Extremely popular. When they started selling these the day after the Producers opened to universal raves, the group in charge (The Broadway Inner Circle) wasn't sure how well the idea would go over with the public, so initially there were only a few dozen prime seats set aside per performance. The demand was overwhelming, so that now every single show on Broadway has premium seating and rather than it being just a few dozen seats, it's now well over a hundred (rows B through K in the center in most theatres and even more than that sometimes). While it seems outrageous and unfair, given that the Knicks, Giants and major concert venues have been charging over a $1000 for prime seating for many years (courtside seats for the Knicks go for $2500 a piece), it was inevitable.
Producers are simply being fiscally responsible to their investors and maximizing the potential income a show can bring in (and taking some of the money for prime seats out of the hands of scalpers and brokers). There's apparently very large class of people out there with ridiculous amounts of disposable income, so don't expect the premium seating trend on Broadway to go away any time soon, unfortunately.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 6/16/06 at 09:54 PM
