Young Frankenstein face price is $451 on weekends- Page 4

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 6:38pm

"I admit I'm a "The Producers" hater."

No kidding. Gosh, I couldn't tell!

And six years and millions of dollars is a pretty good run for any musical, regardless of how many Tonys it won.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 6:41pm

But if the $451 is for premium seats - why is everyone so mad? Didn't we kind of expect the premium seats to be very expensive.

$121 for regular orchestra seats is no bargain - but it wont be the first show to charge that.

[Weez]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 6:51pm

I think the outrage is less the price of the premium seats and more that there are so many of them. People paying normal prices aren't going to be able to get ANYWHERE near the stage because most of the orchestra is premium, as opposed to just a chunk of it.

Actually, *I* think the outrage is because Mel Brooks's name is attached to the project. I think on the whole we're looking forward to 'Young Frankenstein', but at the same time, I think there's still an underlying current of dislike toward Mr. Brooks. Theatre queens can be bitchy like that.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 6:52pm

Once upon a time, premium seats used to regular orchestra seats going for a relatively fair price

Now people are asked to shell out big bucks for essentually leftovers. They are not bad but to sit orchestra center you have to pay an arm & a leg. People are pissed because it will only get worse. When people stop going, it will halt

They better hope tourists have deep pockets & little common sense

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 8:09pm

The thing that gets me is most people on this board have never payed full price for a ticket ever! It's not like you are going to start with YF.
Cause maybe if you all started paying full price for tickets, the shows that you all love so dearly might not have struggled to make money. Whoops that right whinge that the Pirate Queen is closing, but never pay more than rush price for it!

.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 8:17pm

Wow, so ONLY the members of THIS board are depended on for the success of a show?

You can actually find multiple statements on here of people who have paid full price.

For the record, out of the 15 shows I've seen in NY, I've only rushed one.

So instead, I used the discount codes THEY offered, bought a ticket in a farther away seat, or bought a $100 ticket! (I haven't purchased anything over that though).

Updated On: 6/22/07 at 08:17 PM

[Weez]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 8:23pm

If we're counting, I've done the following for my Broadway shows:

RENT - TKTS
Aida - TKTS
RENT - TKTS
Wicked - full-price
Spelling Bee - was given a $95 ticket for $50 by the EXTRAORDINARILY kind man at the box office
Beauty And The Beast - BroadwayBox discount
Spring Awakening - full-price stage seating
Company - full-price
Curtains - full-price
Pirate Queen - BroadwayBox discount
Les Miserables - full-price
Spelling Bee - TKTS

I don't like trusting TKTS will provide, because I have to travel a LONG way, and if I DEFINITELY want to see a certain show, I want to have my ticket in advance so I'm not disappointed. But considering that, I've used TKTS quite a bit. O_o I try for BroadwayBox discounts, but if it's a show I'm really really keen on seeing, I'm happy to pay full-price for a great seat, or if there is no discount available.

It's not like I have any other serious vices. Although I'm learning to cut back on theatre ticket spending. Lots more cheap day seats at my local theatre, lots more scouring LastMinute.com before buying West End tickets, that kinda thing. ^_^

[misschung]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 8:24pm

How did this become our fault? lol

If I paID full price for tickets to every show, I would have to surrender the plates on my car for letting my insurance lapse. I understand your point that it's the ticket sales keep the show opened, but if the producers are that concerned, they shouldn't offer rush prices at all. You can't offer a discount and then be angry that people use it

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 8:35pm

Yes that last statement was stupid ( mine ) nothing could have kept "Pirate Queen" afloat, that sucker sunk the moment it docked.

All i mean is people are jumping up and down over the price of these tickets, when most people here use other means to get tickets cheaper.

[misschung]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 8:40pm

lol! Yes, you're right that a lot of people on here use discount codes. The thing that bothers me with the YF prices is that rush tickets are supposedly going to be in the last row of the balcony, and still fairly expensive. Yes, its a hell of a lot cheaper than $450, but still. But anyway, none of this is carved in stone yet, so thats the end of my bellyaching. I understand we are lucky to have rush or discounts in the first place, etc etc etc yadda yadda

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 9:08pm

The Pirate Queen was good

They should have had Lestat as the PQ husband & they would have had something there

[Rotel1026]

Posted: 6/22/07 at 10:44pm

So are group sales open to just anyone? Because I keep reading people's explanation of the existence of Premium seating as the producers trying to capitalize by getting the amount of money for a seat that would be going to a scalper instead. But aren't a good deal of group sales happening to people who just turn right around and sell the seats at a higher price to someone else? Or am I mistaken and these group sales actually happening only to tour groups, etc?

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 1:30am

Pretty pathetic when you think that shows that won fewer Tonys are still running. As for wishing failure on anyone--you reap what you sew when greed runs rampant!
---------------------------------------

A six year run is not pathetic at all for a comedy. Comedies are directed in such a way that everything depends on the actors. Characters are made to fit who's playing them. Hence, comedies don't stand up well to replacements. The stuff that runs long is melodramas where the music and the majesty is the draw.

And it's "reap what you sow".

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 3:34am

I cam into this thread late but I personally find that sickening.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 4:51am

Now people are asked to shell out big bucks for essentually leftovers. They are not bad but to sit orchestra center you have to pay an arm & a leg. People are pissed because it will only get worse. When people stop going, it will halt

Roxy, dear, money makes the world go 'round. Not everyone is poor, as difficult as that might be for you to conceive. $451 premium tickets won't stop people from going. We've had premium tickets for some years now, and the options for full price, and less expensive seats have always been there for those who have less to spend. It will be the same for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. You've already said that you won't be seeing the show, so stop repeating the same whine fest and move on.

They better hope tourists have deep pockets & little common sense

It has nothing to do with common sense. Common sense to someone with X amount of money is a completely different ballgame to someone with Q amount of money. Your problem is that you view every single person as having the same income, when that is far from the case. Wake up.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 9:08am

This whole Mel Hating thing on this board is so pathetic it makes me scream.

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 10:17am

I'm just concerned that sooner rather than later they're going to price anyone but the wealthiest people right out of the theater. And then they wonder why no one's coming. Think about it - how many average people are going to make a choice to try theater out when there's plenty of other things to do for a hell of a lot less money? Lower ticket prices - I mean SERIOUSLY lower ticket prices (like 50-60 dollars) and people will be coming in DROVES to the theater. Shows will be sold out for years. If there's any problem with theater as it exists today, it has NOTHING to do with content - it's entirely about economics and it amazes me that those in the industry complain about low ticket sales!

Even the crappiest movies make tons of money these days (Transformers will make heaps of money, and we all know it's going to be mindless idiocy straight through) because for 10 bucks people say "why not?" (though I'd say the same theory applies to movies - drop the prices, more people will come!)

[billynj]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 10:29am

I am not a mel hater, I just think they have balls charging this price before the show has been seen by anyone.

and people will spend the money for the YF tickets and see one fewer show while in town due to this pricing, hurting broadway

holding 1/3 of the theater for tickets $375 and above is a hurtful to Broadway

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 11:58am

Exactly Billy

This will hurt Broadway

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 1:16pm

I'm seeing it in Seattle twice, two tickets each show, and the price isn't even close to 451. I'll be just find seeing it in my home town, as I loath the seating at the Hilton.

[vinnylin]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 1:21pm

A number of people have made some valid criticisms of premium pricing. But I have to disagree with those who are singling out YF as if this show is doing something so fundamentally different from everyone else.

In particular, several of you seem to be bothered by the fact that YF has not opened yet, and so we don't really know whether or not it will be a good show. So what? A show's quality is just ONE of the many factors that draws people to buy tickets. It's the reason some shows will have a $10 million advance before opening night, and others will struggle for weeks to fill half their house even after getting good reviews. The fact is that Mel & Co. have a multi-Tony-award winning creative team and an all-star cast that is generating buzz and will sell lots of tickets at any price. This is a highly anticipated show. Sure, it still could bomb, but any producer of such a show, loaded with such big name talent, would be an absolute FOOL not to try and capitalize in on it, especially early on.

And if you have issues with premium pricing ticket policies in the first place, what difference does it make if the show is good or bad? Is it really any less offensive if someone buys a premium ticket to Jersey Boys or Grey Gardens than to Pirate Queen or Tarzan? Wouldn't you have the same issue either way?

And let's not fool ourselves that premium ticket prices will prevent people from also seeing other shows. Anyone who can spend $450 on a theatre ticket clearly is not going to have an issue spending another $120 or even another $400 to see another show if they want to. It's not an issue of common sense. Some people have the money to spend, and they'll spend it. Others don't and they won't.

I'm not saying I don't understand why some people on this board are upset by these policies. Pretty much everyone writing in here is a dedicated theatregoer, and I think a lot of us take it personally when we don't have access to the best seats to shows. But a lot of us are overstating the effect of premium pricing generally, and even if not, we're definitely overstating the impact of YF in particular on the policy.

If you want to take issue with YF, wait for it to open, see it, and bash away. Or don't see it out of protest. But don't blame the $451 premium ticket price for ruining Broadway. There are many more hands involved in that.

[heil myself!]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 5:23pm

Um...you guys realize...that...these are...premium seats...right? It has orchestra seats for $120. What's the big deal? Unless, of course, all of you want to sit in the front row. You don't, do you? Oh, well the way you're reacting to this makes it seem that way.

[Weez]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 5:31pm

Shall we say it again?It's fine for premium seats to be so expensive. Nay, it's EXPECTED. But apparently there's a ridiculously large chunk of the orchestra that has been set aside as premium seating, and the Hilton is no tiny flea-pit. :P

[misschung]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 5:32pm

heil, I think we're more concerned by the fact that even if you pay $120, you're still in the rear orchestra/front balcony

[heil myself!]

Posted: 6/23/07 at 5:37pm

Well personally I have no problem with the front balcony or rear orchestra. Anyway, this isn't totally set in stone, is it? (And I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, I'm honestly asking.)