To think that West End Theatre is going to perish due to over pricing?

[VanCleefArpels]

Elf the Musical is back for the festive season. Fabulous! Let’s book……

Stalls seats £295/300
Circle seats £200 / £250

With train fares (not far away commuter belt) plus maybe a quick pizza afterwards a family of four will be spending a four figure sum for a night at the theatre. The best part of a month’s salary for many ordinary people.

How can this be sustainable?

IABU - suck it up, it’s not compulsory
IANBU - this kind of pricing will be the death of West End Theatre

Actually I saw A Little Life for £10, I queued at the box office an hour before it opened and it was a standing ticket.
Obviously most people don't want to do that but it was the only way I could afford it and I'm so glad I went, it blew me away.

You missed the bit where I said I have paid £200 for Hamilton in the past - completely aware. Neither did I say I hadn’t actually bought the tickets. My point was that a traditional family outing at Christmas to see a West End festive show now costs the thick end of an average monthly salary. That’s sad and I’d argue not a sustainable way to run an industry

Oh dear…..😅

I go quite often and wouldn’t really pay more than £40 or so.

I'm neither rich or a teacher and I manage it
I cut my cloth and get cheap tickets.

I agree with you up to a point. I just think cheap seats aren't always as awful as you think.

Not a realistic option if you need to coordinate 4 festive diaries!

I love theatre but won’t pay west end prices anymore. Same as I won’t pay London accommodation prices and train fares. I stay in my region and see what’s available locally. It’s a shame to miss the big names but really not the end of the world.

I do find it disappointing as I used to live a weekend theatre trip to London. I just have to accept that my salary hasn’t kept pace with price rises and so I can’t go anymore 🤷‍♀️

On the day tickets is fine if you live in London and can be totally flexible. But taking a family of 4 from outside of London isn't feasible on those sites. You can just hope you'll get enough seats for everyone having organised a day off and travel etc.

We've opted for more or the touring musicals and plays. They're much more affordable.

Yes true enough. My DC are grown so don't usually come.
DH is going to see My Friend Totoro today for £35. Nosebleed but not restricted view.
Meanwhile not the West End, but I am going to see Acosta Danza at Sadler's Wells for £15 on Friday. Massive bargain for such a brilliant dance company.

But the thing is, all those Oasis gigs are sold out.

So people are paying those prices. Just like at the west end, things like Matilda/ Harry Potter/ Phantom etc still sell out quite happily with ticket prices as high as they are.

It's ridiculous to think a couple of hours entertainment could cost over £1k for a family of four. I'd rather put that money towards a holiday..

I pay London accommodation prices by staying in a hostel, I swerve train prices by using Megabus.
I do it cheaply and generally go for a week 4 or 5 times a year.

Op i agree with you when you need a few tickets and in advance to plan with other people its £££

When I am in London alone for work i usually get on the day tickets for £25, its mid week, its not stalls though and I'm only one person....

I agree it is expensive but shows sell
out regularly so people pay it and shows will
continue. Some shows do close due to lack of sales but they aren’t the majority. Planning as far ahead as possible and taking a chance on cheaper seats is the way I afford London shows. Local theatres are better but can still be expensive if a touring show

I saw Elf in southampton last year. 3 x stalls tickets cost about £170. Superb production. Also recently saw Six in Guildford. I'm going to do more of the touring productions. London too expensive and stressful.

I think the pool is probably made up of 3 main groups.

One, people who can afford expensive theatre tickets, may need to plan in advance to come and treat it as a premium experience worth paying the money for. Some people might fall into this category as individuals but not for their whole family. Ie you might feel you can't afford grand for everyone to go to Elf, but a £200 opera ticket could be your birthday and Christmas present and you're going with your best mate who you can squeeze into a shit cheapo double hotel room with.

Two, locals who have the flexibility to benefit from last minute offers. These people could still be relatively cash poor as long as they're sufficiently time and/or location rich.

Three, people who can't or won't pay the higher prices but will do the research on restricted seats and accept less than perfect views.

There probably are still a lot of people who fall into one of those at least some of the time.

Evita this summer showed people will pay anything for a big hit. I was lucky to go twice for less than £30 each time, the seats I paid £29 were over £160 later on in the run.

Elf will have deals later on.

I feel hardly half of the tickets for shows that have been running for longer periods of time are bought for the full price, the rest is sold via "lottery", as day tickets, through "daily drops" on TodayTix, Kidsweek etc. But yes, it's hard to coordinate if more than 2 people are going. I go myself or with +1 for this reason.
The only time I had restricted view this way was on Fantom of the Opera, but for £37 couldn't complain and I did my research beforehand.
Wonder if I'll manage to buy discounted tickets for Christmas shows though.

Theatres are full so people are paying those prices. I go about six times a year have found Today Tix great as will as the TKTS booth in Leicester Square for on the day tickets. Seat Plan is brilliant for checking the view from the seat and leg room. I got great tickets at Sadlers Wells which were marked restricted view but Seat Plan reviews made it clear it was only restricted if you were under 5ft2. Tickets were £50 each instead of £130. You just need to shop around. Buying direct from the theatre can some times be cheaper so check all outlets before buying.

Theatres have a set number of seats. They don’t need to price for the mass market; they need to maximise revenue on the seats available. So yes, Elf in the West End at Christmas will be too expensive for most people. There may be some last-minute deals if not all the seats sell. But if they price too low, the West End will definitely die out. It has to be a luxury event to keep the industry alive.

I think, especially with things like Elf, you’re paying a huge premium for the fact it’s a short running, festive show that still needs all the rehearsals/costumes/set work that longer running shows are able to spread the cost out more across the months or years that it runs.

Personally I can’t stand Elf 😂 But I normally manage my addiction love of the west end by either buying last minute (I’ll earmark an evening/get childcare, and see what deals are around among the shows I want to see on the day), or buying during the London Theatre Week sales. Haven’t paid more than £55 a ticket, or had a terrible seat, in years.

I'm willing and able to pay those prices once a year and I suspect enough people are the same as me.

On an annual basis I don't mind paying rather than getting last minute cheap seats because part of the enjoyment for me is the anticipation and knowing I have the seat I've chosen.

Of course few people could pay that regularly but as a yearly or so treat I suspect there are actually quite a lot of takers, and I guess quite a lot of people once a year (plus the wealthy devotees who go regularly) eventually fills a theatre.

'Basically a panto' doesn't incur fewer costs to the venue. The lighting still costs in electricity although modern LEDS are cheaper than the old bulbs and fewer are needed due to developments in moving lights/colour changers.

You still need crew. Pantos tend to involve a lot of scene changes. Sets cost money to hire/build. Then actors have to be paid. Pantos with celebrities in them will cost more because a 'name' will be paid more.

The fact is, people have no idea how much it costs to put on a four week panto run even aside from heating and lighting the building, front of house staff, etc.

There's nothing 'basic' about a panto.

If no one was buying them and they had loads of empty seats the prices would go down. So no I don't think it is the death of the west end, it's always busy.