This is my summer for purchasing tickets to shows. This is because, in addition to my known quantities the Pasadena Playhouse and the Cabrillo Music Theatre, there are quite a few number of good other musicals coming to town: Urinetown, Thoroughly Modern Mille, Little Shop of Horrors, and Hairspray.
We’re going to see Urinetown on Sunday, and had I been on livejournal back when I bought tickets, you would have seen a rant similar to Nicole‘s regarding the scalping practice of TicketMonster. I’m buying three $55 seats, so why are you adding $8.25 per ticket, plus an additional $11 handling charge. At least the Ahamanson Theatre is more reasonable. Oh well, that’s in the past.
In any case, my wife went down yesterday to the Pantages Theatre to buy the tickets for Hairspray at the box office. $0.50 parking is a much better handling charge! In any case, she got us three seats, 3rd row mezzanine. Frigging $80 per ticket! For a Saturday Matinee, no less!
$80!!!
[Yes, I know I might be able to score a half-price ticket. But for shows I really want to see I prefer to be conservative, and buy the tickets up front. I may try for a half-er for Little Shop.]
Now I see why I stay with the Pasadena Playhouse (about $45 per ticket, Orchestra) or Cabrillo Music Theatre ($11, front of the top balcony). I remember when I was in college going through the Mutual Agency at UCLA (about $3 handling) to buy Orchestra tickets at the Dorothy Chandler ($27 per). $80!! How are we ever going to get folks to discover the art form that is the Broadway musical? I propose that ticket prices such as these are what leads us to such mediocre but crowd pleasing entertainment as Moving On and Mamma Mia.
Sigh. I hate to see what the ticket prices will be when Wicked or Avenue Q come to town.
Daniel
