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| West End grrs: best seats in the house up 300% for top shows | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Inflation may have dipped into minus figures, but West End theatre ticket prices have soared to all-time highs, with several shows demanding £200 or more for their best seats, the Guardian has found. | Inflation may have dipped into minus figures, but West End theatre ticket prices have soared to all-time highs, with several shows demanding £200 or more for their best seats, the Guardian has found. |
| Back in 2004, London’s most expensive theatre ticket, to The Producers, cost £49, according to the Stage – which means prices have quadrupled in little more than 10 years. That rate of increase leaves even London house prices in the shade – they managed a typical 80% rise over the same period – and means the cost of a top West End ticket is fast catching up with Broadway’s notoriously high prices. | Back in 2004, London’s most expensive theatre ticket, to The Producers, cost £49, according to the Stage – which means prices have quadrupled in little more than 10 years. That rate of increase leaves even London house prices in the shade – they managed a typical 80% rise over the same period – and means the cost of a top West End ticket is fast catching up with Broadway’s notoriously high prices. |
| Related: Ticket resale websites face fresh clampdown to end profiteering | Related: Ticket resale websites face fresh clampdown to end profiteering |
| Evidence has emerged that the producers of some of London’s most popular shows have been quietly pushing through huge rises in the cost of their premium –and, in some cases, standard – tickets by making use of airline-style “dynamic pricing” systems, where the cost of a ticket changes according to demand. Some prices have increased by more than 100% over the last year alone. | Evidence has emerged that the producers of some of London’s most popular shows have been quietly pushing through huge rises in the cost of their premium –and, in some cases, standard – tickets by making use of airline-style “dynamic pricing” systems, where the cost of a ticket changes according to demand. Some prices have increased by more than 100% over the last year alone. |
| The most striking price rises include: | The most striking price rises include: |
| • Premium seats to see The Book of Mormon are being sold for £202.25 each on the theatre’s ticketing website. That is up 59% on the £127 being charged in 2013. At this time last year the price was £152.25 each. | • Premium seats to see The Book of Mormon are being sold for £202.25 each on the theatre’s ticketing website. That is up 59% on the £127 being charged in 2013. At this time last year the price was £152.25 each. |
| • A new batch of premium tickets for Hamlet at the Barbican, which opens in August and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, went on sale this week at £200 each. This is more than double the £85 to £95 that was being charged for identical or equivalent tickets last August. The new tickets went on sale on the website of ATG Tickets, part of the Ambassador Theatre Group, which has been one of the major exponents of dynamic pricing. There was no mention of extra benefits to justify the price rise, and the seats are no better in terms of their location than those put on sale last year, though this did not prevent them from being snapped up quickly. | • A new batch of premium tickets for Hamlet at the Barbican, which opens in August and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, went on sale this week at £200 each. This is more than double the £85 to £95 that was being charged for identical or equivalent tickets last August. The new tickets went on sale on the website of ATG Tickets, part of the Ambassador Theatre Group, which has been one of the major exponents of dynamic pricing. There was no mention of extra benefits to justify the price rise, and the seats are no better in terms of their location than those put on sale last year, though this did not prevent them from being snapped up quickly. |
| • Elf, a musical based on the 2003 film of the same name that opens at the Dominion Theatre in October, is charging up to £214 a ticket, including a £14 booking fee. A family of four wanting to sit in the central blocks of the stalls or circle for the evening performance on 19 December would face a bill of £856. On the same date, the Guardian found that almost all the other tickets for the stalls being sold via the theatre’s website were priced at £97.40 – even as far back as row Z. | • Elf, a musical based on the 2003 film of the same name that opens at the Dominion Theatre in October, is charging up to £214 a ticket, including a £14 booking fee. A family of four wanting to sit in the central blocks of the stalls or circle for the evening performance on 19 December would face a bill of £856. On the same date, the Guardian found that almost all the other tickets for the stalls being sold via the theatre’s website were priced at £97.40 – even as far back as row Z. |
| • Top-price premium seats at American Buffalo, David Mamet’s play starring Damian Lewis and John Goodman, have jumped in price by up to 62% since they went on sale in December. They now cost as much as £149.50 – up from an original highest price of £97.50. American Buffalo is on at the Wyndham’s Theatre which is part of the Delfont Mackintosh group, like the Prince of Wales Theatre, which plays host to The Book of Mormon. | • Top-price premium seats at American Buffalo, David Mamet’s play starring Damian Lewis and John Goodman, have jumped in price by up to 62% since they went on sale in December. They now cost as much as £149.50 – up from an original highest price of £97.50. American Buffalo is on at the Wyndham’s Theatre which is part of the Delfont Mackintosh group, like the Prince of Wales Theatre, which plays host to The Book of Mormon. |
| Matt Trueman, a theatre critic at the website WhatsOnStage, who also writes for the Guardian, said: “When The Book of Mormon launched, they brought in a new record high of £127 for their premium pricing. What’s extraordinary is how that dynamic pricing model has gone through the roof in a very small period of time.” | Matt Trueman, a theatre critic at the website WhatsOnStage, who also writes for the Guardian, said: “When The Book of Mormon launched, they brought in a new record high of £127 for their premium pricing. What’s extraordinary is how that dynamic pricing model has gone through the roof in a very small period of time.” |
| Steve Rich, founder of the Theatremonkey, which features seating plans and identifies deals, suggested dynamic pricing held risks for theatres. “If you don’t build an audience up, you’re not going to find an audience at all in a few years’ time.” However, he added that costs sometimes came down under dynamic pricing. | Steve Rich, founder of the Theatremonkey, which features seating plans and identifies deals, suggested dynamic pricing held risks for theatres. “If you don’t build an audience up, you’re not going to find an audience at all in a few years’ time.” However, he added that costs sometimes came down under dynamic pricing. |
| Trueman said there were good deals to be had. He pointed to the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, which offers some of the best seats at every performance for £10, courtesy of a link-up with Barclays. On the South Bank, the National Theatre’s partnership with Travelex, which began in 2003, will this year offer 100,000 £15 tickets for six plays, including its current show Everyman, starring Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor. | Trueman said there were good deals to be had. He pointed to the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, which offers some of the best seats at every performance for £10, courtesy of a link-up with Barclays. On the South Bank, the National Theatre’s partnership with Travelex, which began in 2003, will this year offer 100,000 £15 tickets for six plays, including its current show Everyman, starring Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor. |
| If you don’t build an audience up, you’re not going to find an audience at all in a few years’ time. | If you don’t build an audience up, you’re not going to find an audience at all in a few years’ time. |
| What may sweeten the pill for theatregoers is that in some cases at least, the expensive premium seats are subsidising much cheaper tickets aimed at bringing in new, younger audiences. The producers of the Barbican’s Hamlet have been praised for a scheme that will offer 100 tickets costing £10 for each performance, 60 of which will be sold in advance via a ballot, with another 30 being sold as day seats, and the remaining 10 sold via charities that work with underprivileged young people. | What may sweeten the pill for theatregoers is that in some cases at least, the expensive premium seats are subsidising much cheaper tickets aimed at bringing in new, younger audiences. The producers of the Barbican’s Hamlet have been praised for a scheme that will offer 100 tickets costing £10 for each performance, 60 of which will be sold in advance via a ballot, with another 30 being sold as day seats, and the remaining 10 sold via charities that work with underprivileged young people. |
| Similarly, 100 tickets per performance costing £15 each are available for The Elephant Man, starring the Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper, for which premium seats cost £108, while the forthcoming play Photograph 51, featuring Nicole Kidman in the lead and with a premium price of £105, is offering more than 20,000 tickets at £10. | Similarly, 100 tickets per performance costing £15 each are available for The Elephant Man, starring the Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper, for which premium seats cost £108, while the forthcoming play Photograph 51, featuring Nicole Kidman in the lead and with a premium price of £105, is offering more than 20,000 tickets at £10. |
| On Broadway, the most expensive tickets for the New York production of The Book of Mormon have a face value of $477 (£310). Skylight, a transfer of the David Hare play starring Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy that was a West End hit last year, charges $299 (£195) for premium seats. | On Broadway, the most expensive tickets for the New York production of The Book of Mormon have a face value of $477 (£310). Skylight, a transfer of the David Hare play starring Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy that was a West End hit last year, charges $299 (£195) for premium seats. |
| The Ambassador Theatre Group said it was “increasingly inclined to implement a flexible and transparent approach to ticket pricing. This includes, on some shows, amending certain price points up and down according to demand.” | The Ambassador Theatre Group said it was “increasingly inclined to implement a flexible and transparent approach to ticket pricing. This includes, on some shows, amending certain price points up and down according to demand.” |
| Asked about the Hamlet price rise, it said tickets for the show sold out in record time last year, with the majority of seats in the stalls priced at £62.50. “ATG has recently been given a very small allocation of tickets to sell, and certain holds are now being released for sale, with the remaining premium tickets priced to reflect the demand and cost of producing this large scale production. This allocation has now sold out.” | Asked about the Hamlet price rise, it said tickets for the show sold out in record time last year, with the majority of seats in the stalls priced at £62.50. “ATG has recently been given a very small allocation of tickets to sell, and certain holds are now being released for sale, with the remaining premium tickets priced to reflect the demand and cost of producing this large scale production. This allocation has now sold out.” |
| A spokesperson for Elf did not wish to comment. | A spokesperson for Elf did not wish to comment. |
| • The headline on this article was amended 0n 8 June 2015. An earlier version said ticket prices were up 400%, in fact they were up 300%. |
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