Why are tickets getting so expensive — Page 2

TotallyEffed said: "making it damn near impossible for the average person to afford to see anything."

This is the fundamental flaw in your reasoning. The average person with an interest in seeing theatre can absolutely see a ton, on and off-Broadway (and beyond). Can they see Hugh Jackman? Perhaps not, but that's not really much of a loss.

I keep my eye on a friend's theatre-interested son who moved to the city after college, and makes not-very-much money. He manages to see a rich array of theatre at all levels so, as I said above, let's cool the histrionics.

While yes, I’m disappointed that some shows coming to Broadway are more than I can afford-that’s Broadway. As others have said-supply and demand. What’s your solution? What do you propose that would make sense for everyone involved in Broadway productions? This is very entitled, not to mention you’re completely ignoring places like off-Broadway, off-off, etc. where you can see amazing productions for less than $100. I’ve gotten tickets for $20. $40. I’ve explored more than Broadway. It’s not the be-all, and all. Broaden your theatrical horizons and stop being so entitled.


there are always-always going to be things that are very expensive. Travel for example. Does that mean they should start lowering the prices? How exactly would that work? You can complain all you want, but think about alternatives. Otherwise you’ll just make yourself even more upset and that’s not productive.

TotallyEffed said: "Meanwhile, Jordan Roth is prancing around the city in couture. I understand the costs of running a commercial show, but I think it’s a shame that greedy producers are charging obscene ticket prices and pocketing the money, making it damn near impossible for the average person to afford to see anything. I want people of all classes and colors and ages to be able to access the theatre."

Jordan Roth isn't rich because he's a greedy producer. He's rich because his father made millions upon millions of dollars on NYC real estate. He already had money, which allowed him to buy 5 theaters and become a producer (like his mother).

And to Hogan's point - it is definitely possible to see the MANY Broadway shows without needing to be rich yourself. Very rarely do I spend more than $60 to see any Broadway show, thanks to TDF, rushes, lotteries, and other discounts. I saw TMM with Hugh & Sutton in March for $99, which was a splurge for me. Maybe you can't see the hottest ticket in town when it is the hottest ticket in town, but affordable (how you define that might be why we're all debating here) tickets are available for most shows at one time or another.

I am indeed curious what starting price would be considered acceptable. That's not a flippant statement - genuinely, what price range would be acceptable for a Broadway show?

And I promise I'm not yelling (if I'm the person referred to as doing so earlier), or even picking on TotallyEffed. I'm discussing the topic of the thread; perhaps I'm just exhausted by it, and I apologize if it comes across as "yelling."

Notice that this conversation always comes up around the time of some particularly popular juggernaut show charging extreme premiums. Consequently, people conflate "this show isn't accessible" with "Broadway isn't accessible" with "theatre isn't accessible."

Hopefully, we can keep things in perspective enough to remember that Theatre ≠ Broadway ≠ The Musica Man (or whatever show). A regular theatregoer who wants to see *A* Broadway show, can do so for $50-$60 without looking too hard; or even $40 if they know where to look, and aren't picky about the show and the seats.

So, when we come to debates like this, I think it's in everyone's best interest to stay on the same page; if you're talking about the producers of Music Man, or Hamilton - or whatever individual show, or small handful of shows - then say that. Because saying "theatre is inaccessible" will be met with a flood of counterexamples.

Because I think there IS a case to be made that some producers display characteristics of greed in their pricing - and that's still a shame, even if (and perhaps precisely BECAUSE) it can be explained away with "that's how capitalism works"

veronicamae said: "And to Hogan's point - it is definitely possible to see the MANY Broadway shows without needing to be rich yourself. Very rarely do I spend more than $60 to see any Broadway show, thanks to TDF, rushes, lotteries, and other discounts."

What about a family of four? I haven't looked lately because I'm not interested in those shows but what is the pricing like for Aladdin, Lion King, Wicked, Cursed Child, DEH, etc.? If someone's one trip a year driving in from the suburbs or flying in from another state or country is being inaccessible, that's a problem. And the touring/regional tickets aren't always much better.

I feel like rush has gone from a bonus for some people to a justification for exorbitant pricing because you can point to a handful of reasonably priced tickets.

JBroadway said: "A family of 4 who gets priced out at the New Amsterdam box office, could walk across the street to the New Vic and get tix for the entire family, all for the cost of a single Aladdin ticket. And they’d see a show that’s arguable more artistically enriching, plus they’d still get the experience of sitting in a real-life Broadway theatre (architecturally speaking).

The problem is, they think they don’t want that, because like most thearegoers (even among the die-hard fans) they’ve been led to believe that if it’s not Broadway, and if it’s not something they’ve heard of it, it’s not worth their time."

I completely, 100% agree. Thank you JBroadway for this. You’re so right. And I’ve seen so many amazing productions places that are not Broadway. People have got to open their minds.

Not to blame covid but using it as a timeline reference. Precovid, my train or bus was $45-$50 round trip and I could afford to travel to NYC 2-4 times a month from Philly suburbs for shows. Now, my bus is $65 and train is over $100 round trip and I can't afford that anymore. Instead of seeing a show just because, I'm being more selective and splurging on the shows I really want to see and only going once a month. I'm also no longer repeating shows either. My next three shows are Death of a Salesman in October, The Piano Lesson in November, and The Collaboration in December. The Collaboration's presale is tomorrow and I'll splurge on a orchestra seat. After these three shows, I won't be in the city until April 2023.

Shall I rub salt into the wound? I have two ticket stubs in front of me: Opening night of HELLO, DOLLY! (Jan 16th, 1964) 6th Row Center. $9.90 each

VintageSnarker said: I feel like rush has gone from a bonus for some people to a justification for exorbitant pricing because you can point to a handful of reasonably priced tickets."

Exactly this. We seem to have 2 factions here: out of towners and New Yorkers. The out of towners are saying they can't afford to come in to the city as much and can't spend money traveling on the off chance that a rush ticket or lotto ticket will be available. The New Yorkers seem to be pointing to the rush/lotto/TDF tickets as evidence that theatre is affordable.

And there is reason to harp on Music Man. No, you shouldn't expect to get in to Music Man for cheap. But when something is that far "off center" from typical pricing, it moves the goal posts. I've seen several comments essentially saying Music Man is an anomaly and cannot be used in this convo.

The Producers was an anomaly when they became the first show to sell Premium Tickets. People were assured "this is specific to The Producers and won't be a trend." Find a show today that doesn't sell premium tickets.

Standing Room at Music Man is $76. While that price is outrageous, this one ticket for this one show in and of itself isn't a problem. But it becomes a problem when 2 years down the line a new show wants to "prove they are the next Music Man" by pricing their tickets similarly.

And it doesn't just come down to economics. The less shows people can afford to see, the less they experiment. The less there is an audience willing to take a chance on an unknown property, the more homogenized the industry becomes.

Jujamcyn and others getting in bed with the ticket scalpers like Seat Geek has only exacerbated it.

Make no mistake about it, Seat Geek can produce a digital ticket that can not be resold — and can only be redeemed by the original purchaser.

But theater owners have to insist on it instead of joining in on gouging their audiences

dan94 said: "The less shows people can afford to see, the less they experiment. The less there is an audience willing to take a chance on an unknown property, the more homogenized the industry becomes."

A few problems with this. First, the place for experimentation is off Broadway (in the broad not necessarily technical sense) and we have a ton of experimentation going on. Second, Broadway is where that experimentation's successes can be showcased. Third, the idea that we don't have the product of experimentation on Broadway is to bury one's head in the sand. In a year in which ASL was crowned and there were many other "experimental" shows (some of which arrived sans trial runs in advance) found there way to Broadway, it's hard to fathom what your point might be. I really believe you need to adjust the focus of your consideration.

Dollypop said: "Shall I rub salt into the wound? I have two ticket stubs in front of me: Opening night of HELLO, DOLLY! (Jan 16th, 1964) 6th Row Center. $9.90 each"



When I was a teen it cost $6 for Orchestra seat at non musical...$7.50-$9.00 for Orchestra at a musical.

If I was bringing my mom (who was visually impaired), I would always get front row seats.

I remember when prices got jacked up the first time, was after a big musician's strike. There was also a strike with the Usherette ladies.

At the time I was making a very low wage, and sometimes a snack at the pretzel cart was what we could afford lol. That's where I learned to put mustard on hot pretzels

Look at the past Best Tony winners - minus, maybe Moulin Rouge - and they're all experimental, weird, off-beat shows who all got awards and turned a profit. So, I don't think one show - one that is a very hard sell on all accounts - is going to stop people from producing prestige type theater.

But, per the original question: Everything is more expensive. It's just going to go keep going up. That's just the world. There are plenty of ways to get discounted tickets, but even A Strange Loop charging $50 for rush is STEEP.

I do fear we are getting to a point where to have a play/show be successful you need a movie star. Which sucks. We'll see how Leopolstadt does.