What are premium seats?

[broadwayfan24]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 9:32pm

My dad was going to get tiks to AVENUE Q one day at the box office and they only had Premium tiickets for that night. My dad was like "ok, how much?" they said about $200 a seat or something like that. WHAT?! Are they crazy?! I really want to see it but Im not paying that much for the tickets.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 9:35pm

Anyone correct me if im wrong...but premium seats are "the best seats" in the house for that particular show. Its the block of tickets that the box office (or any ticket agency) sets aside to sell for a higher price. But, if your in the cancellation line right before the performance, then you can get a premium seat for the normal cost of $100.

Posted: 9/11/04 at 9:37pm

no, a lot of people will think thats cheap. i certainly do compared to such sites as www.ticketamerica.com www.ticketgem.com and pretty much any other www.ticket*put in a word* .com. really, if people wanna pay a lot of money for seats, they use these sites or premium tickets. its nice for people who are willing to spend money for good seats.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 9:43pm

The Broadway Inner Circle began around the time The Producers opened (and is run by some of the producers of the Producers). In an effort to undercut the whole scalping/illegal broker market (which has sold tickets to sold out Broadway hits for years at hundreds of dollars a pop), the Inner Circle began offering "premium seats" to the biggest hits (a few dozen prime center orchestra seats) for $200 - 350 a piece. While it sounds a bit outrageous on the surface, the fact is those same seats used to be snapped up by scalpers and sold for that much and more, going back at least to the time of Phantom (and even before). At least this way, that ridiculous amount of money is going to the people that actually invested in the show and work to keep it open and running. Heck, if courtside seats for the Knicks go for $1200+ a piece and skyboxes to see the Giants and Jets cost several thousand dollars a game, if there are people out there willing to pay that much to get exactly the seat that they want for "Hairspray" or "Avenue Q", then I figure, more power to them.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 9:59pm

So how does this differ from "house seats" (center orchestra, first 12 rows). Do premiem include box seats?, special perks?

While I usually get house seats to cover a show, I'm not familiar with the term premiun seats.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 10:05pm

I think the "premium" seats come out of each show's stash of house seats, given their location. I know for some shows they were offering additional perks like a special lounge with restroom facilities available only to premium seat holders (obviously most theatres can't pull that off) along with free drinks, programs etc..

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 10:32pm

So where are the lounge bathrooms in NY theaters?. LOL! That's a priviledge to pee if I ever heard of it! Been all over those catacombs ...wher they hiding them?.

So it's just house seat with some "extras".. THanks!

[lc1965]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 11:53pm

I think it's pretty funny that they're house seats since I consider house seats some of the worst in Broadway theatres. I often give them as gifts & when I get dragged along to the shows usually end up begging a better seat at intermission.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 10:49pm

Well, to each his own but that's why they're called "house seats" as they are considered the most popular seats in the house. It's ok to prefer front Mezz. or box seats ( if you can afford those!)... but most shows are best viewed from the first 10-12 rows center orch.

[lc1965]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 11:09pm

Well, generally rows 5-12 in center orchestra, although any show directed by someone like Hal Prince who knows how to use the whole proscenium is best seen from the front mezz. House seats tend to be places like the 4th row on the left or right side of the center aisle w/ only a few in the center of the reserved -- thanks, but no thanks. At Nine I mostly saw people's backs, at Hairspray I mostly saw their ankles, & at Les Miserables I mostly saw their makeup melt & their facial hair glue come undone. That doesn't count as the more desirable seats to me. The box seats are virtually always awful & are never house seats on Broadway for that reason. People who pay a premium for them have been snookered into paying full price for what are generally obstructed view seats. The honest shows sell box seats at a discount.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 11:35pm

"House seats tend to be places like the 4th row on the left or right side of the center aisle w/ only a few in the center of the reserved "

Well, that could be what you've experienced but I've never been given those when offered house seating. They have always been center Orch. But I won't argue the point. Perhaps things vary from theater to theater. It's just not been my experience.

Updated On: 9/12/04 at 11:35 PM

[lc1965]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 11:48pm

maybe your claim is stronger than mine!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 9/12/04 at 11:54pm

Why are "box seats" considered special sometimes? You can't always see good from those.

[lc1965]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 12:36am

They're considered special, I guess, because every time you see a film adaptation of some so-called "period" piece, they're sitting in a box at the theatre or the opera looking very wealthy & chic. I often have people tell me "It must be really cool to sit there" or who ask "How do you get THOSE seats?" I have to explain that they're almost always horribly obstructed & SHOULD be the cheapest seats in the house. Once people take a closer look they usually realize why the boxes aren't very desirable to actually see the show & not just the other people in the theatre.

[Jersey_Girl]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 8:13am

Am I the only one that feels that the price of B'way tickets is getting out of reach for us 'normal' people? We have accepted the $100 a seat for a musical but I feel some box offices take complete advantage of their 'premium seating'.

I could not get anything in the first half of the orchestra for Avenue Q at normal price, even for several months in advance and had to settle for Row O unless I paid the 'premium'. Somehow, I feel this is not premium seating but price gouging. I would rather give the extra hundred to organizations like 'Damon Runyon Cancer Research' than the greedy box office or scalpers. You can go to their site and check it out:

http://www.drcrf.org/btShowListings.html

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 8:30am

It's nice to know that obsession with sitting in a box because people think they're the best is a universal one. It drives me insane and one day soon I am going to snap and start yelling "why do you think they're so good? Why?" at some hapless punter.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/13/04 at 10:58am

Theater seat are certaintly getting way too costly. I'll agree that inflation of everything including costs of mounting shows is the reason. But this can be quite an expensive habit. Unless you are getting discounts, it can be a real strain on the purse.

I've never gotten into the box seat attraction. Funny... Dame Edna calls those in the boxes..
"those folks in the bird cages or pulpits!" and she calls the mezzanine/balcony people the "paupers or mizzes (short for the workers in Le Miz)".