyone else is seeing super crappy options with services. I only belong to one ( I used to belong to two) and generally there are at least a good number of off and off off Broadway plays, concerts etc but in the last two plus weeks it has been awful and January has usually been a good time. I am not expecting Broadway just some interesting preferably plays but also music to see and almost nothing, never seen it this bad.

I am trying to understand if it is the particular service I have or just that theaters are holding back ( given a lot of shows have a lot of empty seats) You can follow up here cryptically without mentioning specific service or show or send me a private message.



Thanks

Papering is the greatest sign of weakness for a show. They won't do it unless totally necessary. And even then, it's usually better to use something like Show-Score, which has larger partnerships for trade and can yield additional attention, as opposed to the Gold Club or Will Call.

Processes and theories behind discounting are always changing. Even today I was looking at Access25 tickets for Encores. In the past, those have included some very nice mezz seats; for DEAR WORLD they're all in the balcony. So now I'll wait a bit to see if anything better comes up. Things change.

Updated On: 1/22/23 at 08:30 PM

Thanks for the info and glad to know it is not just "my" service. Alas on my budget even a $50 TDF ticket is a stretch I can only do once in a while so I rely on the seat filler services for most of my theater. Fingers crossed that some things will pop up.

A lot of new shows start previews in late Feb and March. Not an expert here but I thought producers resort to papering when there are a lot of unsold tickets during previews and they want word of mouth to increase.

Showscore really be offering up tickets to shows that even the 8 dollar handling fee is too much for.

Updated On: 1/23/23 at 02:32 PM

Broadway Flash said: "Is SS better than PbP?"

I can't answer that because I don't have Play by Play, sorry. But Show Score is now owned by TodayTix, and of course the emphasis for that company is to sell tickets, not give them away for the price of a handling fee.

My theory is that comps nowadays are being distributed through the various Broadway unions and to colleges.

As Wick3 mentioned, I expect things will pick up again as the spring shows start their preview periods.

Also Showscore has jacked up their "service" fees for Broadway shows to 20-25$

Will Call Club has been awful for awhile and the people behind the scenes have always been a mess, will not be renewing thats for sure

What about TE? I’m thinking of joining.

To that end, the new season is starting soon. Any pop ups? I know many shows right now have not sold much in the way of tickets and are starting soon (Shucked, Dancin’, Fat Ham, PP Goes Wrong and Room to name a few)

I’ve had a few of them and TE is my favorite of them as far as having the most options.

If I cancel for a show that I booked, will they refund me?

Broadway Flash said: "Do people pay a yearly fee for showscore?"

Show Score has a free tier where you can start getting offers after rating 5 shows I think. You can also pay a monthly fee (there's a couple different levels) for things like later cancellation, cheaper prices, etc.