Does anyone remember when TKTS was a great deal?!- Page 2

[MikeT73]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 2:39am

Clearly TKTS is strictly for out-of-towners as locals know you can usually get the same or better deals online and in advance or thru TDF membership. Also you can choose your seat and avoid the fee-per-ticket - sure, a few locals still go there, but they are def in the minority.

I know this sounds a bit crazy, but why not convert the TKTS stand to full price tickets only? Sure it sells a lot of half-price tickets - but mostly to visitors who would have paid close-to-full price anyway - this is the internet age, there are enough ways to distribute offers now that a physical location should only be a ticket distribution point and not a discount sales point - If Joe LeBlang was alive today, I think he would agree (the original Discount Broadway Ticket Pioneer over 100 years ago)

How do I know its mostly visitors down at the TKTS - well, we often find that we have a few extra tickets to Broadway shows that we cannot use, so we head down there to give them away for free (We cant sell em as we are not ticket brokers) You wouldnt believe how hard it is to give away free tickets. Usually the person has never heard of the show EG. 39 steps, WSS or BTF or is just completely clueless about the Broadway scene and are like sheep at the booth.
My interns spend 30 mins trying to give away 10pr tickets and come back to the office with 8pr, its quite ridiculous - so we have given up now and instead give our spares to Ronald mcDonald house instead, there is always someone there who can go - but the point is, I believe that the TKTS ticket stand is no longer of value in its current form as it actually hurts a show, instead of helping it.

So the argument boils down to: if the TKTS ticket stand is primarily giving discount to out-of-towners who are flush with money, arent they the very same people who would be inclined to pay more for a ticket ?
Isn't it the regular theatregoer that needs more financial motivation to see a show, those TKTS sheep will go to any show that Ben Brantley tells them to - and, within reason, pay whatever they are charging.

Counter thoughts anyone ?
Updated On: 10/2/09 at 02:39 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 5:20am

I don't think that's true. If they were willing to pay full price, the tourist would rather have done that ahead of time and not waste their time in line for several hours.

The producers don't SAVE tix for TKTS, and would rather have patrons PAY full price. But they would also have bodies in the seats instead of an empty hall. If folks were paying full price, they wouldn't be available AT the booth.

As far as not being able to give away 'free tix'; I'm guessing the issue is more from not trusting a stranger giving something of value away for free.

[trombonist]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 6:32am

I'm with dramamamma on this one. I do not think that it is exclusively tourists who use the booth. I know I have used it as a back-up for last minute tickets when I lose lotteries and want to see something or when a show was not going to have rush because they were selling enough tickets at the box office and tkts. I also don't think that those tourists would have paid full price for other tickets. Many people do know about tkts and budget tickets from there for their vacation. In my family's case when they are in town, we usually plan a show or two, but often we'll decide to see something else and use tkts as a way to do it because otherwise another show would be out of the question.

And yes, I would be wary of someone I did not know offering free tickets. Everyone else who has "free" tickets in the area (those idiotic comedy show hawkers anyone) has those with a catch. Not to mention all the warnings about not buying tickets off the streets that are out there. The last thing a tourist who wants to see a show wants to do is take some tickets only to discover that they don't work. Not saying that your agency's wouldn't, but the tourist doesn't want to take that chance. I think your donation of them to families at the Ronald McDonald House is a great one! Too few of the families with critically ill children never get to do anything like go to a show, and they need that relief. So good for you!

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 7:47am

"Half price is what I'm talking about! $70 is way too much to pay for a half price ticket."

Thank you! A couple months ago, my aunt and I waited in that long line and asked about a show that was 50% off (I think it was Mary Poppins). They said the tickets were 70$ each for the mid-mezz. You can't possibly tell me that regular priced tickets for the mid-mezz of Mary Poppins are $140 each!

I just looked it up and it seems the REGULAR price for the mid- mezz are $86.50! So, in what type of math is 70$ half of $86.50??

[D2]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 8:06am

Does anyone remember when the service charge was $1 for tickets over $10, and 50 cents for tickets under $10?

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 10:33am

Oh, the horror of it all! I remember back in the days when you could get the daily NY TIMES for a mere $0.50, and when you could get 2 slices and a Coke for $1.00.

Of course the price of TKTS has gone up, but that generally is nothing more than a reflection of the price scale that producers have set.

My big beef with ticket prices is that in general, there is not really a wide range of ticket prices, such as when the top price is over $100, and the cheapest is $70-80. (Thanks, N2N for those $36.50 seats!). But there's nothing like the days when those Hal Prince shows, such as COMPANY, CABARET, FOLLIES, etc. had $2.00 tickets for every performance!

[once a month]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 10:39am

I've always been somewhat suspect about TKTS. The last time I tried was when Pippin was playing, lol.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 10:57am

When I lived in New York, I think it was Miss Saigon that was the first show to top the $100 mark for a ticket and the ensuing outrage it inspired. Talk about nostalgia!

Joe, I do think I understand what you've been saying about chastising people for complaining about the prices of theatre, but Jesus, the cost of theatre HAS become ridiculous. When adjusted for inflation, the numbers are through the roof.

Ticket prices hit $17.50 -- the top price for a weekend night performance to see Liza Minnelli in "The Act."

If you adjusted that for inflation that's like sixty bucks. I don't think you'd hear anyone (or too many) people bitching if top ticket prices were 60 bucks. Even 70 bucks.

Regardless of whether or not you think people have entitlement issues, and as valid as the "don't like it, stay home" argument is, there's no denying that the cost-prohibitiveness of going to the theatre IS one of the reasons why theatre is considered to be an art form that struggles to stay afloat.

Just my thoughts. No hatin'




PBS.org

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 11:09am

"...and not waste their time in line for several hours."

I only go to TKTS a few times a year, but I've never waited hours in line. Most times, it's been no more than 10 or 15 minutes.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 11:46am

I agree that making the TKTS booth full price is a bad idea. I rarely use it, but am glad to know it is there for last minute plans. I forgot to bring some of the discount codes with me once, and had no luck getting rush tickets either. So, if TKTS was full price, I would have wasted 3 hours of my day going in and out of the city for nothing. I know there are other things to do in the city, but when you make practically no plans, it's difficult to figure out what to do and how to get there if you aren't familiar with every inch of the city.

And yes, I have never waited for hours on line either. Actually, each time I went, there was practically nobody waiting. I think it sometimes looks deceiving because you get mobs of people just standing around, but they aren't waiting on the line.

[StephanieJBlockFan]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 11:49am

This last July I payed 60 bucks to see 9 to 5 The Musical and I sat in the 2nd row! I thought that was a hell of a deal!!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 11:51am

Does anyone remember when TKTS was a great deal?!

June 17, 1987

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 12:40pm

I only go to TKTS a few times a year, but I've never waited hours in line. Most times, it's been no more than 10 or 15 minutes.

People do wait hours in line, so they can be first to the window when that night's tickets are released, in case there's a high-demand show with a very small number of tickets available. If you're going later in the afternoon, then there's no wait.

[turquoisefish]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 12:50pm

I know TKTS in London is different to TKTS in New York but it is going the same way. With the service fee it is about £30 ($50) or more for most shows (and it seems more and more aren't half price but they don't state the actual discount anymore, I think that is to catch people out who presume it is half price) and several are £45 ($75).
I use TKTS when I am not sure what I want to see, so discount codes are no good, or not sure if I have time to see a show.

[madbrian]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 1:07pm

"People do wait hours in line, so they can be first to the window when that night's tickets are released, in case there's a high-demand show with a very small number of tickets available."

Those silly folks should go to the downtown location near South Street Seaport.

[Weez]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 4:06pm

I was going through my scrapbook the other day and was horrified to see how much I used to pay for tickets. I genuinely can't envision going back to TKTS any time soon. So it goes for London as well as New York; with so many possible ways to get cheap tickets, why would anyone pay as much as 50% of a top price ticket?!?!

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 4:57pm

I will echo others in saying that I think turning TKTs into full-price tickets is a bad idea...I know I've used it a few times as a last resort when I lose lotto or when I just don't want to rush something completely insane (I got TKTS seats for Aaron Tveit's first back in Next to Normal). I have waited a couple of hours on line when it first opens but most of the time it's only 15 minutes at most. I used to wait on the line all the time with my mom back when it was a great deal, and I remember getting great seats for Rent and Chicago for not very much money.

When my friend and I waited for Aaron's first back in NTN we were definitely 2 of the only New Yorkers on the line though...it never used to be all tourists.