Pricing the Process

As an off off broadway theatre artists and producer, I never cease to be amazed by the price tags other producers put on their shows. This ongoing abhorrence came to a head when a friend of mine asked me to help him research an obscure independent production of a wonderful contemporary play. To protect the delusional, we'll just call the script in question "Car-teen Anxt."

From the beginning it was hard to find any information about this production of Car-teen Anxt. My friend had seen it billed on the side of the theatre that had been rented for the play, but we didn't know the production company behind it. So I started hitting the typical ticketing sites and finally found the show listed on SmartTix FOR TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. That's right, twenty-five bucks for a show playing to a 57-seat house. This alone sent me on a ten-minute tirade, but we had just started.

From SmartTix we were able to find the producer's name (there was no company). We also figured out that this vanity project--I mean workshop presentation--of Car-teen Anxt starred the producer. There is no website for Ima BigDiva presents Car-teen Anxt. But there is a facebook page. And that facebook page has production photos--lots of production photos. Which is interesting because there isn't any "production" to speak of. The set consists of a folding table and a piano that both clearly came with the space. There is no other furniture. A house party scene has been staged with everyone on the floor. It's the kind of shit-show I would love to see if it didn't cost an arm and a leg.

But seriously, of these things are well and good and fine. By all means, if you really want to work on a script, you should. And if you can't afford a set, do it workshop style. And a facebook page is a great way to convey information in lue of a website. What is not okay about all of this is charging $25 a seat for your acting-exercise, vanity-project, workshop production. So you had to pay for a theatre space and probably rehearsal space and the rights to the show? That does not mean your audience is obligated to reimburse you. An audience should never be asked to pay for more than what a production is worth with the exception of benefit performances, and even then it's best to price admission appropriately and rely on donated time and materials to maximize the proceeds.

I mean, $25? For six more I can get a TDF ticket to a Broadway show. And it will have a set--what a spectacle!

Furthermore, I think every off-off broadway producer needs to get the memo that $18 is the showcase code MAXIMUM. It does not set the bar for all "showcase-level" productions. It is not the standard by which you should price your non-eq presentation of you and your eight friends from college in twelfth night.

Remember, just because your theatre group is not-for-profit doesn't mean it's charity. It functions as a business--you are selling someone the product entertainment. (Or the product of art, but let's not kid ourselves, America.) You have to price your product accordingly and competitively--supply and demand.

For $6 I can catch a a movie at AMC before noon. For $12 I can go to that same movie at night. For $15 I can rush Off Broadway. For $20 I can HipTix a Roundabout show on Broadway. For $26.50 I can rush on Broadway or do a lottery. For $30 I can see a show at Playwrights or MTC. For $32.50 I can get a TDF ticket to a Broadway show. Look at all the ways I can spend my money that satisfy the same need as your show. Now, when I go to scale my off off broadway play--even assuming it has great production value--where do I fit it in to that stratification of pricing? There's a reason Banana Republic costs more than Old Navy.

I don't charge $25 for my shows. I don't charge $18. A ticket price is not set by how much a producer NEEDS patrons to pay; it's set by how much an audience member needs to pay.

You want to put up your show in New York and fulfill you're dream? You should! But you also need to accept the realities of that choice including the possibility that you will lose money. That's why non-profits court donors and apply for grants--because a bottom line is still a bottom line.