Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?- Page 2
Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
#25Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:04pmPretty sure spiderman wasn't a thing in the 60's
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#26Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:05pmnobody said it was
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veronicamae
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/13/09
#27Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:05pm
The answer remains inflation.
Everything costs more - supplies, labor, and real estate. Because things cost more, the cost of living increases, so salaries and wages have to go up. Using the theatre space will go up because real estate space costs more and more in Manhattan every year.
Stop and think about the fact that AEA minimum is what...something like $1800/week? So we say $7200/mo for one ensemble member. Multiply that times 1 year and 1 ensemble member can make $86,400 per year. 3 ensemble members take it past your $250,000 mark! Since most shows have perhaps a dozen ensemble members, now we're at $1,036,800 per year JUST for the ensemble. That's not even factoring in principal actors' or megastars' salaries.
Am I painting a good picture?
#28Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:08pm
yes i already know this. I asked for reasons BESIDES the economy. Im looking for other reasons besides inflation, if any
besides, you're talking about running a show. I am talking about mounting a show
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Updated On: 2/19/15 at 02:08 PM
Consistency
Understudy Joined: 7/2/13
#29Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:11pm
For the record, inflation doesn't actually account for the MASSIVE increase in ticket price over the last two or three decades. If ticket prices were merely changing to match the rate of inflation they would be quite a bit lower than they are now - like $50-$80 for great seats instead of $150+.
The OP asked a perfectly legitimate question. There are other factors to take into account - I just don't know what they are. Perhaps skyrocketing land/rent costs in Manhattan (the same reason a lot of the boutique mom-and-pop brick-and-mortar stores in the city have been replaced by Starbucks and other chains?) The increase in celebrity roles? The shrinking orchestras? (Oh wait, that last one doesn't make sense.)
Also, for the record, "spectacle" has always been a big part of the allure of Broadway for many people. Just ask Florenz Ziegfeld.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#30Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:13pm
I made the comment about people always wanting spectacle already.
You have to have the money in place to run the show when you mount it.
#31Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:13pm
Figure this - a show that may have cost $250,000 as you say costs $8 million. The first Broadway show I ever saw SHE LOVES ME in 1963 - the Orchestra ticket was $5.50 - now tickets are $150 (at least). So the price of the show to produce went up 32 times as much and that ticket price went up 27 times as much. That's pretty much in the ratio of cost of ticket to production cost over that span of time. Pretty understandable.
As for spectacle - if you saw what we considered spectacle in the 60's - take HELLO DOLLY - you would laugh at that set now. Painted backdrops were still in use even if a trolley car (the "spectacle" was maneuvered across the stage. Yet we were just agog over it. Expensive and real mechanical spectacle came within the last 30 years - If you count a chandelier as spectacle.
ggersten
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/11/06
#32Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:14pm
Your question, then, doesn't make sense. The simple answer is the correct answer: it costs more today because it costs more. If you want to put on a smaller show with minimal sets and lighting and effects and no stars - then you can do it. What show do you think cost $250,000?
The expensive shows, in any event, seem to be musicals. And musicals cost a lot because there are so many extra people involved in creation and production than with a straight play. Plays frequently are one simple set - musicals frequently have many set changes which means more stagehands.
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#33Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:22pm
ggersten makes a good point about the expense of musicals. Musicals have to employ more people. They just do.
You don't just have an orchestrator. You have multiple orchestrators/arrangers. And the designers all have assistants and associates. And we have to have projection designers now, and people to run the computers.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#34Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:26pmThe cost of the show isn't necessarily a factor. Chicago has no set and basic costumes, yet they charge the same price as Phantom of the Opera.
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dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#35Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:30pm
There are two reasons:
Inflation
Technology
When it cost 250K to put up a show, sets were not moved by anything but sheer manual labor: which was cheap.
The reason for all the sarcasm? Is this question is "discussed" all the time. There are no other answers. 99% of the posters on this board know this: including the op.
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These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
philly03
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/07
#36Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:33pm
Unfortunately (and this will be unpopular) unions across the board are a huge reason why musicals in particular are so much more expensive now. I actually believe it was the Dr. Zhivago producers who did an interview where they stated that they premiered in Australia because the cost was something like $USD 6 million cheaper to put a first class productions (building sets, larger orchestras, general labor).
Of course rents in Manhattan have been putting a dent in production costs as well (and plenty of producers will pay for that right theatre).
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#37Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:39pm
"yes i already know this. I asked for reasons BESIDES the economy."
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FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#38Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 2:53pm
Using a sophisticated econometric analysis and analyzing the change in the intersection of supply and demand curves for theater from 1985-2015, a guns versus butter analysis validated to within 2 standard deviations provides the following answer... Things cost more now.
There you go. Hope that helps.
Pootie2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/1/14
#39Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 3:03pm
"Unfortunately (and this will be unpopular) unions across the board are a huge reason why musicals in particular are so much more expensive now. I actually believe it was the Dr. Zhivago producers who did an interview where they stated that they premiered in Australia because the cost was something like $USD 6 million cheaper to put a first class productions (building sets, larger orchestras, general labor).
Of course rents in Manhattan have been putting a dent in production costs as well (and plenty of producers will pay for that right theatre)."
This was the reason cited for the cost differences between Matilda on West End and Matilda on Broadway:
"...both the overall capitalization costs and weekly expenses can be three to four times greater than in London, in large part because of Broadway union contracts. Mounting the London production of 'Matilda' cost £2.5 million, about $3.8 million, compared to the Broadway capitalization of $16 million." (NYT)
Contrast musical costs to a straight play, though. Are there union differences there? Plays still cost less, but I don't know how their costs have inflated comparatively.
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Updated On: 2/19/15 at 03:03 PM
#40Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 4:14pmyeah things like technology was something i was looking for. Theatre is different now than it was back then. Besides "things cost more now," I just wanted the other factors that make shows more expensive to put up.
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ErinDillyFan
Broadway Star Joined: 7/14/06
#41Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 4:16pm
I wonder if your premise is correct.
I would like to see the median broadway ticket price for each year compared to the median income for each year and see if ticket prices are really going up against income.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#42Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 4:54pm
Broadway expensive?
Who said that? What a ridiculous thing to say.
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dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#43Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 4:56pmI just find it hard to believe you couldn't think of that on your own.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
veronicamae
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/13/09
#44Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 5:03pm
Are you writing a research paper on this? So much resistance to the answer provided by an overwhelming majority.
The simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
Occam's Razor
Updated On: 2/19/15 at 05:03 PM
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#45Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 5:14pmThe true reason is actor's salaries. If Ethel Merman saw what Idina Menzel makes, she would plotz.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#46Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 5:17pmwhat are you talking about veronicamae? I am not resisting..i am agreeing, but i think there are more reasons than just inflation
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trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#47Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 5:35pmDamn those unions and the idea that the people who build and run a show should earn a living wage.
trpguyy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/25/05
#48Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 5:39pmBut so everyone understands, outsourcing a production or finding ways to cut costs will NEVER EVER result in lower ticket prices. Producers are not trying to make theatre more affordable, they are trying to make it more profitable for themselves. That's the simple, absolute truth.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#49Why is theatre so much more expensive nowadays?
Posted: 2/19/15 at 5:52pm
"Damn those unions and the idea that the people who build and run a show should earn a living wage."
Because we should pay high wages to people who basically hand us a program and point out where our seat is. I'm sure most of them have a Ph.D in Ushering.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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