Friday, July 07, 2006

Broadway Shows Pricing Out The Audience

A NY Post story recaps the top-paid performers on Broadway. But halfway through, they switch to a discussion of a terrible trend: more and more shows are setting aside more and more seats at premium prices of $250. Who am I to tell producers they shouldn't charge whatever they can for a show? No one. But it is becoming IMPOSSIBLE to buy tickets to a Broadway show, even when you're willing to pay $100 and purchase the seats six or eight months in advance. When the vast majority of your audience is told again and again that they simply can't go to a Broadway show without sitting in the upper balcony behind a pillar, they're simply going to get out of the habit of going to a Broadway show. I've spent months trying to plan for a trip to Broadway for visitors coming in September. I started in February and I couldn't get tickets to ANYTHING, except one show I knew would close before they arrived (it did). Broadway is entering a very dangerous time when ardent theatergoers trying to plan a visit SEVEN months in advance get frustrated at every turn.

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