Ticket prices up for Legally Blonde.- Page 2

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 8:36am

Not so.

GREASE is at $120.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 8:52am

"One disturbing trend that was noted by frontrowcentre2 in the Hits and Flops thread is that the average ticket price on Broadway went up almost $10 (about 15%) in a single year from $66.67 to $76.27. That rate of increase is obviously really outpacing inflation."

About 5 years ago, when I was looking at discount codes, I noticed a lot of them enabled you to get seats for $55-65. Now the average discounted price has gone up to about $75. Most of the discounts for Drowsy (for orchestra and front mezz seats) are $85. The new discounted prices are slowly increasing to what full-priced tickets used to cost. The only shows where you can get really cheap tickets for the most part are for are show that have been around a while, such as Rent and Phantom of the Opera.

[FosterChild]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:37am

The last couple of times I've been there (not matinees) the balcony was very sparse. This seems like a last ditch effort to drive up the grosses if not actual capacity. I think they're in more trouble than they're letting on. Now I'll await the influx of posts from swings crying foul.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:42am

The rise in ticket prices is basic economics. With salaries increasing in most professions and if people are willing to pay more, than they will continue to increase. Ticket prices will only go up and never down due to that basic principle. Inflation also has alot to do with it. I once read an article that compared theater ticket prices in the 1950's to today and the price that tickets should be is around $60-$75. Has inflation occured? Yup! This is coming from someone who's father is an accountant and he replied with this when I asked him about rising ticket prices.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:45am

"This seems like a last ditch effort to drive up the grosses if not actual capacity. I think they're in more trouble than they're letting on."

I don't think they're in that much trouble at all. Look at the grosses. They have only grossed under $700,000 twice out of the 11 weeks they've been on the gross chart. The theater's hasn't even gone under 80%, with most weeks filling in the high 80s to high 90s. They're probably just making most of their money and filling their capacity through orchestra and mezzanine seats, which may be why the balcony looked sparse.

In addition, I wonder if weekday evening shows are less busy, hence why the balcony didn't look that full.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/grossesshow.cfm?show=LEGALLY%20BLONDE

Updated On: 6/20/07 at 09:45 AM

[Craig]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:45am

I don't know if they are in trouble or not - but I caught the show Sunday evening (not sure if that's typically a "busy" night for the show) but there were several seats open in the orchestra section. I wouldn't pretend to know how many, but it was noticable. In one section near me there was a good 12 or so seats Orch/Center which I imagine was a small group that maybe didn't make it or cancelled their trip.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:47am

Craig, it may have been because it was a Sunday evening and a lot of people have work the next day. Legally Blonde should just make a 3 pm Sunday show and add a performance somewhere else in the middle of the week.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:49am

Millie ~ Then that 'logic' should also apply to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. NOT just Sunday nights. Those are work nights too, but there are theatres that sell out even then. You'd think shows would be FULL on Sunday nights since there is such a limited offering of Sunday night shows.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:57am

Plus Sunday was Father's Day...I don't see LEGALLY BLONDE being the big show to take your Father to!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 9:57am

"You'd think shows would be FULL on Sunday nights since there is such a limited offering of Sunday night shows."

I think that's part of the problem. A lot of tourists don't think that there are Sunday night shows.

[seymour krelborn]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 10:01am

I think I read something saying that Young Frankenstein tickets are going to be $130, I could be wrong though. These prices are getting a little out of hand. Especially for a show like Legally Blonde.

[Curtains07]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 10:03am

BTW, Blonde is NOT on TKTS..

http://www.entertainment-link.com/tkts.asp

[Craig]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 10:17am

BTW.. Blonde has been on tkts.. I bought my last minute ticket on there on Sunday...

[seymour krelborn]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 10:23am

I got a ticket from tkts a week or so ago for Legally Blonde.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 10:32am

"The rise in ticket prices is basic economics. With salaries increasing in most professions and if people are willing to pay more, than they will continue to increase. Ticket prices will only go up and never down due to that basic principle. Inflation also has alot to do with it."

Gypsy, Gypsy, Gpsy. Salaries are not increasing to the extent which prices are. The rate of inflation is substantially lower than a price increase in not only theater tickets, but movie tickets, sporting events, theme parks, food, clothing, etc. And if you look at each industry, you'll notice that the profits double and triple. Look at gas prices, where even if they were at 1995 levels the oil companies would still be turning a profit. They want as much money as possible, that's all. They have been having record-setting profits for the last six years yet still claim they can't lower prices. I have said it before and I will say it again, profits should have a regulated maximum. There is absolutely NO justification for charging even $100.00 for a show ticket. If they can't fill the house, then they should look at the product they are selling. The concept of supply and demand doesn't seem to go hand in hand these days.

[seymour krelborn]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 10:34am

Amen Fosse76!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 11:05am

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 11:14am

Blonde is a good show and a lot of fun but yes ticket prices are getting high but what do you expect?? its called inflation , everything goes up at some time, Tickets in London have got more expensive with some shows charging £60 (around $120) inc Lord Of The Rings and Wicked.

With costs of staging , advertising a show etc on Broadway and the West End prices will continue to rise, and people are obviously willing to pay that much because Blonde is doing good business.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 11:16am

Fosse76, the reality is that people are still willing to pay the price. I also highly doubt that a cap will ever be put on prices of anything for that matter!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 11:19am

What's that old comedy routine?

Guy goes up to the South Pacific box office and says "How much are tickets for the evening show?" The attendant replies "$6.50." The guy says "$6.50? That's a little steep!" "Well it's $4.50 for matinees." The guy replies "well, I'll take a ticket for the morning show then." "Sir, there is no morning show." The guy asks, "you mean Rodgers and Hammerstein don't make money in the morning?"

Could have been Bob Hope...I think.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 11:28am

I love that little story! It's a great commentary on theater in general! I think it is Bob Hope by the way.

[markypoo]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 12:48pm

I recently spent a Sat. overnite in NYC. Everything I did I made certain was ultra-cheap. There weren't a heck of a lot of shows I wanted to see; one of them was LB. I got to the b.o. window and in response to my question was told the student rush tickets were sold out for that eve. I then asked for and received a seat in the first row of the balcony for 41.50. Although I couldn't see their faces, everything else was a fine view from up there. My point is that I didn't HAVE to shell out a small fortune for an orchestra seat for a good time - but please understand - the "good" time experienced at LB was to me worth only about 41.50 or so. I feel I got exactly what I paid for.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 12:52pm

$130 for Young Frankenstein??? I was planning on buying full price tickets too...not if they're that high...

[jordangirl]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 1:35pm

Curtains07 ~ the list of shows on tkts last week found ON the tdf site...

BROADWAY
110 IN THE SHADE
A CHORUS LINE
AVENUE Q
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
CHICAGO
COMPANY
CURTAINS
DEUCE
FROST/NIXON
GREY GARDENS
HAIRSPRAY
INHERIT THE WIND
LEGALLY BLONDE
LES MISERABLES
LOVEMUSIK
MAMMA MIA!
MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT
OLD ACQUAINTANCE
RADIO GOLF
RENT
SPRING AWAKENING
TALK RADIO
TARZAN
THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
THE COLOR PURPLE
THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
THE PIRATE QUEEN
THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING
XANADU

So yes, it HAS been on tkts.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 6/20/07 at 2:15pm

STOP calling it inflation. The current rate of inflation is 2.69%. If Legally Blonde was $110 and is now $120, that is a 9% increase, almost 4 times the inflation rate.

People pay these prices because they generally have no choice. If you want to see Legally Blonde, then you pay the full price. That's it, end of story. Most of the people seeing a Broadway show are not what one would consider a frequent theatre-goer, so while costly, to them it's a worthwhile expenditure. They are on vacation, who doesn't splurge a little while on vacation?

As to not seeing a cap on profits, we may not see it, but it would be entirely legal and justified. Not to mention many states have such laws, though they aren't specific to an industry. They are called proce-gouging. But because entertainment isn't a necessity of life, tghis would have to be specially regulated, since no one forces people to buy theatre tickets.

But let's look at it another way: Why do we pay $110 to see Chicago and $110 to see Wicked? One show is much cheaper to produce than the other, so what can the justification of the same price be if not greed?