TheaterMania Gold Club, Audience Extras, Play By Play

[Ericg2]

I agree gold club used to be very good (maybe 2 years ago), but it now isn't worth it because I have a membership to its competitor 

[Mr Roxy]

So far no confirmation of e mail I sent them If nothing in a day or so I will call them to make sure they cancel

So far, this year, I used them exactly one time.

[neonlightsxo]

When I canceled mine, they responded within a day. Ericg I assume you mean Play by Play?

[macnyc]

From July 2014 to now, one calendar year, I have gotten tickets to 18 shows on Gold Club. I guess that makes the membership fee worth it. But I'm still hesitating about rejoining because checking the list of offerings is not fun anymore.

[Mr Roxy]

Last year, we had more choices but little by little they dwindled

I remember joining & you got 2 tickets for A Little Night Music with your membership. Big change since them.

[Melissa25]

My patience is wearing thin with the Theatermania Gold club. I will probably not renew. It is exhausting to have to wade through all the NON-Theater offerings. I joined this club for theater. Here is a current breakdown of what they have listed today:

Total of 40 listings:
39% - Cabaret/Live Music (15)
17% - Events/Walking Tours (7)
17% - Panel Discussions (7)
17% - Plays/Musicals (7)
5% - Comedy (2)
5% - Magic/Puppets (2)

30 of the 40 listings (75%) are comp. This club seems to have lost it's vision/mission and has turned into another Goldstar.

[Mr Roxy]

Totally agree with you.

I already notified them as of 8/15/15 I am done with them

They did tell me for $12.99 a month you can rejoin on a month to month basis cancellable any time. Might try again in October or November for a month to see if they have improved.

[macnyc]

^^^ Good idea!

[wolfwriter2]

Wanted to share my experience with a papering site called Spondooly and, maybe save people some money.

I took a chance and joined, when Living Social had a $40 membership, about 2 months ago.

Don't waste your money. This must be a joke. In NYC, Brooklyn & NJ, they only have some comedy clubs and one way-off-off broadway theater. They had 1 concert in Newark and 1 sporting event in Newark. That's it. I wouldn't mind if there were offers for things I had no interest in, but they offer nothing on the East coast. I don't think they were ready to go live in NYC and should not be offering memberships, until they have clients to support those members.

Has anyone had experience with this site? Does it get any better or did my gamble, just not pay off?

[HogansHero]

@wolfwriter-

Write to Living Social and ask them to cancel the sale. Based on what you say, it seems pretty clear they are not delivering what was promised. All of these only "deal" sites will refund you even if it is a close call because they don't want customers thinking they are sponsoring garbage.

[wolfwriter2]

@HogansHero, I didn't realize those sites would even consider a refund. Otherwise, I was just going to report, periodically, to let folks know if it got any better. Thanks, for the advice. I'll give it a shot.

[HogansHero]

report back on how that goes too

[Theater3232]

Well Theatermania Gold is the place to pay $99 a year if you want access to $54 sports tickets, $93 sports tickets, $30 to $40 tickets to a venue with a food/beverage minimum, tons and tons of cabaret performances with a 2 drink minimum, etc etc.  It gives someone a headache just to check the listings. They really should have one tab for JUNK (anything with a 2 drink minimum, any TV show taping, anything that is more than $4.50.)  And one tab for EVERYTHING ELSE.  Only problem is, 99% of their listings now belong in the JUNK section.  Who in their right mind would pay $99 a year to have to pay another $93 for a sporting event?  It's laughable.

Spondooly is really a scam - they have the same 2 venues with a 2 drink minimum over and over.  Did you know you could get into the Eastville Comedy Club for free an unlimited number of times (without paying an annual fee to Spondooly) simply by going to Eastville's web site and getting on their "guest list"?  The time that I signed up for the walking tour they posted, NOBODY showed up!!!  And the "tour guide" never bothered to appear either.  What a total scam!

[wolfwriter2]

Agree completely. I've been a member of TM Gold for years and I'm not renewing next month. If I want to see baseball in the Bronx, there are many ways to get discount tickets and I can choose my seats and dates.

Much of what costs money on TM GOLD is available on TDF or other places. It's a shame, because it used to be great and allow me to take chances on things I might not, otherwise see. 

As for Spondooly, I'll report back on whether Living Social will issue a refund. I think they went live on the East Coast, far too soon, but, as you say, that makes it no less of a scam, when every event page says 'no events."

[neonlightsxo]

Yeah, TheaterMania was actually good a couple years ago. They actually used to get Broadway comps.

[Theater3232]

TM Gold - Ever since they changed their web site about a year ago, things went way downhill.  The new web site is much harder to use and simply horrible; they should go back to the old website.  They've also lost a lot of their off-Broadway theater clients, as these clients have been using other sites instead.  By far this is now the worst papering service out there. We don't need 10 papering services, and I have a feeling some will be out of business within a few years.

[macnyc]

I agree with you, Theater3232. I had three good years with Theatermania Gold Club, but alas, I'm not renewing. I used to get tickets to two or three plays or musicals a month though the club; now, it's been four months since I've seen anything at all. There's too much cabaret with a two-drink minimum, minor-league baseball, and Off Off Broadway shows that's $9 on TDF (I'm already a member of that).

 

I signed up for the former site-that-must-not-be-named because it's only $19.99, but that's been dry too. I'm wondering if there is a big shift in the industry regarding comps, or if another site like Play by Play would really be better? If anyone is a member of Play by Play and wouldn't mind messaging me, I would be most grateful. Hamilton has been eating up a large portion of my theater budget (not complaining though!).

[Theater3232]

The shows are still papering.  They're just not using Theatermania anymore.  (I guess it's because the theaters don't want to use a papering service that loudly announces to everyone in a street fair how they're giving out free tickets, how they email their entire ticket buyer list with their TM Gold service, etc.)   If people are buying full price tickets with ovationtix, you email them with a "free papering service" offer?  Theaters don't want any part of that, so I'm not surprised Theatermania has lost most of its clients.

[macnyc]

In addition to what you're saying, I'm getting the idea from others on this board that producers are giving out comps through Equity and maybe other unions, to keep the tickets within the community. So maybe this is part of it too.

[HogansHero]

Theater3232 said: "The shows are still papering.  They're just not using Theatermania anymore.  (I guess it's because the theaters don't want to use a papering service that loudly announces to everyone in a street fair how they're giving out free tickets, how they email their entire ticket buyer list with their TM Gold service, etc.)   If people are buying full price tickets with ovationtix, you email them with a "free papering service" offer?  Theaters don't want any part of that, so I'm not surprised Theatermania has lost most of its clients."

Beaucoup projective nonsense in all that. Papering services are not a secret society; the only things producers care about is filling their seats with the best possible audience and not having their freebies exposed contemporaneously. Very few of the sort of shows people are complaining are no longer on the papering services are sold by Ovation. The reason some producers (it's really the general managers) prefer unions and schools to the papering organizations is because the latter skew older and less adventurous. And remember that some GMs demand that shows that have distributed all tickets not be shown as sold out (I think Gold Club does this by default) so you may not be aware of tickets that were gobbled up quickly. (Also worth noting that the off-B offerings tend to be few in number; a dozen tickets get scooped up quickly.)

I think it is quite true that there was a time when the papering organizations got more and better but I don't think it is necessary to imagine some agenda that frankly doesn't exist except perhaps for an extreme minority. The only high profile shows that are going to last on these sites are the ones that are desperate to fill half of their seats in a large auditorium...

[followspot]

Theatermania Gold Club has finally added filtering options to its site (Event, Play, Cabaret, Comedy, etc.).
 

(Too little too late for this longtime member.  My membership ends this month, and I'm fine with that.)

 

[ClydeBarrow]

followspot said: "Theatermania Gold Club has finally added filtering options to its site (Event, Play, Cabaret, Comedy, etc.).
 

 

(Too little too late for this longtime member.  My membership ends this month, and I'm fine with that.)"

 

Which makes it seem even more sad because you add the Play filter and there are only 4 shows. Plus it's janky that you have to select it every time when you should be able to keep it filtered.

[macnyc]

Yes, it's just easier to see that there's nothing you want to see!

 

 

 

 

(Too little too late for this longtime member.  My membership ends this month, and I'm fine with that.)"

 

 

 

Which makes it seem even more sad because you add the Play filter and there are only 4 shows. Plus it's janky that you have to select it every time when you should be able to keep it filtered.

 

"

 

[Reillyhickey]

Would someone who has Play by Play be willing to PM me with info/what they think of it? I'm trying to decide if it's worth it (I'm already a member of TDF, Gold Club, and Will Call Club).

[neonlightsxo]

My friends who use Play by Play seem to be happy with it. From what I gather, it's the only good one left.

[rivkareis]

neonlightsxo said: "My friends who use Play by Play seem to be happy with it. From what I gather, it's the only good one left. "

 

I agree. They are the best. Looking forward to the fall season as the summer tends to be a bit slow.