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

Yes to all of this too.

They will sell all the tickets it's not like going to the theatre is a human right.

Haha no its when someone boils something down to the fundamentals. I once heard Sir Chris Hoy say whenever he got to stressed he just reminded himself that was being paid to ride a pushbike in a circle.

Right?! I read this shaking my head. Instead of a civil discussion, it's just people falling over themselves to point out how absurd the OP was. Really vicious and why I never, ever post threads.

People have been civil. “Viscous” is over the top.

'Viscous' is sticky.

I haven't read everything as too many replies . But the premise that ticket prices are way too high is correct . Nobody minds anyone making profit as they are indeed a business but these margins are not justified. Art and theatre should be attainable by everyone not just the well off. Opera has always had an elitist vibe and that is because it is cost prohibitive for many people . Ironically this is not what the composers intended as it was music and drama for the masses . It is a damn shame as so many people round live the opportunity to be exposed to more cultural things if they were able .

And as a supply and demand scenario, I call bullshit . It costs the same to put on a production each night whether the tickets were sold at £50 or £500 . Just greed for more profit .

We paid £90 for a Saturday evening show in a couple of weeks time but we bought them when they first came out and sat in the online queue for several hours to do so. I think it’s unrealistic to expect to get cheaper tickets months after they went on sale when there was a very big fanfare about his appearance. Wait till the autumn or catch a touring performance - I’ve seen both west end and a tour performance and both were excellent.

Pretty sure they are releasing a handful of standing tickets each week for £12.50 each.

I think it’s disappointing that theatres do dynamic pricing. Or I might have got the name wrong for that. We went to see Evita last year and bought our tickets in the stalls for £89 for Easter. By August, similar tickets were going for over £350. Because people were wanting to pay it to see Rachel Ziegler. That felt wrong.

Anyway, I saw the Hamilton show this week. My daughter and her friend, are huge fans. It was like a cult. The superfan audience was screaming and applauding at the end of every song, like a Taylor Swift concert. Leslie Odom Junior certainly has his fanclub. I felt quite bemused and left out!

Do you speak to people like this in real life? How does that work out for you?

Oh no @DeetAils i hope it’s calmed down a bit by the time we go! Hopefully first week enthusiasm. Imagine if Lin-Manuel ever did a stint - they’d be fainting in the aisles!

Ha ha, I am with you. I love musicals but Hamilton is definitely not my favourite, even though I have now seen it twice and this week with LOJ. It just shows what different tastes people have. Some of the audience were moved to tears of joy by having him there. I was tired and trying to stay awake whilst being unable to decipher the words on stage!

I saw Hamilton in the West End around end of 2021, it was £80 for the second row. Not that I've seen what specific performance or seat this is, but that's a big increase.

People are just so rude, aren’t they? It is perfectly possible to debate without being sarcastic and making unpleasant and patronising digs.

We are reasonably well-off and go to the theatre many times a year and live in London. But by any standards, £500 is a hell of a lot of money to pay for one ticket, and it’s the people saying it’s fine who could be seen as ridiculous, not the OP.

I think it’s disappointing that theatres do dynamic pricing. Or I might have got the name wrong for that. We went to see Evita last year and bought our tickets in the stalls for £89 for Easter. By August, similar tickets were going for over £350. Because people were wanting to pay it to see Rachel Ziegler. That felt wrong.

Who was playing Evita when you saw the show? A c-lister who was in EastEnders for a couple of years? Someone like that?

I’m not sure anyone is saying it’s fine as such. And for clarity to some PPs, the vast majority of seats are not this expensive. There are or were many tickets for these shows, even with the big star, for a lot less.

Is it a lot of money for a theatre ticket? Yes.

Is is more than many or maybe most people would want to or be able to pay? Yes.

Is it ridiculous to charge that for a few seats, very good seats, for a very special short run, with a large and relevant charity donation? Well, not if people are prepared to pay that. Especially if their payment supports the cheaper seats that others can afford. That's pretty much what I was saying anyway.

Doesn’t it depend on your area of interest? I have no particular interest in this musical so I have not heard of LOD. But my daughter has and was beyond excited to know he was in it. So we queued and managed to get a ticket on the day at a reasonable price.

it’s like Wimbledon. I haven’t heard of any of the big name players these days, but that’s just because I’m not interested. I accept that they are stars and experts in their field!

I completely agree. Some people will pay £500 for tickets to Wimbledon to watch people hit balls over a net, some people to watch a play, my uncle pays more than £500 for a train for his model railway. We all have different interests.

Interestingly, I asked my superfan daughter about this. She said that LMM is not that good a singer; he just wanted to be in it because he wrote it. Fair enough! She said that is fine as it is Aaron Burr who has the biggest role so she would be able to cope with LMM just being Hamilton in it 😏

I have to say, whilst I’m not a fan of this musical, this week I was bowled over by the singing of LOD and the man who played Hamilton (i’m afraid I don’t even know his name, but my daughter will). Such beautiful deep voices. And how on earth do they remember all those words, incredible talent🤯

What? I might’ve got the dates muddled, but we booked them well before they cast the show. So we saw Rachel Z with our £89 tickets. After the casting was announced the ticket prices went up, and increased exponentially during the last two weeks.

Oh sorry, I thought you wrote you went during Easter. I agree with your point.

I agree with this.
If all theatre tickets, even all West End tickets, were £500 it would be outrageous, but they aren’t. I rarely pay over £50 and if I do it’s for something specific I think is worth more - I went to £80 for LOJ in Hamilton, booked when the lines opened. If you plan and book early you can see just about anything for a reasonable price.

Yes definitely they charge what they think they can get away with. So a popular musical will be horrendously priced.

Bearing in mind that I heard ‘front of house’ staff are on zero contract hours
that they might not get paid during the gap between shows
that they have to do 'pick up’ after each show due to people dropping all their rubbish
and for little money they have to now put up with very rude, aggressive customers - yes I have seen it and actually said something to the customer!

Why have we become so rude and aggressive since lockdown?

Some seats will be horrendous. I saw Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley in Cabaret for £30. There were tickets available costing multiple hundreds of pounds, but not all of them.
I agree that some theatre etiquette and politeness has disappeared though.