Tickets

[Mr Roxy]

Went to buy tickets for my wifes birthday.

She wanted to see The Best Man so paid full price for 1 st row orchestra. Everything else was on the side. I than went to Ghost . Got rear Orchestra via Broadway Box for $ 79. Seems most of the orchestra they have tagged for premium seating.The top price on this & Evita is $ 147. Not only are they milking the cow they are slaughtering it for its meat while it is alive.

I now see Broadway as a special even or on an offering as prices are beyond obscene.

Seeing:

End of The Rainbow - TDF
Leap Of Faith - $ 29 offering
Ghost - Broadway Box
The Best Man - Full Price

Spiderman was on TKTS for 30 or 40% off

[Phantom of London]

Producers will charge as much as they can, cannot blame them wanting their money back, as they have to put a lot of investment up initially. You have to blame dopey people who will pay $477 for a seat!!

I wonder if producers conclude with ticket agents to push poorer full price tickets first, so customers are put off by their seat offered and feel more inclined to buy a more expensive premium seat?

No better feeling than bagging a once premium seat at TKT's!

[dramamama611]

You act as if this is news -- and yet you complain here about it all the time. Why do you keep buying tickets? Theater has ALWAYS been a special event. (At least any time past burlesque/vaudeville!)

That aside: from what you told us, you averaged about 70 bucks a ticket. How bad is that? Not too shabby. TWO of the shows you purchased tix for were UNDER fifty bucks!

You plopped down over five hundred bucks for tickets. Obviously, money is NOT really a big issue. Theater IS a luxury, not an inalienable right.

There are shows I miss when I feel the tix are too expensive. Guess what....I survive. You always write these posts making sound like WE have to do something about it -- and yet, you still buy the tickets.

[Dollypop]

Mama, I think Roxy's been around a few more years than many of you on the board. Theater tickets were much cheaper in the early 60's. I have opening night ticket stubs from HELLO, DOLLY! (Jan 16, 1964) and they were $9.90 (3rd row center). When that is in your background, the current prices are staggering.

[dramamama611]

While that is true, what did a movie ticket cost at that time? On average .86!!!! http://tinyurl.com/a8xtbm
(And I'm sure NYC was more.)

A difference of 115% more expensive. (Granted, the figure provided is not precise -- so even if rounded up to a full buck -- it's nearly 10 x the amount.) You could buy a heck of a lot of groceries or gas for 10 bucks in 1964.

Is it REALLY that different now? Nope.

My point is more that this is not news...especially to Mr. Roxy. He complains and complains: but continues to purchase the tix.

[Marianne2]

^ But the other reality is that salaries and everything else was a lot less back then. Unless you are or were wealthy, that $9.90 was probably a lot of money back then.

[dramamama611]

(And I'm no spring chicken myself -- although, admittedly, not going to b'way shows at that time. But I have been going for nearly forty years!)

[Steve2]

I am planning my next trip to New York (in May) and can attest to Mr. Roxy's frustration. Was looking at Once, Newsies, Evita, Ghost, etc. There was a time when just a few rows were "Premium Seating" however now at least half of Center Orchestra and maybe 4 seats on each side of Left and Right Orchestra are Premium. But at $263 for Evita and $213 for Newsies that's just a lot of money.

[dramamama611]

I agree with the frustration over the idea of 'premium seats' and specifically, how many of the seats have become premium. (I may add that the added fee for aisle seats is ridiculous as well.)

I, however, seldom have a problem with buying cheaper tix (outside of the orchestra) -- especially when I get discounts on most of the tix I buy.

[goldenboy]

Ways to get cheaper seats:

TDF
Goldstar events
Broadway Box
Theatermania

Gee when I was in high school top tickets were $25
now they are 10 x that.

Unless the show is a smash like Book Of Mormon, there always seems to be a way
to beat the system.

The half price booth is actually what drove tickets up. When $50 tickets were going for $30, the producers figured that $100 tickets could go for 60 and up went the prices.

I can almost understand top dollar for a big musical, but I can't understand top dollar for a a small play like Venus in Fur, Wit, Other Desert Cities, Seminar etc.

[Mr Roxy]

Hey Dolly, you used to sneak into the Colisseum for the gladiator fights so you had no reason to complain

I guess the huge lines @ TKTS & people looking for discounts has nothing to do with ticket prices. When waiting in line for Ghost, a couple came in took a look at the prices & walked out shaking their heads. This has happened to me a lot. Continue your delusion about ticket prices being reasonable.

[winston89]

And yet, tickets sell. I feel that there are plenty here who go to the theatre often enough that if they can't afford one or two shows that they want to see, they don't go as a result. That is fine, I am the same way myself. However, the one group that this isn't the case for is tourists. Broadway theatre has been a popular stop on any tourists "to do" check list forever. And, I can't tell you how many times I have been in a theatre box office or on the TKTS line and have heard them complain about the price. But, at the same time, they end up buying them anyway. They go in realizing that everything in NYC is expensive and although they might not like spending 125 bucks per person, they feel as if it is their only way to see a show and suck it up and do it anyway.

I don't think that they are reasonable Roxy. But, clearly there are more people than not who are buying them. I would think that if producers charged the prices that they do and no one is showing up. Then they might reconsider how much they sell their tickets for. But, clearly that isn't the case since prices have seemed to get higher within the last couple of years.

[Phantom of London]

As theater fans we don't show our love for the art, by how much we pay, we show it by how often we attend, so it's important when the opportunity to buy tickets at a very reasonable price, such as rush or lottery, we embrace this with both hands.

[Broadway Joe]

Everything goes up in price, look any of the sports teams in this area, look at gas prices, look at the god damn tolls for the bridges around here that the port authority just raised. It's only going to get worse.

[dramamama611]

I don't see that ANYONE said ticket prices were reasonable. MY point is that they aren't that much MORE expensive than they use to be. I just don't understand why you continue to harp about it here, but continue to purchase the tix that you think are overpriced.

I need a new car, I'd LIKE a Mustang -- but they are too expensive. Therefore, I won't get one.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Though by the logic displayed here, you'd still buy the overly expensive Mustang and then go on to a message board and proclaim that you can't believe how greedy those car companies are for charging high prices for a luxury item.

[dramamama611]

Whew, at least someone sees my point! Thanks, AEA!

[Dollypop]

Roxy, once again you have your facts wrong! I wasn't sneaking in to see the gladiators. I was sneaking into the Circus Maximus to see their Monday night g0=go show. There was one fellow who went my the name of Circus Maximus who was...well..."maximus".

[qolbinau]

I wouldn't mind if they allocated the premium tickets as they do if they DID actually sell (e.g. Book of Mormon). But in many other cases they go to the TKTS booth or telecharge as full price again, and people who buy last-minute discounted or full-priced tickets seem to have a greater advantage than those who want to buy full-priced tickets in advance.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

^ And that is especially frustrating for someone who doesn't live in NYC and wants to plan ahead!

[Mr Roxy]

I will take your word for it. The real one in Rome is nothing but a pile of dirt.

[Dollypop]

It wasn't in those days, Roxy! Ah, the toga parties we had!

[FindingNamo]

ROXY, do you or do you not believe in capitalism?

[winston89]

I think that his view on that question changes depending on the situation.

[bwaylvsong]

I sell merchandise at various shows and am shocked at the sheer quantity of people willing to spend $35 for a t-shirt, $30 for a baseball hat, $10 for a cup of soda, etc. The prices are what they are because people are willing to pay them.

[SNAFU]

In '72 I travelled into the city to see JCS. I had a standing room only ticket that cost $6.50. Now when you realized I worked full time and brought home $78 a week, it was just as costly as today in some respects.