Papering Services - Do you belong to one?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 1:02pm

Feel free to flame me if this has been discussed at length recently, but doing a search on this board revealed no info.

Anybody belong to any of these Papering Services? My TDF subscription needs renewal so before doing that, I considered looking around to other services...
- Smarttix.com
- Theatermania Gold
- AudienceExtras.com
- TheaterExtras.com
- Play-by-play.com

Anybody have any positive/negative experiences with any of them?

[DTC]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 2:19pm

I'm signed up with Audience Extras. They're mostly all about off- and off-off-, with an occasional B'way ticket thrown in. You check their website FREQUENTLY for shows you might be interested in -- the selections change quickly throughout the day. And if (for instance) something really popular comes in at noon, it might be all snatched up by 12:30. Overall though, for $2 a ticket, it's a good deal if you want to catch non-Broadway shows, cabaret, stand-up and the occasional lecture.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/31/05 at 2:29pm

I've been a member of Audience Extras for several years. Over the years, it has gotten too well known and it's more difficult to get tickets. (It used to be more of an industry secret) Also, they don't seem to get as good a quality as they used to. I used to be able to score tickets regularly to the well known off-Broadway companies and houses like the Lortel. Now it seems the majority of their offerings are way off-Broadway and non-professional (non-union) shows.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 3:44pm

So, how do the papering services work?

I'm going to NYC in March, and i want to see a couple shows, and 3 of the shows I want to see (Tarzan, Wedding Singer, Lestat) will all be in previews when I go, so I was wondering how the papering services work because I know I can get cheap tickets to see the shows that way. Any info is welcomed. Thanks.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 3:51pm

I dropped Audience Extras two years ago for the reasons Goth mentioned. I've been very happy with Gold Club and Theater Extras.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 3:53pm

"So, how do the papering services work?"

You pay a yearly membership fee and then a per ticket charge. The service offers shows and you choose. If you are looking for specific shows, this probably isn't the best way to get discounts. You should check into discounts offered by Playbill Discount Club.

http://www.playbill.com/club/benefits/

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 3:55pm

The service charge per ticket is usually around $4.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 4:03pm

You pay an annual fee (usually around $85) which gives you access to their website with current offerings. Tickets are free (limit 2 per account), but there is a nominal service charge per ticket your order ($3 to $5, depending on the service).

Broadway offerings are very infrequent (and usually just for one or two shows that are struggling or early in previews before their ad campaigns have kicked in) and they are snapped up within minutes of being offered, so it takes a bit of luck and speed to get tickets for them. Most shows listed are Off- or Off-Off-Broadway, with cabaret and comedy shows tossed in as well. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who doesn't live in easy proximity of midtown and doesn't have a very flexible schedule. Typically, the offerings are for shows that same evening or the next day -- only a handful of performances will be listed with more than 48 hours notice.

If you're just coming here on vacation and won't be here long, it's a really bad idea for you. Those shows you mention -- Tarzan, Wedding Singer, Lestat -- are likely to be popular and not offered at all (Disney doesn't even use papering services to my knowledge so you can forget Tarzan). And if they are offered, it'll be day-of and any tickets will be snapped up within 5 minutes. You might get lucky if you really wanna spend your vacation sitting in front of a computer, refreshing the papering sites every few minutes. Odds are, you won't get anything that way and will end up at TKTS (if any of those shows are up) or at the box office paying full price and there's no telling what kind of seats you might end up with if any of those shows end up selling well in previews.

Updated On: 11/21/05 at 04:03 PM

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 4:04pm

You can count on seeing any particular show by using a papering service, and you can't plan ahead. It wouldn't work for someone visiting for a couple of days. You wouldn't get the tickets you want, and you'd spend the amount of a full price ticket joining.

Visitors or people who can go somewhere on the spur of the moment are better off using discount codes. www.broadwaybox.com is a good place to begin.

[ken8631]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 4:06pm

I completely agree with Margo - I belong to TheaterMania and Play-By-Play and TDF. Good if you are relatively local, not that good if you are not. Have to be flexible.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 4:46pm

Oh okay, thanks guys. I guess I can toss that option out. I guess I'll rely on TKTS and student rush. Shows have student rush in previews right?

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 12:46am

Just thought I would bump this one up to see if anyone had any new thoughts. I am currently debating which service to get.

[roseaddams]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 1:08am

I'm with goldstar on the west coast... it's decent and pretty cheap, but there aren't many shows that come around here and sell unwell enough to justify papering. Usually it's stadium concerts and shows that run for more than a month.

[Esparzafan]

Posted: 8/29/06 at 8:48am

I belong to Play by Play and Theater Extras. PbP has a better selection but because there are fewer members on TE, the tickets tend to be up on the site longer. Also, TE just started adding sporting events - not bad.