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.

The Royal Enclosure at Ascot is obviously exclusive. You can go to Ascot, or other racing, much more easily. Seats in the West End are accessible if you don’t insist that only the most expensive are worth it. As I’ve said repeatedly, they aren’t even the best seats for seeing a musical. We are making the arts inaccessible in this country, but not via London ticket prices. It’s the underfunding of arts education that needs addressing. More free music and drama lessons, more free performing opportunities. That’s what we need. West End prices are neither here nor there.

Paddington also has has tickets in the stalls for £50.00 I've just looked ahead and the most expensive seats for for when they have 'good' availability (which is into next year but it's the current big thing) and the most expensive front of the stall seats are £180 not £350

Right... but people don't tend to start threads telling people that paying inflated prices for poor housing is actually fine, and we should all accept that is our lot and stop complaining.

Is there no cheaper option for a decent seat at Wicked?

I googled quickly and the overview (which could be wrong, need to check) said :

Where to find £25 Wicked seats:
Rear Stalls: Provides a clear, central view of the stage, though it is far back.
Side Dress Circle/Stalls: These seats can offer good value but may have restricted views due to the set design or saf
Alternative Cheap Tickets:
Wicked Front Row: £29.50 seats are released every Wednesday for the following week, providing up-close views.

Ditto Paddington?

I also think you have to factor in Paddington being very new as it only opened last November.

There.is.plenty.of.accessible.theatre.outside.of.the.West.End. And what Arts funding there is should be spent well outside London which is already oversubsidised.

Is that because housing is essential and anyway some theatre tickets are a perfectly reasonable price?

When everyone can access the arts - ideas, imagination, creativity, different ways of thinking and seeing the world - the whole of society benefits from that enrichment.

An argument that housing is essential is moot if you believe (as I do) that everyone should be able to access the arts (and part of that includes not being relegated to cheap/ restricted views if you cannot afford to pay a small fortune). The arts are essential to the kind of society that I would like to live in - and theatre is a part of that.

I'm honestly not sure why anyone would argue that is acceptable for it to cost a family of five £1000+ to have a key UK cultural experience. Again, I'm talking about being able to go on a Saturday night to a show you actually want to see - be that Paddington, Cabaret, Les Mis, Studio Ghibli, Romeo and Juliet - and have decent seats without having to scrimp around for the cheapest deal a year in advance.

This should not be out of the remit of most families to do once or twice a year.

Theatre has value to society, it broadens our minds, it introduces us to new things and different perspectives.

The arts are important, hence why there is government funding - just nowhere near enough - and theatres are also taking advantage of wealthy foreign tourists who will pay a premium.

The government should intervene and protect theatre from this profiteering in the same way as they protect our other cultural institutions like the Tate and the British Museum.

Are you arguing that the government should pay to transport people from across the UK to London and house them overnight in order for them to take advantage of these cheap seats, or is this just about giving Londoners and the wealthy access to cheap seats @rockinrobins? Because I'm not clear how your scheme is going to benefit most of the country.

I also believe everyone should be able to access the arts (see earlier post) I just don’t think subsidising WE seats is the way to achieve that.

I haven't proposed any kind of 'scheme', not sure what you mean there.

I just shared my opinion that theatre tickets are too expensive and that it would be good to have more government support for the arts, because access to the arts enriches us all.

I'm not living in cloud cuckoo land - I know that any kind of funding is not particularly realistic currently.

But whether or not you agree with that, I'm really not sure why anyone would argue that theatre tickets are not too expensive when so many clearly can't afford them, or can only afford restricted views/ crap tickets for things they don't want to see.

It's great to have a thread with tips on how to get cheaper tickets, which is what this seems to be becoming. It's great even to reassure people that some of the cheap tickets are actually OK (sure, they are, I've had many myself, they're not the best in the hosue but they're fine) - but let's not kid ourselves that theatre on the whole is actually anywhere near as affordable as it used to be.

Let's not stop striving for it to be better than it is, because it's in a pretty bad way right now.

It is becoming more and more out of reach for more and more people - and frankly that is very sad. I don't know why anyone would argue otherwise.

Perhaps selling the 'best' 3 or 4 rows for weekend performances for 300 quid per seat is actually the best way to make sure they can offer lottery/kids weeks/ cheap seats in the balcony (I promise they aren't 'rubbish' seats) and still be able to pay the front of house/behind the scenes/ minor roles staff because if all the seats were a tenner very few theatres would be able to pay all the staff.

To be honest, they wouldn't even need to subsidise seats. They could simply put a cap on how much theatres can profit from ticket sales, viewing theatre as part of the national cultural interest, rather than allowing private commercial companies to set prices.

However, this is very unlikely to happen unless they recognise the contribution of theatre in the same way as art and other forms of culture that have more protection.

I think it depends on the theatre with this. Some of the big productions are making absolutely huge profits and would easily still be able to do this on a lower profit margin.

I booked to see Phantom of the Opera in London at £89 per ticket, and that was for restricted seats. Extortionate.

We couldn’t justify paying for more expensive seats. I checked on View From My Seat before booking, and the seats were absolutely fine.

I don’t live near London, so I usually wait for the shows to tour. I always find it cheaper that way. (Phantom was an exception though as we were going to London anyway.)

I think people are over- romanising the West End - they’re just theatres. There’s plenty of other theatres around the country, producing good shows, and many West End shows go on tour eventually

As others have said upthread, concerts can be much more expensive, as well as Premiership football club tickets.

I think this thread like many others shows people are very unrealistic as to what is an”decent” seat and what is “rubbish”.

Theatres have always had more and less expensive seats. That’s just life.

But if you have less money or want to go more frequently then you have to accept somewhat less optimal seats. A seat on the balcony or at the back of the stalls or circle isn’t necessarily “rubbish” - it’s just not as good as the best seats.

But when have we all been able to afford the best in a capitalist society? Why would the theatre be different to literally everything else?

Go to see your local shows!! Cheaper and (at least my group) award winners who are compared to west end and usually get told we are semi professional

I thought that too..what a waste of time and money . Those are loud musicals- why did you keep going?

🤣

I also took a nap during Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, even though I had front row centre seats via the lottery.

I think fewer shows in excellent seats is the way to go.

I enjoyed Stranger Things the First Shadow and the seats definitely helped. Although that was a play.

No. Access to the arts is not in any way about WE seats. It’s about education and opportunities for young people from all backgrounds.

Whereas I prefer more shows in cheaper seats.

I think there’s a difference though between adults going and understanding that an affordable price means compromising and doing that for a bit of fun, and children like mine aged 10 and 8 wanting to see a show and being sat up high at the back and struggling to enjoy it. Mine have specifically said they don’t want to do that and they understood and agreed when I said £600 for Wicked was too much. I’ve enjoyed cheap slip seats when it’s been me and my OH like you’ve said you have with your daughter, but it’s not fair for my children. It’s hard enough for them to see with adults sat in front of them let alone when the theatre is trying to rent you binoculars so that you can see because you’re sat up high and at the back!

Definitely not for me. I’d rather see 10 shows at £30 than one at £300.

My DD has been going to shows since she was 5. It’s not an adult realisation. The seats are objectively fine.