TAMMY, Paper those seats!

I was at Tammy Faye the other day, and the theater was embarrassingly empty. I thought the show was a good time, and the cast was clearly giving it their all, but I felt secondhand embarrassment for them the entire two hours, especially since the cast kept using the center orchestra aisle for entrances and exits and could very clearly see that the orchestra section had maybe 200 people in it.

I don’t know when producers decide to start offering comps for a show, but if they ever need to, it’s for situations like this! Clearly no one is buying these seats, even last minute. At the very least they could make the cast feel a bit better by avoiding an empty balcony, empty mezzanine, and a one-third-filled orchestra. It’s just about showing some respect to your hardworking cast.

Updated On: 11/27/24 at 02:49 PM

Post Covid there are A LOT more “ticketing and revenue strategy” consulting firms being employed (or people in house as with ATG) and those people always advocate for not using a public papering site because it devalues the brand not just of that show but for other Broadway shows too.

When sales are as bad as TF and a closing is already announced, they might as well be papering. Or set a promo of “all seats $15 in the mezz” or something like that.

Let them do what they want.

Personally it is a better theater experience for me (average audience member) when the theater isn’t full. Shorter lines overall especially the restroom line and the likelihood of not having anyone sit in front of me or beside me makes the overall experience more comfortable.

I think providing more comp tickets so friends and family of the cast can see the show before it closes sounds great; or provide a huge Black Friday promo for its fans to come back and see the show from a better seat.

i remember when Scandalous was easily giving out comps and they still couldn't get the theater to 50% capacity.

It’s such a complicated scenario, and different for each show. Often, producers hate the idea that the only way their sacred show is viable is due to comps. And, there are shows that literally cannot give tickets away. If Tammy put every seat online for $15, it would hardly move the capacity needle.


People get an impression the show is comp’d, and then hold out for said comps OR only seeing the show at a very low price point. And of course, the majority of people singing the show’s praises are influencers and industry folk who saw it for free, which doesn’t help the bottom line.


And yes, casts hate performing to small houses and then feel the need to get involved with producers & marketing trying to solve it—it’s always a very intense dilemma and I feel for all involved.

Impeach2017 said: "It's nice that they kept the show running for a while, if nothing else than for the hardworking cast members right before the holidays."

sarcasm, I hope? 24 previews and 29 performances is not "a while".

quizking101 said: "I was honestly shocked that they haven’t, but to Jordan’s point, most shows have a real aversion to public papering and seem to, if at all, do it privately.

I’ve seen more of the “special limited time pricing!” gimmicks lately (like with Swept Away and The Roommate) instead.

I feel like Shucked is the current champion regarding building and keeping an audience. The odds were stacked against it, but it discounted tickets all through previews (even so far as to going on TDF three months before opening), ran a relentless ad campaign, and then people built up the rest by WoM. They ended up having a very respectable run as a result."

It still lost most of its investment, however. Not sure what to conclude...at least, unlike Tammy Faye, there were a lot of seats filled, even if discounted. Were I a cast member, I would have preferred to play to respectable audiences any day of the week.

At this point, they should just give the tickets away. At least for the final night so that the cast can possibly close out to a full house. It's not like they're going to make up the financial loses at this point, so at least let the cast and crew end on as high a note as possible.

I won the lottery for the matinee last Sunday but lost the evening. Unfortunately I also won Hills of California that afternoon (well fortunately for this matter as HOC offered center orchestra third row seat!). So I tried coming to the Palace Box office to see if I can buy a General Rush ticket and they wouldn’t even give me one! They say they only offer student Rush. I mean seriously? I’m offering to pay $50 even for obstructed view seat and you’re telling me my money is not good enough and you’d rather have the house empty? I don’t understand.

Updated On: 11/29/24 at 03:24 PM

Markie27 said: "I won the lottery for the matinee last Sunday but lost the evening. Unfortunately I also won Hills of California that afternoon (well fortunately for this matter as HOC offered center orchestra third row seat!). So I tried coming to the Palace Box office to see if I can buy a General Rush ticket and they wouldn’t even give me one! They say they only offer student Rush. I mean seriously? I’m offering to pay $50 even for obstructed view seat and you’re telling me my money is not good enough and you’d rather have the house empty? I don’t understand."

Unfortunately that’s not the box office staff’s decision to make: they’re at the mercy of the producer and GM. Still strange that the producers wouldn’t change the policy at that point in the run when they’re bleeding $$ and have tix to move.

It is on TDF for all remaining dates including closing. $59, plus fees.