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?

Yes it can be a lot. I love the theatre and so does my 14yr old DD. We do theatre and hotel for special occasions (even though we can get home from London in 30 mins) but sometimes get cheap tickets if book far enough in advance or sometimes enter competitions with sky for free tickets. Definitely not cheap

YABU People make choices about what they want to spend their spare money on. Some people would spend that on watching a football match, arena pop concert or going on a short holiday or to a festival.

If you shop around you can get reasonable deals. We went to our local theatre for the annual family Christmas show and paid £10 per person. Next weekend I'm taking DD to London and we're seeing an off West End musical for £30 per ticket. The big name shows were too expensive so we've chosen a cheaper one.

I love ballet which is generally expensive but the staging costs are huge because of the number of people involved. There are usually a lot of dancers plus an orchestra and that's before the backstage and venue staff are paid and the costumes, sets, lighting, sound etc. All those people need to be paid and they won't be earning much.

The popular shows like the Christmas panto might make a profit but they will be used to subsidise theatre that won't break even - performances with a small audience which showcase new writers or youth theatre.

I’ve been to The Palace many times. I know I am lucky to be able to afford to go to the theatre but for us a family we treat it as a special occasion. We go to the theatre instead of going on holiday.

The Palace doesn’t really have many bad seats. I’d say go for the back of the stalls or circle for £55 or the front of the Grand Tier for £45. The £20 seats are not restricted view just very high up.

Nothing else to add but 'I used to gonorrhoea theatre' has folded me
😂

@iklboo I agree it's definitely harder to find the affordable stuff once they get older, DD is 10 now so we're in the same boat. As a pp said, do you have any decent amateur theatre companies near you? We have one which is phenomenal - their stuff certainly rivals professional productions if not better sometimes.

Yep theatre is now the preserve of middle class high earning families. The peasants have to fight over the tiny number of cheap seats which are advertised heavily and often restricted view, or else sacrifice lots of other family activities or treats to save up for one trip to the theatre for a special occasion etc

ATG have just had a New Year Sale where lots of seats were discounted. It’s over now but get onto mailing lists.

I’m going to see Back to the Future next week and we got heavily discounted tickets in the sale.

@lap90

They are more affordable than ever IMO with the likes of deals offered by today tix and lotteries that shows/theatres offer these days. Although yeah, for a family of 4 can get pricey.

Only if you’re local to London though, there aren’t these options in the north.

However I do agree it’s affordable, I book restricted view seats almost always and typically pay £12-15 for most shows. You can still enjoy the show whilst slightly being out of sight of the last 6 inches of stage left. I’ve had tickets for £5 before and paid £25 for the show OP is considering a fortnight ago.

I'm afraid we are one of those who are priced out.

It's much too expensive now.

There is a lot of subsided theatre out there, especially if you're under 25 and/or live in bigger cities. That's why opera and classical music is a relatively cheap hobby.

It's the commercial theatre like Disney which costs eye-watering amounts.

@LampLighter414

Yep theatre is now the preserve of middle class high earning families. The peasants have to fight over the tiny number of cheap seats which are advertised heavily and often restricted view, or else sacrifice lots of other family activities or treats to save up for one trip to the theatre for a special occasion etc

I’m currently looking at Beauty in Manchester and there are lots of the £25 seats left.

Some ticket prices are a bit of a piss take, but £40 for a massive spectacle of a musical like Beauty and the Beast doesn't seem crazy. A large cast and probably just as many other people behind the scenes will be working hard to put the show on.

Plenty of cinemas charge £15 upwards just for one staff member to hit play on projecting a digital copy of a film. That seems more like something to complain about, if you ask me!

I agree OP- we love the theatre and at one time could go twice a year - but not even once a year anymore and it's a shame as there are so many plays that come and go which I would have really liked to take the children.

Kids week is on every summer holiday one free child ticket with every paid for adult ticket. I think that's how we saw Lion King and Shrek.

officiallondontheatre.com/kids-week/faq/
We occasionally go to a more local and cheaper theatre about once a year but would Love to take kids to see other shows for example Hamilton but sadly the cost is just too much.

YABVVVU

It's not just the cast you can see who have to be paid. There are tons of show staff from the building, touring staff, production staff etc.

If you want to see a big production it costs money. If you don't want to pay the prices, go to local arts centres etc and see something that doesn't need fifty odd people or more backstage to run it.

It is expensive definitely a special treat maybe once a year.

But as others have said Beauty and Beast is not a children's show.

@throughtheair - I was in one until just before we had DS. ☺️. Unfortunately it folded because of lack of audiences (we were good, honest!).

We do have a couple near us who've been able to restart. Mostly musical theatre. They're doing Little Shop Of Horrors next month for about £15 a ticket. It's a fairly small group though. It's sad that there aren't more but sometimes it's finding venues & raising money. Others just like doing 'gritty' stuff. Ken Loach, Mike Leigh etc. Great performances, but not family friendly.

I wish local governments would invest more in local theatre groups / grants etc.

Agree OP, but mainly because I've just bought a £50 RSC ticket, discovering at the last stage that it wasn't eligible for my £40 theatre voucher! Theatre is a bit of a rare treat really. There were some cheaper but I hate restricted view.

I'm very curious about my own predictive text now.......

YANBU. We went to see bedknobs and broomsticks last week ( midlands theatre) and tickets were £50 each. It was good but not that good and there were large rows of seats empty which I've never seen before.

This kind of stuff is very expensive to put on. The prices reflect that.

Depending on where you are, there's some wonderful amateur theatre out there. My home town has an absolutely thriving scene. Obviously the pricing for that is completely different.

We’ve seen the touring production of B&B and its outstanding. Well worth £40 a ticket if that won’t otherwise leave you strapped

Putting the cost of the tickets to one side, what I object to is the booking fee. What is that for? Either they want to sell the tickets or not.
I buy things in shops and they don't say we have to charge you some more money in order for you to buy it
Even when I have physically gone to the booking office and entertained the bored individual locked in a glass booth I still have to pay for the privilege. Why?
It didn't used to happen at the cinema, and you got shown to your seat by someone with a weird torch.
This phenomenon pre-dates Brexit so it must be attributed to Clement Attlee or one of his ilk... Does anyone know?

DH has bought tickets for us to see beauty and the beast soon. I wanted to take the children but it was too expensive.

Definitely not something we could do often but it was a Christmas and birthday present combined.

But really a Disney production is not a right. I've also had good seats for shows costing about £15. Not big budget productions admittedly but still good venues and plays. So the theatre can be accessible.

I suppose if everyone was willing to pay more taxes then things like the arts could be better subsidised.

There are massive costs involved. Renting the space for a start. Paying the staff, of which there are hundreds for a Broadway show - actors, musicians, producers, set, special effects etc. Etc.

And although you're only there for a few hours, they have to pay those staff members for all the rehearsal time which could be months as well.

Completely agree. Theatre prices are for the well off. It also really riles me that people talk about supporting the arts. The arts should be accessible to all. A friend of mine goes regularly and easily pays over 100 a ticket. I could not even consider paying this much.