Jamie: You could talk about Broadway ticket costs again…
OR
How it might as well be spring…
OR American Idol
OR your “Is sitting at a desk 9 hours a day a life” thing.
I’ll discuss ALL THREE.
Broadway Ticket Costs
Yes, I’ve blogged about this before, but I’m still fired up.
I want to see Mary Poppins so bad it hurts. She flies over the friggin’ audience, for chrissake! However, I’m NOT willing to spend at least $200* to see the show.
*This cost represents two tickets, for fairly crappy seats, plus all the added Ticket Master fees.
Other shows I want to see that I will most likely miss because it’s just too damned expensive include:
– A Chorus Line
– Spring Awakening
– Jersey Boys
(However, I bought tickets for Legally Blonde, as I’m no fool, and Jamie and I can get our pink on for her birthday.)
Anyway – why the FUCK are Broadway (Broadway in Chicago) shows so expensive? I think it’s very sad that someone like ME who loves musical theater so much is not attending these shows. Are they trying to kill the art form? The upside is that it’s forcing me to explore smaller shows at local theaters, like Mary Ernster in Wings at Apple Tree in Highland Park. However, Broadway is really killing itself. Something needs to change.
“It might as well be spring.”
Yeah, it sure as hell could be. But it’s not. It’s 18 degrees today and my car door was frozen shut this morning. FUCK that shit.
American Idol
Is anyone actually following it this year? I’ve watched about 10 minutes so far. Danny Gokey, while cute, is a one-trick pony. The others sound like shit and seem to have the personality of a sleeping pill. I do like the new judge lady. She always has something logical to say. That said, I’m not wasting my time. I have more important things to do.
Is sitting at a desk 9 hours a day a life?
It pays the bills. But it sure as hell isn’t enough for those Broadway in Chicago tickets.
Chicago Theatre Addict 
Seriously. Im a huge fan of big budget musicals – but, as a human being with a job that barely covers my bills from month to month, dropping over $200 bucks for 2 semi-crappy seats to see a show (and screw you, ticketmaster, for your bastard fees) is not a budgetarily smart option.
I will likely miss A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening, and Mary Poppins too. Jersey Boys has been here for like 2 years and I haven’t seen it, due to prices.
It’s a sad state of affairs. No wonder the youth of America in general thinks theatre is uncool – they can’t afford to see for themselves that it’s not.
(And don’t throw the show lotteries at me like they’re a saving grace. I’m not going to bust my ass downtown and wait around for hours in the hopes of winning a ticket. It makes sense for students, but for people with jobs, not so much.)
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Ooh, you have to see Spring Awakening.
We saw it when it rolled through Des Moines in January and I STILL catch K singing it every few days.
You have to have some sort of connection over at BIC to help you get cheap tix, don’t you? I mean, really, if you don’t, who does?
I agree with you about the show prices – it is ridiculous… There was a really good discount offer recently for Chicago… I am hoping there will be more of those (and if I see any, I will happily pass them along) And, I must say, I’ve been sucked back in to American Idol this season. I am not proud of it, mind you, but there you go.
Yeah, it is scary to think about how much I pay for theater tickets. When I saw my first Broadway show, in 2007, I gulped when I saw how much a prime center orchestra seat would cost. But it’s outrageous.
Where I live, in Providence, the touring productions charge about $70 for orchestra seats. At least that’s a break over New York, although it’s still expensive and I definitely pick and choose. (I am going to see A Chorus Line and Spring Awakening.) But in Boston, the top price for Dirty Dancing, which I have no desire to see, is $132! Still, I read that the buses are lined up to New Hampshire filled with mothers and daughters who loved the movie.
I know this is probably the wrong way to go about it from supporting local theater, but I’m more of a cheapskate when it comes to my local repertory company. I get the $15 rush seats two hours ahead of time!