Post by galacticgirrrl on Apr 6, 2023 0:16:26 GMT
Ticket Travails
From 'sightline' pricing for movies to dynamic pricing for music concerts, access to art and entertainment is changing drastically. Post Pearl Jam it has felt as though nobody was interested or concerned about making improvements. Is the latest Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Ticketmaster just window dressing?
I would be interested in any experiences or news items about access to arts and entertainment.
FIRST UP - THEATRE
Olivier Awards: Sir Derek Jacobi warns of 'elitist' theatre ticket prices
April 3, 2023
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65160984
Sir Derek told the Guardian the rise in prices was one of the biggest changes he had seen over the years.
"I'm not on the production side, the business side, so perhaps I'm talking through my hat, but when they say it's £150 for a seat in the stalls, I understand that - and it shocks me," he said.
The other Olivier winners included A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Paul Mescal, which has a top price of £300. Mescal's co-star Patsy Ferran recently told The Times: "I think theatre should be accessible. And if tickets get to a certain price that only a very, very small number of people can have access to, it gets to be problematic."
She added: "The last couple of years theatre prices have reached a point that is shocking to me, but maybe I should just get used to it."
The show is running a lottery for a "limited number" of £25 tickets, while fans can also take their chances on a cheap front row seat in a game conducted at the theatre every day.
Broadway shows are becoming embarrassingly cheap-looking
nypost.com/2023/03/21/broadway-shows-are-becoming-embarrassingly-cheap-looking/
Here we are halfway through the season, and I can’t help but feel that I’ve taken a wrong turn into the parking lot of an Ace Hardware, where I am surrounded by unpainted plywood and assorted metals without any soul or point of view.
Set design, an art that’s always been essential to conjuring Broadway’s incomparable magic, is being treated like a luxurious want rather than a basic need for a memorable night out. Eye-popping decor has been stripped away, and annoyed audiences are still being charged top dollar like it hasn’t. Look at what’s onstage right now — or, more accurately, at what isn’t.
We’ve got an unfurnished “Doll’s House” starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain (top ticket $299), which features only a few chairs positioned on a turntable that’s lit like a hospital broom closet.
The no-frills revival of the musical “Parade” (top ticket $297), which began as a City Center Encores concert, has just a raised platform surrounded by lamps and more chairs.
The return of the Bob Fosse revue “Dancin’” (top ticket $297) has a projection screen and a few metal towers — appropriate for jazz hands, but flimsy all the same.
“Into the Woods,” another City Center concert that has since closed at the St. James Theater and gone on tour, had some wooden steps and simple birch tree trunks, because the main event was its sizable 15-person orchestra and stars such as Sara Bareilles and Patina Miller.
From 'sightline' pricing for movies to dynamic pricing for music concerts, access to art and entertainment is changing drastically. Post Pearl Jam it has felt as though nobody was interested or concerned about making improvements. Is the latest Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Ticketmaster just window dressing?
I would be interested in any experiences or news items about access to arts and entertainment.
FIRST UP - THEATRE
Olivier Awards: Sir Derek Jacobi warns of 'elitist' theatre ticket prices
April 3, 2023
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65160984
Sir Derek told the Guardian the rise in prices was one of the biggest changes he had seen over the years.
"I'm not on the production side, the business side, so perhaps I'm talking through my hat, but when they say it's £150 for a seat in the stalls, I understand that - and it shocks me," he said.
The other Olivier winners included A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Paul Mescal, which has a top price of £300. Mescal's co-star Patsy Ferran recently told The Times: "I think theatre should be accessible. And if tickets get to a certain price that only a very, very small number of people can have access to, it gets to be problematic."
She added: "The last couple of years theatre prices have reached a point that is shocking to me, but maybe I should just get used to it."
The show is running a lottery for a "limited number" of £25 tickets, while fans can also take their chances on a cheap front row seat in a game conducted at the theatre every day.
Broadway shows are becoming embarrassingly cheap-looking
nypost.com/2023/03/21/broadway-shows-are-becoming-embarrassingly-cheap-looking/
Here we are halfway through the season, and I can’t help but feel that I’ve taken a wrong turn into the parking lot of an Ace Hardware, where I am surrounded by unpainted plywood and assorted metals without any soul or point of view.
Set design, an art that’s always been essential to conjuring Broadway’s incomparable magic, is being treated like a luxurious want rather than a basic need for a memorable night out. Eye-popping decor has been stripped away, and annoyed audiences are still being charged top dollar like it hasn’t. Look at what’s onstage right now — or, more accurately, at what isn’t.
We’ve got an unfurnished “Doll’s House” starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain (top ticket $299), which features only a few chairs positioned on a turntable that’s lit like a hospital broom closet.
The no-frills revival of the musical “Parade” (top ticket $297), which began as a City Center Encores concert, has just a raised platform surrounded by lamps and more chairs.
The return of the Bob Fosse revue “Dancin’” (top ticket $297) has a projection screen and a few metal towers — appropriate for jazz hands, but flimsy all the same.
“Into the Woods,” another City Center concert that has since closed at the St. James Theater and gone on tour, had some wooden steps and simple birch tree trunks, because the main event was its sizable 15-person orchestra and stars such as Sara Bareilles and Patina Miller.