Thursday, April 10, 2014
What would you pay for unlimited Broadway shows a month?
The Producer's Perspective: I’ve got an incredibly informed group of investors who are always sending me news about ahead-of-the-curve stuff, from technology to marketing, to nifty new products. And one of the most savvy recently told me about a program he just signed up for called MoviePass.
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12 comments:
This is a really interesting idea, but I am not sold that it would be successful in the theatre industry. Going to the movies is a much more casual event for people than going to the theatre is. I am not saying that I necessarily agree with this, but I think it is definitely true. I am not sure people would go to see Broadway shows three times a month. The demographic of people who go to the theatre can also be much different than that of the people who go to see movies. Out of everyone that does go to see shows on Broadway, most of them are tourists. For the average tourist, this would absolutely not be a worthy purchase. In order for this to be a successful and worthwhile product, I think the demographic would first have to change. With that said, if I were living in New York full time, I would definitely get my hands on a BroadwayPass!
I love the idea, but I don't think it would work. Movie pass sounds like an incredible program for those people who see movies in theaters often. Trying to make a movie pass for theatre is completely different and much more difficult. Broadway is completely different than going to a movie. When you go to the movies, you can park your car 10 minutes before the show starts, get a ticket, find a seat, then watch a 1hr-2hr movie. This entire process is much shorter than going to see a show. The amount of time you have to sacrifice to see a broadway show is huge and people aren't going to do that once a week in my opinion. The cost would probably be $200 minimum, considering most shows are around $100. I have a feeling most people would purchase this offer maybe once a year and go on a show watching spree for one month, then stop, because it would get to expensive. People taking advantage of this program, would they have priority over the regular ticket purchaser, or would they get the worst seats imaginable. Great idea, but I don't see it going anywhere and if it does, it won't last long.
I disagree with Jess and Keith that people wouldn't take advantage of a Broadway pass. I think that it is not as appealing as a movie pass, since going to the movies is definitely more casual, something that people easily do often. But I think that if they had the opportunity, people would definitely go to the theatre more often. A big thing that is holding back people is the price. I think that if that pass encompassed enough Broadway and perhaps even off-Broadway theatres, there would definitely be a market for it. It might even help make the theater a more "normal", casual excursion.
This idea is really interesting. Personally, I don't think it would ever work. There are so many more logistically things in theater that you can't account for when going to see a movie. An example of this is in theater there are assigned seats, but in a movie theater theater it is just general admission. This also would only be worth the money if you saw a certain number of shows.
I'm not sure how much I would pay for a pass like that, because chances are I couldn't afford one in the near future. That being said, I think this is a marvelous idea. Arguably the biggest road block in theatre is the prices, because at a hundred dollars plus per ticket, your $20 a month Netflix account looks mighty tasty. However, alleviating the cost of shows and allowing people more regular access would help stimulate Broadway and theatre everywhere, just like it does the movie industry. I hope this becomes an actual thing by the time I could afford to buy one!
I think this is a great idea. Like Rueben mentioned I don't think I could actually afford a pass in the near future. But I also really don't understand how this would work. Seeing as most theaters work on an assigned seating basis I can't see how they would seat you. Unless the theatre had a reserved section of every show for these patrons. But then what happens if nobody comes to that show who is on the plan? Do you scramble to sell those seats 30 mins before the show, or loose money? I wonder where this will end up going, its certainly a cool idea if they can make it work.
I think this could be a really good idea, with some tweaking. As other people have mentionned, a lot of Broadway profits come from tourists who wouldn't benefit as much from a card like this. I know even if I lived in New York I wouldn't be able to pay $200 a month for this- I might buy it once for a special month, see all the shows I could, and then wait another year. I believe Disney has similar options- you can get passes for multiple days which are technically more expensive, but are more economical overall. I think it's definitely worth a shot. If people are able to pay that amount upfront, it would end up benefiting both them and the theatres.
This is a neat concept. When used on the movie theater level, it is fantastic! It isn't too uncommon for a person to see more than 3 movies a month, and many who wouldn't normally see three a month could be swayed to do so fairly easily. However, I feel like the Broadway audience is an extremely different demographic. The people who would consider seeing more than one or two broadway shows a year are probably the ones who can afford it and wouldn't need the pass anyway. And if they did buy it, the theaters would just lose money. People who would normally be going to these shows are still going- they just get to pay less!
As most people have said, and I agree with, this idea is best suited for the film industry. It is not very expensive for a person to see a movie already and if you are a regular movie goer then, as said in the article, it will pay for itself in no time. The thing is, a new movie comes out every few weeks at most, while in theatre, a new show may take months to come out. so here, you buy this pass, see all the shows you can in the first month, then cancel the service as soon as you've seen them all. The card would just be a useless $200+ expense as soon as you run out of shows to see. It just won't work in a live theatre setting.
This is a cool idea, but it doesn't seem like it will translate well into the movie world. The cost would be prohibitive to most people, and those who do buy them will probably get a lot more than their money's worth. In the end it seems like the theaters will be losing a lot of money. The reason this works so well in the movie industry is because of things like popcorn and refreshments, which can easily add up to the cost of a ticket. Broadway, however, doesn't make nearly as much on overpriced refreshments, so they would probably only lose money. It's a neat idea, but it probably will never be a reality.
I think there are a few things fundamentally wrong with this idea on a broadway level. First, if you were gonna buy a pass like this that would kind of pay for itself after 3-4 shows, it would be over $300 for a pass. I think the demographic that this would cater to is too few and far between. Another thing, when people have used the part of the pass that they paid for and virtually just seeing shows for free, where is that money gonna come from? Its not just like pressing a button on a projector. There are 100 people working in that theatre who all need to get paid.
I would kill for this! This would be so awesome for the summers when I'm home. I would go so often and it would definitely be worth like 300-400$. I usually get my tickets for about 30-50$. I could get in to the city to see a bunch of shows since I live fairly close. I want this to be a real thing. unfortunately not very many people would be willing to do this because they just don't have the time or money to invest in all of this theatre going. It's very cool and I might check out this movie pass thing.
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