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Thursday, September 01, 2022
Ars Nova Introduces a Name Your Price Ticketing Model
The New York Times: The Off Broadway incubator Ars Nova will allow audience members to pay what they wish for theater tickets in a new initiative called “What’s Ars Is Yours: Name Your Price,” the company announced on Wednesday.
5 comments:
Angie Zarrilli
said...
I think it is so amazing that they are breaking down the financial barrier in theater and making the arts more accessible. All around the world, theater and the arts are very respected and well attended. I feel as though in the United States that this has decreased over the past few decades due to a technological revolution. Doing this may just be the solution to this issue. Populations affected by financial inequity in the US might be the exact people who can fill up these theaters and bring back the arts to the US. There is no reason that to see a show, even on broadway, you’d have to break your pockets to do so. The arts are about social change, justice, and revolution. While it can bring in money, that shouldn’t be the main focus. The main focus, especially in places like Broadway that can afford it, should be to share the stories of these musicals and plays. Additionally, one other benefit is to get people back into the arts after the pandemic. Even though COVID-19 still exists, lowering prices and bringing people together could save the arts.
I really enjoy this concept of naming your price for a ticket. Like they mentioned in the article, it really is a nice incentive to bring people to the theatre. Not everyone has the luxury to afford $25 tickets to see a show, especially if it’s a family of 4 that’s going, that’s $100 to see a show?! For me especially, being able to pay even $20 to see a show will get me into buying a ticket, and I’m sure that it’s the same case for other people too. I also like how it gives the option of going up to even $100. I hope doing this helps Ars Nova’s goal of bringing people back to the theatre, out with friends, and experiencing art. I would really like to see this work well for their finances and for other theatres to adapt this. We need to be spreading art, not hiding it from those who can’t afford it!
Oh, this is something I can get behind. Exclusivity in art is hardly ever the answer, and I know firsthand how beneficial it can be to have affordable art and easy access to it. A regional theatre in (near, next door to, if you will) my hometown has a high school outreach program where they bring in students from surrounding high schools for a free afternoon matinee. The place I worked at this summer does student rush tickets for $25 for some of the best seats in the house. All these things nurture new artists and aficionados and are absolutely invaluable. Then there's this with Ars Nova. Kids and teens are not the only new patrons to theatre, and allowing anyone to be able to name their price is fantastic in breaking down gatekeeping within the arts. I hope this model continues on and I wish to see more places adopt it going forward.
I really appreciate how some theaters are beginning to open the doors that have always been bolted closed. Theater - especially commercial theater like Broadway and off-Broadway is monetarily inaccessible to a lot of people, and efforts/initiatives made by theaters like this are a really big deal. I appreciate theaters re-evaluating their price points to, as Renee Blinkwolt states in the article, make theater “radically accessible - the doors [being] wide open to any and everyone to pay what they will”. I’ve begun to see some theaters around my hometown lower their prices or implement a pay what you will pricing system (for whole runs or specific nights), and I think it’s a great step in the right direction. Commercial theater is not a historically accessible medium, and bringing down one of the barriers that blocks people from viewing and participating in the arts is a very important and vital thing to not bring as many people into the theater space as possible, but to help sustain the lifespan of theater itself.
We can’t preach inclusivity in the arts if a huge amount of people can’t afford to go and see the art that is being produced. Name-your-price models or even pay-your-age can expose so many people to entertainment that do not otherwise get the chance to. This is especially true for new theatre festivals such as Ars Nova, which I’ve seen some talented CMU alum be a part of, while still in school or soon after. Sometimes it can be hard for new, experimental work to bypass that ticket charge because the funding is not as hefty as other New York City productions. I hope seeing theatre like this is merely the impetus, the starting point for more people to love and enjoy the arts just as we all do (for the most part). I’m not sure if CMU will continue to have free tickets, but it is definitely worth considering in today’s day and age.
5 comments:
I think it is so amazing that they are breaking down the financial barrier in theater and making the arts more accessible. All around the world, theater and the arts are very respected and well attended. I feel as though in the United States that this has decreased over the past few decades due to a technological revolution. Doing this may just be the solution to this issue. Populations affected by financial inequity in the US might be the exact people who can fill up these theaters and bring back the arts to the US. There is no reason that to see a show, even on broadway, you’d have to break your pockets to do so. The arts are about social change, justice, and revolution. While it can bring in money, that shouldn’t be the main focus. The main focus, especially in places like Broadway that can afford it, should be to share the stories of these musicals and plays. Additionally, one other benefit is to get people back into the arts after the pandemic. Even though COVID-19 still exists, lowering prices and bringing people together could save the arts.
I really enjoy this concept of naming your price for a ticket. Like they mentioned in the article, it really is a nice incentive to bring people to the theatre. Not everyone has the luxury to afford $25 tickets to see a show, especially if it’s a family of 4 that’s going, that’s $100 to see a show?! For me especially, being able to pay even $20 to see a show will get me into buying a ticket, and I’m sure that it’s the same case for other people too. I also like how it gives the option of going up to even $100. I hope doing this helps Ars Nova’s goal of bringing people back to the theatre, out with friends, and experiencing art. I would really like to see this work well for their finances and for other theatres to adapt this. We need to be spreading art, not hiding it from those who can’t afford it!
Oh, this is something I can get behind. Exclusivity in art is hardly ever the answer, and I know firsthand how beneficial it can be to have affordable art and easy access to it. A regional theatre in (near, next door to, if you will) my hometown has a high school outreach program where they bring in students from surrounding high schools for a free afternoon matinee. The place I worked at this summer does student rush tickets for $25 for some of the best seats in the house. All these things nurture new artists and aficionados and are absolutely invaluable. Then there's this with Ars Nova. Kids and teens are not the only new patrons to theatre, and allowing anyone to be able to name their price is fantastic in breaking down gatekeeping within the arts. I hope this model continues on and I wish to see more places adopt it going forward.
I really appreciate how some theaters are beginning to open the doors that have always been bolted closed. Theater - especially commercial theater like Broadway and off-Broadway is monetarily inaccessible to a lot of people, and efforts/initiatives made by theaters like this are a really big deal. I appreciate theaters re-evaluating their price points to, as Renee Blinkwolt states in the article, make theater “radically accessible - the doors [being] wide open to any and everyone to pay what they will”. I’ve begun to see some theaters around my hometown lower their prices or implement a pay what you will pricing system (for whole runs or specific nights), and I think it’s a great step in the right direction. Commercial theater is not a historically accessible medium, and bringing down one of the barriers that blocks people from viewing and participating in the arts is a very important and vital thing to not bring as many people into the theater space as possible, but to help sustain the lifespan of theater itself.
We can’t preach inclusivity in the arts if a huge amount of people can’t afford to go and see the art that is being produced. Name-your-price models or even pay-your-age can expose so many people to entertainment that do not otherwise get the chance to. This is especially true for new theatre festivals such as Ars Nova, which I’ve seen some talented CMU alum be a part of, while still in school or soon after. Sometimes it can be hard for new, experimental work to bypass that ticket charge because the funding is not as hefty as other New York City productions. I hope seeing theatre like this is merely the impetus, the starting point for more people to love and enjoy the arts just as we all do (for the most part). I’m not sure if CMU will continue to have free tickets, but it is definitely worth considering in today’s day and age.
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