Greedy Producers- Page 3

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/21/18 at 5:49pm

IlanaKeller said: "Along that line of thought, we see so many "the show is booming, they should throw us a bone" posts about discounts.

Have you EVER heard someone say "the show is struggling, so let me ungrudgingly pay a premium price because I believe in it" to help it stay afloat?"

Don't start unpacking their entitlement codewords, they'll get mad at you!

[ArtMan]

Posted: 5/21/18 at 6:43pm

First, I don't believe the OP came across "entitled" in their posts.  When I visit NYC, I loved to rush.  Who doesn't love a bargain?  As I've gotten older, the interest of standing in line for hours doesn't excite me as much.  Plus if I am getting up early during my trip it is usually for other things.  During my last couple of trips I normally purchase most of my tickets in advance.  Usually I pick the "hot" shows so I don't want to risk not getting a ticket.  For my recent trip, I would have rushed Summer.  I just didn't think it was worth the prices they were charging for it.  Also, reading on here, the rush tickets were pretty good at least for views.  I had planned to get up at 6am and get to the box office by 7:00 am, three hours before the box office opened.  Had I waited in line all that time and be told there were no rush tickets available, I would have been pissed.  Not because I feel I am entitled, but because most Box Office Managers should know by the night before if rush tickets would be available the next morning..  If none are available, then POST A SIGN STATING NO RUSH AVAILABLE.  Although I would have not liked getting up early, at least I wasn't wasting my time for something they knew they didn't have.

Updated On: 5/21/18 at 06:43 PM

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 5/21/18 at 9:17pm

nmlhats said: "haterobics said: "nmlhats said: "I get that it's all about supply and demand."

It doesn't seem like you do."

The tickets are taking a little longer to sell out with each NY release....so I am not sure it's provable that the demand has actually increased over that time. I would say that the longer availability indicates a slight slackening of demand, even if the end result is still a sellout. In addition, the overall supply since I bought those tickets in June 2016 (for March 2017) has increased dramatically if you include the non-NY components."

If you do in fact understand how supply and demand works, you would understand that if they see a slackening of demand, they will likely hold the prices constant or maybe even lower them. That this isn't happening means they don't see the slackening of demand you see and they're probably in a better position to judge than you are. And besides using as an example the one show in the past 10-15 years that can exert that kind of pricing power over a period of years to prove a general point about "greedy producers" is just silly. If I lost money 3 out of every 4 times I invested in something, I'd be as greedy as hell the one time I can recoup some of my losses.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 5/22/18 at 12:05am

I don't know if it's greed so much as convenience/outsourcing but I am not a fan of the collective move to online lotteries. Of course it helps avoid the issue the OP complained about but they are far more competitive than the rushes or in-person lotteries that were generally offered just a few years ago. Looking at you, TodayTix.

In general I find that theater is magical and everything runs incredibly smoothly... until it doesn't and you realize the system is pretty low-tech and there's not much interest in customer service. But until you encounter a problem, everything's great.

[GhostXmasPast]

Posted: 5/24/18 at 4:01pm

Pantelis the Great said: "This is the time of year, just before the Tonys, that several of the producers, even ones that are doing well at the box office, get greedy. Discounts go from 50% down to 30%, 20%, even zero. In addition, the in person rush tickets and some digital drawings disappear. Don’t get me wrong. It’s their prerogative! But, some of the producers don’t respect those of us that get up real early to travel to their “rush” line. At the minimum, there should be signs on their outer doors stating that there weren’t any rush tickets that day and if true, the remainder of the run. NONE OF US should be subjected to getting up a lot earlier than normal, travelling to Broadway and after waiting hours on line, to be told by a theater staff person that arrived at 9:30am, that there is no more rush.

That happened to me this morning, when I decided to go to the “Three Tall Women” rush line. Unfortunately, I just joined broadwayworld.com, (guess why) and I didn’t have the information available herein on the rush line. Yes, after spending several hours traveling and waiting on line, someone showed up about 9:30am and told us that there weren’t going to be anymore rush tickets for the show.

I’d like a producer, any producer, to disagree with me or debate me. Also, the websights of the shows should be revised to reflect any new rush policy. In my case it wasn’t. In addition, the playbill Broadwayrush websight that gives comprehensive rush information about every show that has a rush policy, should be revised to reflect new rush policies. In my case again, it wasn’t.

Do I appear to be p?s$ed$@f? Yes, I am."

Theater tickets - Broadway and otherwise - have no shelf life.  Producers are free to use whatever pricing policies and marketing programs - (exclusive of fraud) to fill as many seats as possible.  When the curtain goes, up, the value of that unsold seat drops to "zero."  Any Rush tickets - or lottery tickets - you have enjoyed should be views as the product of a generous and fair minded producer - however there is no greed in trying to maximize revenue for a show.  In fact, producers owe a fiduciary duty to their investors to use best efforts to maximize revenue for a show.  Finally - hit musicals that command premium prices are pay the freight for the vast majority of shows that lose some, most, or all of their initial capitalization.  On the bright side - you can easily score bargain tickets to those shows.