Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Broadway Theatre Tickets and Rising Prices-Is There an End in Sight?




Dear Theatre Friends,

I have been selling tickets for Broadway Shows for over 31 years now. I think the top priced seat in 1977 was for the great musical "Annie" at the previously called Alvin Theater in New York. A Saturday night price for an orchestra seat was $17.50 as I can best recall. My, how prices have changed.

These days the price for a musical ticket like Wicked, Jersey Boys, South Pacific, The Little Mermaid and other amazing Broadway Shows have a face value of over $120.00 at least on the weekends give or take a little. Then when just about anyone buys a ticket, after paying standard industry service charges, a theatre-goer might end up paying $145 to $200, sometimes even more, depending on which ticket outlet you buy from.

I could go on and on about why the public should shop around but the 2 key reasons I keep thinking about as I run my little ticket agency Applause Theatre Service, are very basic ones really. For me I believe our customers need "service", you know, someone you can really talk to. The second reason is to find someone you can "trust" to help you find the type of seat you want and for the price you want to pay.

There are hundreds of ticket companies in the United States, just have a look on the Internet. I guess you could click on a dozen or so web sites and see if you can decipher all the different prices, seat locations, seating maps and mailing fees. But simply looking at a web site cannot really give you the feeling that someone is there for you, you know someone you can trust to find you the seats you need. It is the single reason why we place a very prominent picture of our terrific staff on our Applause Home Page. And that we ask you to "call us", so you can put a voice with the face you see.

I started this blog talking about the high price of theatre tickets, not only in New York but all over the country. The prices in Las Vegas are higher than New York, and that is for a somewhat "scaled down version" of a Broadway Show. The shows are good but why pay more in Las Vegas? I just don't get it.

Applause has been an integral part of the Broadway Theatre industry for a long time now. We feel that our "stellar service", people and tickets are second to no other company in the industry, particularly for the price we charge and the service we provide.

Applause knows the shows, is an expert at the availability and how tough a ticket for a show is to come by. That being said, you might want to check out Applause's Insider Ticket Deals, It's very simple and there is nothing hidden. We simply find out what Insider Prices are being offered and pass on the savings to our customers. If our retail price is $145 to $166, we often have the ability to buy them at special prices and after passing on savings will only sell them to our customers for $90 to $110. This sort of rolls back the prices several years right? If this sounds good to you, you should call us in New York at 212-307-7050 or toll free at 1-800-451-9930. You can check out the Applause web site or call us seven days a week. We love to talk to people about theatre.

So maybe the solution to constantly rising Broadway ticket prices is simple. Contact someone you can trust like Applause Theatre Service. Then decide for yourself.

We hope to hear from you soon. Here's a list of several shows with descriptions for your enjoyment. They are:

Wicked
Jersey Boys
South Pacific
The Little Mermaid
The Lion King
Mary Poppins
Hairspray
Grease
Mamma Mia
August:Osage County
Gypsy
Legally Blonde
Rent
Xanadu
Young Frankenstein
(title of show)
Thurgood
Spring Awakening
Phantom of the Opera
Passing Strange
Boeing Boeing
Monty Python's Spamalot
In The Heights

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Posted by Broadway Ticket Man @ 11:49 PM