To think these theatre prices are outrageous?

[takeharry]

Currently looking at HAMILTON tickets, now I understand they have a ‘star’ casting in Leslie Odom Jr, original broadway cast but FIVE HUNDRED fucking pounds? For one ticket?

There are a few £250/£275 tickets left but the vast majority left are £500.

AIBU to think there should be some sort of regulatory body to prevent this kind of bullshit pricing?

£1k for a couple to have an evening at the theatre

Imagine typing “the currency symbol matters because £ and $ are different things” and thinking you’ve made a brilliant point. The exchange rate doesn’t change basic box office economics. Wicked London controls its own inventory just like Broadway does. It has never been a show that routinely dumps tickets into the bargain bin because it doesn’t need to. Try keeping up with the actual conversation instead of arguing with the currency symbol.

It was more because £ is the British cost and $ is in America

Online, people tend to forget other countries have different experiences. Using $ makes it look like you're on about America.

Crazy prices and I personally didn’t love the show at a fraction of the price.

I love how we’ve completely abandoned the actual debate about theatre economics to do a patronizing lecture on geography instead.

Let’s recap: I've explicitly mentioned both Broadway and the West End from the start. I know where I live, and I know what country the West End is in. Using a dollar sign doesn’t mean anyone forgot other countries exist.

The reality remains the same whether you’re looking at a pound sign or a dollar sign: Wicked protects its pricing structure. It doesn’t dump tickets into the day-of Leicester Square bargain bins just to fill seats like a lot of other shows do. It manages its own pricing and inventory through controlled lotteries.

You were wrong about how Wicked ticketing works, got corrected, and now you’re trying to turn this into an “ignorant American” moment to save face instead of addressing the point. Also, the only person who’s been going on about America here is you.

HTH.

The reason “why we can’t have nice things anymore and art has become as monetised” is because taxpayers don’t want to pay taxes to support the arts.

Subsidies to our major arts venues have been decimated over the last four decades, ever since Thatcher declared that “there is no such thing as society”.

And here we are. Many people can’t afford theatre, opera, ballet etc anymore. And we are all poorer as a result.

Hamilton is a bad example though as it's always been famously expensive, hence the lottery.

I've been to Hadestown, Jesus Christ Superstar, Avenue Q, To Kill A Mockingbird so far this summer. All for between £30 and £40 and usually nearer £30, but I am willing to sit very high up (though for Avenue Q & Hadestown was in the stalls).

I would recommend all & several will continue for months, though booking earlier is usually cheaper.

It's not as if you can only pay this price if you want to see Hamilton.

Right now I'm thinking of going in November, and there are tickets then for as low as £20. Up in the gods, but you still get to see/hear it.

Theatre and concert venues are very expensive
I couldn’t justify spending that amount even if I could afford to buy tickets.
I don’t feel there is many people worth paying 500 quid to watch.

There are loads of different prices for Hamilton depending where you sit & which month.

As I said in pp, if you want to book November, say, for Hamilton, you can get a gods seat for £20.

As I said in pp, I was able to book 4 major West End shows for this summer for under £40 each, (tbf I did book in April but the seats were avaliable is my point)

And it should be remembered there's other good London theatres. Almeida, Arcola, Richmond Orange Tree, Hampstead, Southwark Playhouse etc. Lots offer various discounts and are cheaper than major West End ones.

Remember also the £5 standing tickets at the Globe which is usually good.

Also, I think probably a lot of the expensive seats are booked by companies as a treat for workers, not by individuals.

🤣

I agree. It’s a usually a business or rich person who would pay that price.

They have a lot of staff and overheads too...

People spend money on all sorts because it's what they feel is worth it.

For some it's handbags or shoes or dresses or jewellery

For some its sports tickets

For some it's cosplay. Or LARPing. Or TTRPG. Or board games

And for some it's live entertainment

There's loads of more affordable musicals & plays on. As I said, you can go to Avenue Q, Cabaret, To Kill A Mockingbird, Hadestown, Jesus Christ Superstar etc for under £40. There's also non West End London theatres with great plays.

Also, Hamilton seats later in the year go as low as £20 if you sit in the gods.

I am always after a bargain myself and gladly book a restricted view if I can discover it's not that bad.

• yes, loads of restricted view are not bad at all, just very high up.

My Avenue Q was actually restricted despite being in the stalls but I forgot that as it didn't impact at all.

I do think it depends what you're seeing. A musical with lots of dance, or a ballet , would be harder to appreciate high up.

I am with you OP. I think theatre tickets these days are absolutely ridiculous!!!! £500 for a ticket is insane. It also prices a lot of people out of cultural events imo.

£500 is the expectation not the rule, as has been explained multiple times, and there are plenty of cheap tickets available (and the higher price tickets help to provide the cheaper tickets because theatre doesn't magically run for free)

If anyone is interested…… there are still a few £20 standing tickets for Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House in October. Excellent view, fabulous sound….. and one of the greatest operas ever written…

https://www.rbo.org.uk/seatmap?performanceId=74472&transient=%255B%257B%2522seat%2522%253A838383%252C%2522priceType%2522%253A7%257D%255D

Exactly. Why pay $300 to watch a 100% live, raw human performance when you could just dismiss an entire art form as “prancing” and mistake that for an actual thought?

Clearly, the real fools are the ones getting goosebumps from an actor pretending to be someone else. Joshua Henry stood on a stage, opened his mouth, and won a 2026 Tony Award for Coalhouse Walker Jr. by “pretending” so hard he shook the back row to its core. But sure, it’s just “prancing.”

If that’s your takeaway, look him up before you embarrass yourself further. You don’t have to like theatre, but reducing performers like that to “prancing” isn’t criticism. It’s what happens when someone confuses not understanding something with being above it. Tiny distinction, I know. Hard day for the brain.

I looked at tickets to see Jesus's Christ Superstar with Sam Ryder. To get a seat near the stage was nearly £700.

I’m still just giving my opinion, I think it’s too much! I know there are cheaper tickets.

If people think prices here are high, then they would be horrified at some prices in New York e.g £762 for a front stalls ticket to see Death of a Salesman. I’d happily pay that if I couldn’t get the ticket cheaper on the day.

So many people saying it's ok, yet I work in a veterinary practice and the amount of stick we get about the fees we charge is unbelievable.

sadly not unbelievable, so many people are expecting everything for free or as close to free as possible.

They can't see the irony when they complain about the amount THEY are earning!

That’s not quite the same thing, is it? Theatre tickets are a choice, having your much loved pet treated when it’s ill isn’t.