Group rate for Cats with an artist meet and greet

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 11:49am

Hey guys, I am trying to put a group of 12 together to see Cats on September 11th at 7pm. If we have enough people we can save a nice amount of money. I also happen to be friends with one of the cast members and she said that she would be willing to do a meet and greet if I got a large enough group together. Her name is Gina Pazcoguin, really cool girl!!! All the seats would be in the orchestra, and it would be $130 per person. Considering the individual ticket in the orchestra is over $140 without the meet and greet, I thought it would be a great deal. If interested, let me know, I have a site where we can all purchase our individual space. 

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 12:36pm

While your offer is sweet, $130 is not a deal on orchestra seats. There is a discount on BroadwayBox for $99. 

http://www.broadwaybox.com/shows/cats/

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 12:52pm

The group rate on Broadway.com was only $99 as well, but I figured the sit down Q&A with Gina was well worth the extra... I wasn't sure how much extra they charge for those meet and greets. 

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 1:00pm

VSParadiso said: "The group rate on Broadway.com was only $99 as well, but I figured the sit down Q&A with Gina was well worth the extra... I wasn't sure how much extra they charge for those meet and greets. 

 

"

I'm confused - So you're personally charging extra for the "meet and greet" then? If you were planning on buying the group tickets on Broadway.com (which I would NEVER recommend to anyone as they're the worst) and they're only $99, what is the $130 price you're talking about?

[rangersrule132]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 1:06pm

While I would love to do this I believe they discount the full price tickets which is kind of ridiculous when they have cheaper ticket deals out there

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 1:15pm

And any cast member would gladly do a Meet & Greet for no fee if arranged in advance.  Also, if you intend on doing this Meet & Greet inside the Neil Simon Theatre, you'll need clearance and authorization.  Kinda cheesy having this take place on the street, quite frankly.  

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 1:47pm

When I danced with Gina in NYCB we got paid $200 per back stage tour. So I set this up with her on my site so she could make a little extra. This would cover tickets, her fee plus credit processing. Thought it would be nice. 

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 1:48pm

I'm going to find the better rates them re arrange pricing 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 1:51pm

Lol......I've NEVER paid an actor for a talk back session. My large group donates to BC/EFA...for a talk back, and it usually gets about 1/3 of the cast to come and chat.  And it certainly doesn't come close to the "price" you suggest.

[evic]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 2:02pm

I used to arrange backstage tours and meet and greets for clients....and had them make generous donations to BC/EFA on site-directly to the stage mangers or actors.....very tacky for cast members to accept a fee...unless they turn the money over to charity.  To get to walk on a Broadway stage is a big thrill for many people and they are more than happy to contribute for that privilege.

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 2:02pm

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt when it comes to your intentions in doing this, but this is all really tacky. Does she know you're trying to assemble a group of strangers on a message board to pay $200 to meet her?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 2:08pm

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 6:44pm

This will be in the Theater, so it won't be tacky :) Gina would be taking care of getting clearance from the stage manager. It would be a small group of 12, and I thought it would be nice for everyone to be able to meet a cast member on a more intimate bases. A lot of these large group q & a's don't offer the same amount of time for questions. 

Yes, entertainers do A LOT for free...I was once one of them... but after seeing management and unions taking a lot of the money coming in, while the dancers could barely pay rent, I realized the dancers were getting taken advantage of. I thought it would be great for Gina to run it herself. Since the audience members are interested in meeting the performer, I thought why should the money go towards all the other hands in the pot... 

Sorry to come off as greedy, but after dancing in a company where the boss made well over a mill a year, and the dancers union not being able to negotiate a decent raise for the dancers... I want to give dancers new forms of revenue.

Cheers

Updated On: 8/14/16 at 06:44 PM

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 6:46pm

Out of curiosity, how large is the group? If we had more people, the price per person would obviously be much less. I thought it would be nice for the performer to be able to make a little extra money for her extra time, instead of the fat cats... Just trying to help an artist out

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 6:50pm

How is it tacky for a performer to get paid? I would understand if the lead, who is making a ton, was trying to make a few extra buck... but this is the chorus. They aren't making what you may think they are. Too many performers do too much for free, and don't know their worth. One could say, based on their salaries, the work they already do is charity. Giving dancers and performers direct access to new revenue streams, instead of the big guys taking home all the extras, is not tacky, it is fair. 

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 7:03pm

My intentions are only to give a little more power to performers. These things are all add ons that can be purchased on broadway.com when this gets purchased on a site like that, management has the performer do it, and gives them a small cut.

I thought it would be nice for her to be able to offer it herself and get paid directly, instead of broadway.com and all the other hands in the pot getting paid for her extra work. I built a platform that would allow her to view and communicate with anyone that is interested in attending, insuring that she isn't getting a group of strangers, but getting a group of people that would love to meet her that she could get to know ahead of time.

Again, I repeat, dancers do not make that much money :) and to give them the ability to run their own group tour that they are in control of is far better than them being forced to do a tour with strangers broadway.com put together for peanuts. Yes, performers do a lot for free, but it primarily because management tells them to, and they are afraid they'll lose their job if they say no... Our lifespan is short, and there is no retirement package, I say make what you can, because it doesn't last, and no one telling you that you should do it for free will be paying your bills when you retire...

Updated On: 8/14/16 at 07:03 PM

[VSParadiso]

Posted: 8/14/16 at 7:04pm

May as well! If your job asked you to stay overtime, you would want to be paid... somehow performers are expected to work overtime for free :)