Exorbitant ticket prices — Page 2

Those who have responded with "Broadway is a business" missed the point of the original message.

This was not intended to be an old man's lament of "I remember when..." ticket prices were cheaper. I'm making a purely business argument, intended to appeal to a producer's focus on the bottom-line: that if you're charging $150-175 per ticket, but only actually reaping $25 per seat, and not selling 2/3 of your tickets (as is the case in On the Town; similar numbers are likely true for many other quickly-shuttered shows) then you're not optimizing your sale prices. Cut the FACE cost of an orchestra ticket to a number that will put you in competition with other forms of entertainment -- say, $40 or $50 -- and the number of tickets you'll sell will skyrocket, thus offsetting any loss from a reduced asking price. The fact that the producers are, in actuality, already accepting deeply discounted sums for the tickets should make a reduction of the face value all the more palatable. Make it easier for the consumer to pay the prices you're already willing to accept (by not forcing them to use special discounting apps, or wait for TDF discounts, use TKTS booths etc.) and you will sell more tickets. The $150 - $175 asking price is a charade, and it keeps casual theatergoers away. The vast, vast majority of people are casual theatergoers, not hardcore junkies who know all the tricks of the trade vis a vis discounts. Most don't want to bother with "working" to find discounts; if you force them to, they'll just stay away from the theater, or come only on rare and special occasions. Bring down the face value to a price that is competitive with other forms of entertainment, minimize the "work" people have to do to get the discounts you're already providing, and the number of people who attend will skyrocket.

Bring down the face value to a price that is competitive with other forms of entertainment, minimize the "work" people have to do to get the discounts you're already providing, and the number of people who attend will skyrocket.

It would be interesting to see more producers experiment with this. My perception is that the "high price offer often discounted" is the primary practice for much of Broadway, but other industries use many more models to try and sell more ... and make more. Maybe Disney's foray into pricing and yield mgmt might be a catalyst for others to try different approaches.

If you're willing to sit in the back, some shows offer some pretty cheap seating. The Living on Love performances all have seats $25 seats (in addition to the incredibly expensive premium seats). $25 is a pretty incredible price to see Renee Fleming's Broadway debut -- not to mention Douglas Sills, Anna Chlumsky and Jerry O'Connell.

Tourists aren't going to spend much time looking for the deals especially if they want to see specific shows already (e.g. BoM), but I'm reminded of a friend who's a watch engineer. When I looked through the catalogue and asked how much some of these cost, he commented with a wink, "If you wonder about price, you're not their clientèle." It seems Broadway is moving towards that. What was affordable for lower/middle-class decades ago is no longer the case now; target audiences do change. (By the way, since the 2008 crash, employment rose but pay almost a quarter less.)

Time to look to Off-Broadway, I guess?

---

"Time to look to Off-Broadway, I guess?"

Have you seen what they're charging off-Broadway?

How much is a ticket to Hamilton?

I'm sure someone here has a better knowledge of this than me, but the small Vivian Beaumont, capacity 900, has a mezzanine (more accurately called the loge at this theater) of only six rows. The first four are priced as same as the orchestra. Rows D and E are maybe $50 cheaper and are available for groups.

Then there is this mysterious seventh and last row that always sells for (I think for The King and I) $67.00. No discount for groups or anything else. No increase for weekends. It's not available to the regular ticket buyer through Telecharge. I think it's dedicated to students, groups, and others who can't/don't buy the expensive seats.

OlBlueEyes, the Beaumont's loge is only five rows deep. Rows A-C are the same price as the orchestra and Rows D and E are priced $55 cheaper (at least that's the price differential for THE KING AND I). The full capacity is 1,084 seats, not 900. Although it might be lower for THE KING AND I depending on if the orchestra pit necessitates the removal of a few rows.

I understand what you're saying about all the discounts resulting in a lower price anyway, but I don't think TKTS and other discounts are going away. So, if you begin with a lower face value, then you are going to lose money even faster and there is no guarantee that audiences will skyrocket. At the bottom line, a product costs a fixed amount to make and if the pricing does not support a profit on that price, it won't be around too long. And, I do think that the supply and demand argument is completely relevant. That is why some shows stay around and make money and some are gone quickly.

The problem with lowering prices is a professional production on Broadway isn't cheap. Equity and the crafts unions have set such high minimums in terms of contracts, staffing and extras [medical, pension, etc.] that it may not be possible to run a show at lower prices. I am all in favor of unions - they have kept performers and staff at a living wage, but a producer simply cannot afford to low ball tickets and still make the nut, even if every seat is sold. And remember - in addition to covering costs, investors expect a return on their money. Even at these high ticket prices it is true (and has been for years) that only 20% of shows recoup the entire outlay and make any profit at all.

I agree that prices are high, but having spent $18 for an IMAX movie ticket, I can tell you that live theater at least delivers something worthwhile most of the time. Movies lately are crap.

As a tourist, I come to New York for a couple of weeks every March/April, I will see about 8-10 shows while I am there, a mix of Broadway and off-Broadway. When I first started coming I'd book everything beforehand and pay full price, wanting the best seats.Nowadays, I will book a few before I leave and the rest I will pick up at the TKTS booth. But I see mainly plays and I know the line isn't that long.I can't speak for other tourists, but this is how i do it.
Also, I don't know how it will affect the tourist dollar in general, but the American economy is really strong right now. Two years ago one Australian dollar got me one US dollar, now it gets me seventy-five cents. This means I am paying almost a thousand Australian dollars more for the same accommodation I had two years ago, which means something has to go. Expensive ticket seats are one of the things that had to go for my upcoming trip. If tourists are the most important factor in ticket sales, the strong US economy might hurt theater sales.