Rush tickets are not affordable anymore

[Kinky Boy]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 1:36am

What happened to 20 bucks a ticket so young people can enjoy live theatre?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 1:38am

Is this a post from 5 years ago?

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 1:48am

Kinky Boy said: "What happened to 20 bucks a ticket so young people can enjoy live theatre?

Find a time machine to take you back to 2006. Hope that helps.

 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 8:50am

Inflation.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 8:53am

neonlightsxo said: "Inflation.

 

"

Bingo.

Regular ticket prices are higher than they were 5 years ago, let alone 10 years ago. Do you really think that's not going to affect the price of rush tickets?

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 9:05am

 But they're still a privelege. 

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 9:21am

I get what the poster is saying. When I first visited and rushed shows my senior year of college in 06/07 almost every rush was under $30. Now most rushes are $45/50. Yes, tickets have gone up across the board but I think that much inflation for a rush ticket defeats the original objective of them. Yes, producers don't have to offer them at all and they're still a privilege, but they seem to have morphed from let's get young college students into theatres to "well, we can't really sell these extreme sides at full price so let's knock $20 off and sell em to people day of." Most of the time now I'll just grab a ticket on TDF for a couple extra bucks so I don't have to get up early on my day off and wait in line.

The West End tickets are a bit cheaper in general but they still have 10/15 pound tickets for most shows.

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 9:27am

The West End also has several nationally subsidized theaters than can afford to offer a certain amount of guaranteed tickets at a negligible price. If you want to read a good article about why theater, in general, is cheaper in London, follow my link:

http://www.npr.org/2014/07/30/336594091/why-are-theater-tickets-cheaper-on-the-west-end-than-on-broadway

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 9:30am

Ticket prices, including rush, have increased at a rate that laps normal inflation. 

[ukpuppetboy]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 9:51am

That article is spot on about the lower costs to mount a show in London due to weaker unions (for performers and stage crew) and non-union theatre front of house but wildly inaccurate about sharing resources and talents with movie production (which hardly ever happens) and the cost of politeness (and a playbill). Also the restoration of London theatres has significantly improved over the last 10 years and I always find them to be much more inviting than most cramped New York houses that rarely have any lobby space/salons/bar area. Admittedly you can go from your seat to the street within a minute in New York (something than can take 10 times as long after the curtain in London). That said the price differential is definitely shrinking as the years go on. 

[Theater3232]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 10:38am

Rush tickets have roughly doubled in price in the past 6 or 7 years, from $20 to $40.

The price of orchestra tickets has not doubled in the past 6 or 7 years.  i.e. they didn't go from $80 to $160 in the past 6 or 7 years.  So why did rush tickets double in price?

The percentage rate increase of rush tickets has been FAR greater and defeats the spirit of rush/lottery.  $40 is not an affordable option for many people.  At this rate, rush will be up to $50 next year.  It's simply out of control.

They could easily sell these ~20 tickets for $25 if they wanted to.  It's not going to have any effect whatsoever on the grosses.  A show is not going to stay open or close and say "wow, the extra $15 really made a huge difference in our bottom line".  But the extra $15 makes a huge difference for people who live to see theater.

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 11:01am

I haven't rushed in a  few months simply because it's not worth it anymore - $40 for extreme sides of the orchestra or box seats which are also extremely obstructed. I'll stick to TDF.

I miss when shows would sell the front row as rush/lotto. Now, most sell those as full price!

[mamaleh]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 11:05am

Rush tickets have changed in more ways than cost.  Nowadays, many shows offer as rush only the far side seats, usually up against the wall, authentically labeled as "partial view."  Time was you could get a fairly good unsold seat at the last minute for rush price. Now, even though they remain unsold, they are usually not included in rush sales.  It's becoming less and less worth the early wake-up.

[_IrisTInkerbell]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 2:02pm

I agree about the seat location, but that's a fairly recent change. Just from the top of my head I remember rushing Evita in 2012 and getting a row N center orch ticket. It was one of the more expensive rushes as the time with $40 I think, but well worth it for that seat.

The last 2 season I feel like the digital lotteries had better seats than the rushes. SoR  was center orch or me (the very back but not obstructed), Fun Home was front row. On Your Feet was center mezz. But many rushes were extreme side view like many have mentioned. I mostly don't mind too much, though. In my experience, the view was mostly fine. And I'm not eligible for TDF, so most of the time this is still my best bet and I there are only few shows you actually have to get up early for. Many you're fine showing up in the afternoon for the evening or right around 10. I just wish they would communicate it as "partial view", at least in the small print of the rush rules, so you know what you're getting before you get in line.

The only time I was really annoyed because of a terribly obstructed view was the box seats for Color Purple. I missed a good portion of Act 1 because I couldn't see the actors. A couple in the box moved to Orch at intermission so I could take a better seat in the box in Act 2, but that was just lucky...

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 2:14pm

I honestly am nearly priced out of theater as a college student studying the craft. On top of that, the theaters and productions rarely offer any opportunities or special things for students. Hamilton's thing is great, but it's only for high school kids. It really is becoming high art, unaffordable for the average joe. Too bad.

[TerrenceIsTheMann]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 2:17pm

Also, I have always been perplexed as to why there is no special student rush for the struggling shows. There are so many seats that go unsold, wouldn't producers rather students get these seats and make something of a profit on the seats? I know as a sports fans that teams with weaker fan bases, like the Tampa Bay Lighting of hockey, for instance, have a very affordable rush- 20$ for unsold seats, and this is the NHL, a huge company with high priced tickets. Why not? 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 2:53pm

I can't believe they closed the Automat!

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 3:13pm

Terrence:

Just like I tell folks on my MLB boards to take their families to Minor League Games, I tell my friends here who can't afford B'way to go to Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway, Community Theater, etc, etc etc.

 

There's nothing in the Bill of Rights that says the highest forms of entertainment have to be priced for the masses.

[Kinky Boy]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 3:20pm

Scarywarhol said: "Ticket prices, including rush, have increased at a rate that laps normal inflation."

yup. We started with 20 bucks in 1995 for Rent. With inflation, that would be $32 today. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 3:26pm

If they just reduced the cost of all their unsold seats, people would stop buying tickets at full price and simply wait for them to be reduced.   

 

Comparing b'way to a hockey stadium doesn't make sense: Tampa Bay has 20K seats each game.  They can sell MANY fewer seats, and many fewer seats at a discount and still break even/make money.   A bway house averages what? Half of that?  

 

[Theater3232]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 3:38pm

They're just being very mean-spirited and nasty.  It makes me less likely to purchase any rush at all, and therefore less likely to relay positive word of mouth of shows to out-of-town guests.  So it's a lose-lose for them.  The difference between $25 and $40 to them is really zero, but it's a huge difference to those who are trying to purchase the rush tickets.  Rush tickets should not exceed $25 for any reason.

Updated On: 12/14/16 at 03:38 PM

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 3:41pm

dramamama611 said: "If they just reduced the cost of all their unsold seats, people would stop buying tickets at full price and simply wait for them to be reduced.   

 

Comparing b'way to a hockey stadium doesn't make sense: Tampa Bay has 20K seats each game.  They can sell MANY fewer seats, and many fewer seats at a discount and still break even/make money.   A bway house averages what? Half of that?  

 

 

"

Half of that??? Bway houses seat 1/10 of that...

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 3:59pm

Theater3232 said: "They're just being very mean-spirited and nasty.  It makes me less likely to purchase any rush at all, and therefore less likely to relay positive word of mouth of shows to out-of-town guests.  So it's a lose-lose for them.  The difference between $25 and $40 to them is really zero, but it's a huge difference to those who are trying to purchase the rush tickets.  Rush tickets should not exceed $25 for any reason.

"

Right. that's why they all do it, mean & Nasty

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 4:08pm

Theater3232 said: "They're just being very mean-spirited and nasty.  It makes me less likely to purchase any rush at all, and therefore less likely to relay positive word of mouth of shows to out-of-town guests.  So it's a lose-lose for them.  The difference between $25 and $40 to them is really zero, but it's a huge difference to those who are trying to purchase the rush tickets.  Rush tickets should not exceed $25 for any reason.
"

Sodee pop shouldn't cost more than a dime either, but sorry don't you take the passage of time too well!

[binau]

Posted: 12/14/16 at 4:21pm

Maybe I am naive about the financial struggles of some people but is $40 really not affordable? Maybe it's not affordable every day or every week. But I can't see how anyone who has a job could not find $40 to occasionally spare and go to the theatre?