Yesterday I read an article in The Guardian in which Actor Andrew Scott (AKA "Hot Priest" from Fleabag) spoke about the current price of tickets to see a production in the West End. He expressed his desire to see cheap theatre tickets "put on a sale rack." Specifically for younger patrons.
Inevitably you've seen or read an interview with an actor you love & adore who "got the bug" for acting when they saw their first production in the West End or on Broadway. It's charming. It's quaint. Dare I say, it's almost theatrical. But alas, ticket prices have risen so much, that seeing a show in one of these grand locations is out of the realm of possibility for many people, especially today's youth.
This is great place for me to mention that seeing shows at local theaters, be they Community Theater, Semi-Professional Theater, or even Professional Theater is something that you SHOULD do for a number of reason! I won't go into those reasons here (or I'll be writing this all day!) But if you want me to tell you why you SHOULD see those shows, and you SHOULD support local theater, you SHOULD buy me a cup of coffee and we'll talk about it for hours!
Before we had our daughter, my wife and I tried to see a Broadway show at least once a year. Yes, it was expensive, but it was important to us, so we sacrificed and saved to be able to afford it. After our daughter was born, it became less of a priority for the two of us. But now, at ten years old, she's becoming more and more interested in both the entertainment of storytelling and craft of acting.
She has taken a bunch of theater classes, as well as attended theater camps in the Summer. She's seen way more Community Theater, Semi Professional, and Professional shows than I had at her age. She's also performed in two professional shows ("Once" and "Assassins"), so the idea of taking her to see a show on Broadway or the West End is very appealing to us.
This is also a great place for me to mention that Julie and I combined have been working for well over 60 years! Which means, while we aren't wealthy, we definitely are more comfortable buying expensive tickets then your average kid who is still getting paid almost the same minimum wage we were all those years ago. This also is to point out that I'm old and going to complain about things! If you've read anything I've written, you already know that.
But, if a young person like my daughter, or your son, or that niece or nephew you've been meaning to call can't afford to see a Broadway or West End show, what does that say for the future of both Broadway and the West End? Or theater in general?
The incomparable David Tennant, of Doctor Who fame for the uneducated, refers to the price of theater tickets as "ludicrous."
“We have to look after the industry from the bottom up because we won’t be making great telly and we won’t be making Oscar-winning movies if we don’t still have a thriving theatre scene,” Tennant stated.
“We have to look after the industry from the bottom up because we won’t be making great telly and we won’t be making Oscar-winning movies if we don’t still have a thriving theatre scene,” Tennant stated.
Exactly!
What will the face of theater look like, or film and television for that matter, if ticket prices remain unreachable for young people? Will all actors be old, rich, primarily white men (not counting the mezzanine).
Or will the expense of theater be replaced with the relatively free Tik Tok or Reels? And at what cost? How will our future storytellers be influenced by the "stories" that they have access to consume?
But in the end, it's her generation that will carry entertainment and storytelling into the future. A future more uncertain than ever. With the hefty price of Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability issues and the difficulty of dealing with Artificial Intelligence. The least we can do is allow them a seat in the goddamn theater.
