To think that West End shows are not all as overpriced as some on here say?

[Carla786]

I definitely think that people are being priced out by col and this is very unfair. But I also think some posts on here about how unaffordable West End theatre is are exaggerated.
The Globe offers standing room for as low as £5 or £6. OK, it's not ideal as most of us would rather sit down but it does at least mean a lot of Shakespeare & some others is affordable if you're prepared to stand.

Then as to West End musicals : I think an issue here is that pps who cite them as unaffordable are trying to take a whole family, 2-3 or maybe more kids, as well as them & DP. This will be a lot harder than going on your own or with one other person, especially if trying for an Xmas show (though booking in advance might slightly lessen). It does vary based on show too : the most popular will of course be more likely to be sky high.

COL has obviously increased a lot, but I also wonder how affordable West End was in the past for family trips. I was born early 2000s and my mum was able to get a lot of cheap tickets very high up just for me & her. As a child her family didn't really do musicals or plays. In the 70s-90s, were big shows a lot more affordable for family trips?

So I suppose I'd say that I agree prices are too high for a lot of families, and this is wrong : but I'd also caveat that I think there are lot more affordable options than some posts on here imply.

I’ve notice the Marlowe creeping up as well. It’s still cheaper, but the difference has reduced.

I’ve booked Barnum to see in Woking and that was the same as some London prices.

Probably the hottest tickets at the moment are Jesus Christ Superstar, and Paddington. For JCS, I got tickets the first day they were on sale, and got back of stalls, aisle seats, for around £50 each. Can’t grumble at that. Not midweek either.

have decent seats without having to scrimp around for the cheapest deal a year in advance.

• cheaper seats are available for summer shows now, though being even earlier does help.

Theatre is hardly the only thing where planning ahead means you can more easily get a cheaper deal.

Theatre is so expensive we want to go to see beetlejuice and when I say see I mean be able to see it

For a decent ticket for the 4 of us it's almost £800

We also love no where near London and as it's only on in London we'll have to travel a d stay

It's a joke

Your replies are so insufferable

It's obvious your from money and have no idea of how people struggle

What is the best deal you can find for three people for the Lion King - any time and date, as long as it’s not school hours/term, please?

£117 half term Friday, 7.30pm

@Moveyourbleedingarse lion king is long long running. You won't ever get the bargains you get from booking the day a show tickets are released.

I generally find out what's coming from DD, then I mark it in my calendar and register for pre-sale if possible. Then at 10am I sit on my computer at work and book the date and time and seat and price that I want.

When there is a big deal about a show I am even faster with my fingers when booking. DD is going into theatre work so we work on the basis that we see as much as possible for as little as possible.

For example you could have had side bench seats to Dear Evan Hansen on its closing night for £9.

Assuming there is a child or two in that group I would wait until June when the kids weeks tickets go on sale as the Lion King has been included the last few times I've looked at kid week deals. But looking into the second half of the year there are £40 tickets available for lots weekends.

If you go in August or July there are days with decent views at £30 a seat. That would come to 120, a lot but not anywhere like 800.

Check row L grand circle for these dates. The view is fine in this picture.

https://aviewfrommyseat.co.uk/venue/prince+edward+theatre/Grand+Circle/L/

£200 is categorically not the lowest price for a ticket, even if you (unreasonably in my view) exclude the back of the highest circle.

I know people struggle. I also think £25-£30 isn’t unreasonable for a live performance including the expertise and talent of loads of people on and off stage. £300? Yes. That would be unreasonable but fortunately nobody ever has to pay that much. It’s a choice.

I live in New York and love visiting London because the tickets are so cheap in comparison! Like a third/ a quarter of the price on average. It’s all relative!

I don’t think paying hundreds of pounds for a good seat in the west end for certain productions is unreasonable. It’s not like Sarah Jessica Parker would work for the minimum weekly wage of £629, is it? And the same applies to Eddie Redmayne, Jessie Buckley etc. They also would never tour.

I think when you look at the price for 4 people it is pricey, even if it's cheaper tickets. £25-30 is fine, tbf anything below £50 is doable but there are a lot of not brilliant seats that are well over that.

With west end stuff I have noticed that if stuff isn't at the point of selling out all nights, some theatres seem to drop prices closer to the show, before you're looking at the today tix type sites.
But if you live in the north of the country it isn't that easy just to leave to chance and there is a considerable extra cost involved with trains, hotels etc.

Regionally, they never drop their prices and rarely have offers on the tickets, some theatres will have empty seats rather than sell cheap. Sometimes you suck it up, knowing a trip to London would cost more overall. But it is expensive to be looking at £60-70 each in upper circle seats as a family.

I think the thing is that everything is expensive for a family of 4 (or even 3, certainly if it’s more than that). If it’s charged per person it will be a lot. Alot of things offer a family discount or charge per “unit” which houses severs people, but if you have to pay the full price per person, it will add up. And why should theatres give discounts for those attending together? They will sell the seats anyway so no need for a discount.

I think families need to think in terms of only those who actually want to go attending if they want to save money - so if it’s a children’s production, one parent takes them. If it’s something one member of the family is interested, then they go with one other person (a parent if it’s a child) or even alone if they’re an adult. It’s not as much fun, but it makes it accessible, which is what this thread is about.

The Globe isn't the West End, is it? It's on the South Bank and not at all the same set up as a modern theatre. Its running costs must be significantly less.

Generally speaking, it's musicals that are expensive. Plays are generally cheaper and at small theatres so fewer crap seats too.

The costs are huge! Most new shows are lucky to break even. We need rich theatre enthusiasts so are happy to sink their money into threate projects for the love of it.

I once did a theatre tour and someone asked how management felt about celebrity castings - they said it brought people in and gave them the cash to put on the things they really wanted to produce.

It was running costs that saw off the original production of Miss Saigon at the The Theatre Royal Drury Lane. It's an enormous theatre and nothing has ever come close to Miss Saigon's tenure since. Things often don't last very long there.

I saw Redmayne and Buckley in Cabaret for £30…

Good for you. There's always cheap tickets for every show. But I remember most of the stalls tickets for that production in London selling from £250.

The table tickets are expensive. That’s not the same as it being inaccessible. Our view was fantastic.

Bristol hippodrome. Not been to the theatre in a long while though.

DD bought last minute tickets for mamma Mia in London last week, sat in the Gods, said it was really high up and still £40 a ticket. West end shows for good seats are costly, don’t think anyone can really argue otherwise, living well outside of London doesn’t really give a massive amount of choice for last minute if you want to see a specific show, fine if you don’t care what you see. Having said that, regional theatres are becoming more expensive too, £95 for a good seat to see Billy Elliot at Sunderland is hardly a drop in the ocean , but probably a third of the price of similar seats in London

Some West End seats are costly. Nobody is arguing otherwise. It’s just that some of us don’t feel the ‘good seats’ are the only - or even best - option.

I've just had a notification that tickets for Moulin Rouge in May and June are 20% off all seats starting tomorrow for the general public so anyone wanting to see that might want to take a look tomorrow.