Want the Best Seats for Bette Midler at the Geffen? It'll Cost You $400

The LA Times reports today that the going rate for the best seats in the house for Bette Midler's Los Angeles engagement of her hit Broadway show I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS is just over $400, including fees. The Geffen Playhouse opened individual ticket sales last Friday, November 8, with prices ranging from $87 to $397. The cheapeast are already sold out.

The LA Times attributes this hike in ticket prices -- at least compared to the Geffen's "regular" shows, which tend to land in $37-$72 territory -- to "variable pricing". Using computer software, the presenter calculates the rate of advance ticket sales for each performance and suggests prices to maximize the takings.

Read the full story here.

Midler finished her Broadway run in I'LL EAT YOU LAST this spring, starring as the legendary Hollywood agent Mengers in her first Broadway appearance in almost 40 years. Written by John Logan, I'LL EAT YOU LAST was directed on Broadway by Joe Mantello.

Midler began her legendary career as an entertainer in 1965, in New York, where she developed the trademark act that would make her one of the most renowned talents of her generation. Her debut album, 1972's The Divine Miss M set her on the path that has led her to earn Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes and Academy Award nominations in a career that has spanned over 40 years. She has toured the world, sold millions of albums, published two books and appeared in over two dozen films, including The Rose, Beaches, Ruthless People, Hocus Pocus, First Wives Club and For The Boys.

In addition to her work on stage and in films, Bette has made her mark in television, with the Emmy Award-winning CBS special of Ol Red Hair Is Back, and several HBO concerts, Live at Last and Art or Bust, and the Emmy Award-winning Diva Las Vegas. In 1992 she starred in the CBS television adaptation of the musical Gypsy, for which she won both a Golden Globe and the national board of review award for her performance.

In January 2009 she concluded her sold-out Vegas spectacular The Showgirl Must Go On, at Caesar's Palace, with over 200 performances. In 1994, she returned to New York after nearly 20 years in Los Angeles, and started the New York Restoration Project, a non-profit organization devoted to bringing abandoned and neglected parks, gardens, and open spaces in all five boroughs back to life. NYRP includes the beautiful New Leaf Cafe in Fort Tryon Park as part of its success, and is committed to helping restore parks and gardens devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Photo Credit: Richard Termine