To think the price of tickets for theatre are insane

[Chopbob]

I was looking to booking Beauty and the beast on stage in Manchester for my dd birthday, but omg-how expensive!!!!!
Whilst they offer a very small number of tickets for £20 each (a tiny number, all restricted views) the tickets start around £40 each and go up to £100. For a children's show. In Manchester.
A family of 4 would be looking at £160-£400 for one, single kids show.
AIBU to think this is completely insane? Or am I completely out of touch?

Oh I absolutely do understand the costs involved. That doesn't mean that it's not expensive, for most of us, to go to the theatre

But this thread is full of people not saying it’s too expensive for most people to go, they are saying it’s too expensive because people are making too much money. Those were the people I was addressing with my long list of people involved in making a production get on stage.
The person who said a ticket should be £25,🤣is clearly living in cloud cuckoo land. You may as well be saying you’d like to buy a brand new, beautifully hand made dress for £3.50.

[quote iklboo]@throughtheair - I live in Manchester.

There used to be more but quite a few have shut, more so after the pandemic. It's a shame because I was brought up going to the theatre, DS(16) has been to a lot of shows. Now the tweens / teens don't have much for their tastes apart from the big four.

Bolton Little Theatre is a cracker when they do the family friendly shows and very affordable. [/quote]
What does the big four mean please?

Expensive yes but in the main not insane. What I do object to is the add-on costs such as booking fees, and wonder how much goes to the theatre itself.

The industry already received certain subsidies, but f0r acessibilty.. there are lots of options such as the NT livstream
This should be explored more, especially since it's impossible to have a theatre everywhere

NTlivestream has meant the NT tours less but receives more subsidy. I enjoy watching NT live at the cinema but it is a different experience to going to the theatre and should not be seen as a substitute. Regional theatres need to be kept open so everyone can experience the joy of the theatre.

Our last trip out before the pandemic was to see the RSC in Newcastle. My daughters had a chat with one of the actresses (still in character) at the interval which they were delighted with, they loved that they could watch the reactions of the minor characters off to the side of the stage while the main story was going on centre stage, they loved the interactions with the audience.

Recently DD1 went on a school trip to see Blood Brothers at the theatre in our (largish) town. It was a matinée performance and so DD1 said about half the kids just went to get out out of some classes. But she said by the end they all were completely engrossed in the performance. That is the magic of theatre that needs to be accessible to everyone in a local theatre.

We got frozen tickets for £20 each - half term matinee. Did book them about 6 months before

I've got into the habit of taking my daughter to a ballet or dance every Christmas Eve. This year we went to "The Little Prince" at The Place, in central London. Half way through my daughter leaned over to me and whispered that this was the best thing she has seen yet. I've just checked the ticket prices. Mine was £14 and hers was £8.

There is something for everyone at the theatre, you just have to choose something to match your budget!

We (family of 4) can't afford the theatre much, and never London!
But when we do go I always feel like it's money really well spent.

Problem is if you don’t live near a theatre you can’t make use out of last minute tickets. Every theatre also involves travel/hotels for me.
I darent book to stay in London without a show booked as that’s the point of us going.

Oh I absolutely do understand the costs involved. That doesn't mean that it's not expensive, for most of us, to go to the theatre

Yes agreed.
A family member works for a large theatre in London. The amount of staff, the sets - which are like fully furnished rooms, as well as costumes, lighting, music etc. Can see how expensive it is (and in the older theatres just the maintenance and upkeep of the building must be massive) but that doesn't mean paying £100 + for a ticket is affordable for all.

Yes we were discussing this recently when looking for things to do over half term. If I took our children to a West End level show we would be foregoing all other days out/soft plays/coffee shops for several months. Such a shame as I do love a theatre trip, but have just accepted that it's out of reach for us at the moment.

There is a supply and demand thing though but also a preference thing. Eg £1200 on a mulberry handbag isn’t affordable to all but they can get away with charging high prices for a bag. I’d rather have 4/5 family trips to the west end for the same price. But we are a high income family. I don’t doubt theatre tickets are out of reach for many but there are also lots of other things that are too.

There is then a question of whether that is ok or not? Is a west end show something that is a luxury or something that should be more accessible?

I don’t think I went to the west end until I was a grown up living in London but I did go to a few local concerts and events.

Agree. I'd love to take ours to see Matilda or the Lion King but the cost is huge, particularly when you add on travel.

@mistyplanet circus zyair by any chance? We LOVED it

There is then a question of whether that is ok or not? Is a west end show something that is a luxury or something that should be more accessible?

Yes I do think it should be more accessible. Will it be? Probably not. A love of theatre/the arts is not exclusive to those with a high income but much of it is just not accessible to many low income families and I think that's a great shame.

@JaninaDuszejko

*The industry already received certain subsidies, but f0r acessibilty.. there are lots of options such as the NT livstream This should be explored more, especially since it's impossible to have a theatre everywhere*

NTlivestream has meant the NT tours less but receives more subsidy. I enjoy watching NT live at the cinema but it is a different experience to going to the theatre and should not be seen as a substitute. Regional theatres need to be kept open so everyone can experience the joy of the theatre.

Our last trip out before the pandemic was to see the RSC in Newcastle. My daughters had a chat with one of the actresses (still in character) at the interval which they were delighted with, they loved that they could watch the reactions of the minor characters off to the side of the stage while the main story was going on centre stage, they loved the interactions with the audience.

Recently DD1 went on a school trip to see Blood Brothers at the theatre in our (largish) town. It was a matinée performance and so DD1 said about half the kids just went to get out out of some classes. But she said by the end they all were completely engrossed in the performance. That is the magic of theatre that needs to be accessible to everyone in a local theatre.

I was coming from the angle of making 'quality productions' accessible. As in:

1. What is 'accessible' ? Affording the theatre once a year? Twice? What ticket price is acceptable?
   A cinema ticket is £5. Even £15 is three times more expensive.

2. What productions should be accessible? Are you saying that everyone should have the chance to see large scale extravaganzas like Beauty and the Beast, or Footloose. Or that just 'some' theatre should be available?

In my humble opinion it's reasonable to say that everyone should have access to 'some' theatre. This needn't be the most expensive, like a touring musical.
The Duke's Theatre (Lancaster) for example did their annual theatre in the park play which was very obviously low budget compared to previous years (they had a cast of 5, minimal effects etc and not many costumes). But it was brilliant! Tickets were £15.
Nearer to us there are plays put on by smaller productions, £8- £15.

There's no reason to focus on big-name plays being accessible, live stream is an acceptable substitute for this. Maybe the big productions could have a few 'cheap' tickets, offered directly to school etc but no need for big scale subsidy.

*also to add plays, musical etc

I know an acquantaince who goes to the west end theatre very regularly - probably a couple of times a month. I saw her on the train on the way to a show one day and she said the tickets were £15. Another show she saw in preview week and I think it was cheaper, so I think there are ways round it. But I think a lot of the shows she sees are weekday matinées which probably are the cheapest way to see shows (as well as booking at the right time, getting offers etc). The evenings and weekends I guess will always be more expensive due to demand.

It's not the cost of theatre which is elitist / prohibitive, it's the cost of seeing MUSICALS.

my experience in box office was that plays rarely sold well. No matter what they were, how well reviewed or what actors were in them. Inevitably offers would start going out on already cheap tickets and staff would be given comps to try and fill the house.

But on the days that things like Les Mis or Phantom went on sale, the queue was literally down the road. Musicals are insanely popular and funnily enough, they're expensive. Part of that is obviously the genuine cost of staging them and part of that is their popularity.

If people really just wanted the experience of theatre, they could seek out cheap children's theatre for the little ones, they could take the older ones or themselves to cheap but excellent plays, maybe they could take advantage of the £5 opera tickets. They could watch am dram.

But that's not what people want. They want to go and see the big west end Disney musicals like everybody else and then complain that it's not affordable.

I think theatre as an overall art form should be affordable and accessible but I don't think there's a god given right to be able to go and watch Frozen or whatever.

This is why we do smaller theatres. Even studio productions and uni productions are fab, and the level of talent is often the same as going to see say, beauty and the beast in Manchester. Just because those performers are in that show doesn’t mean they weren’t in a small touring show prior to it or won’t be afterwards!

For example - lion witch and the wardrobe at the Lowry. Got tickets for about £30 each. There were even cheaper ones if you booked early, my friend took her whole Brownie pack to see it .

Think how many people they meed to pay per night and for how many hours to put that show on. Yabu. There are cheaper seats, you just don't want them because of 'restricted' view which probably isn't even that restricted.
Those in the theatre business need to eat too

@nettie434 absolutely LOVE the Albany. What theatre is all about, not overinflated OTT musicals IMO

I think theatre as an overall art form should be affordable and accessible but I don't think there's a god given right to be able to go and watch Frozen or whatever.

Exactly this

@Sandinmyknickers doesn’t change the fact that people just CAN’T afford it. What happens when these theatre people (who all apparently live on the breadline and us buying £150 tickets for a bog standard musical apparently means they can eat) are working on shows where £200 is the cheapest ticket and people just will not pay it? Just close theatres?

@CrimbleCrumble1

I also saw Frozen recently and our tickets were £110 for not bad seats. It’s crazy!

I got tickets for £25 each but then I booked them well in advance. They were balcony tickets but view was fabulous