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11-14-2006, 11:38 AM
|  | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Lansing, MI, United States
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I'm curious: For the most part, very few people attend live theater; certainly far fewer than those who go to movies.
In our neck of the woods, prices are comparable. You'll pay $9 for a movie ticket and another $10 if you get popcorn and a drink. At a theater, you'll pay $10 for a ticket and $1-$2 for concessions (the standard price is $1 per item or a donation).
So what is it that makes movies more appealing? Is it simply that they are marketed/promoted better? Or is it that there is more of a social connection with movies than there is with plays? Is it the convenience of scheduling? A movie is usually around for several weeks on a daily basis whereas a play is typically only around for two to four evenings for two to six weeks.
If you rarely go to see live theater, what is it that keeps you from it? General lack of interest? Price? Scheduling? Poor quality of productions?
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Bridgette
"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; politics without principle; science without humanity; business without ethics." --Mahatma Gandhi
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11-14-2006, 11:42 AM
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Around here, we have no inexpensive live theatre option. And the only real option of live theatre (that I know of) is an outdoor theatre, so it’s only open during part of the year.
There is always the special effects to think about, and there are just some things that are not portrayed well in live theatre.
Personally I really like live theatre, but I do enjoy movies as well. If I had to choose between the two, given equal prices, I guess I really can’t say which I would choose for sure. I suppose it depends on what is playing at each and which interests me more.
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11-14-2006, 11:46 AM
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If we could go to good (or decent) theater for $15 I would! Even the local theatres charge $40-$80 and the travelling companies can be much more. I wish I had more options. Honestly, we don't go to movies all that much anymore either. |
11-14-2006, 11:48 AM
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11-14-2006, 11:56 AM
| | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Lansing, MI, United States
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I've never researched ticket prices elsewhere. We do have theaters that charge more than $10 (though that seems to be the competitive price around here--and it may be the number of theater companies that keeps the price competitive). The professional houses charge closer to $20 with ticket prices for touring companies being closer to $50-$75.
My mom and her friend used to go to the theater all the time by volunteering as ushers. It got them in for free and they'd get to see a whole season worth of shows.
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Bridgette
"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; politics without principle; science without humanity; business without ethics." --Mahatma Gandhi
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11-14-2006, 12:01 PM
|  | In Spanish, I'm Marijuana | | Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Lawn-Guy-Land, NY
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Theater prices here are high. I don't generally come to the city on weekends, and going to an 8pm show when I have to work the next day isn't very appealing.
But then again, the last movie I saw in a movie theater was Signs, I think. So we don't do movies much either.
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11-14-2006, 12:04 PM
|  | thread-killa | | Join Date: Dec 2000
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I generally don't get to do either, but we have seen WAY more live theatre since we've been married than movies. And the last "grown-up" movie I saw in a theatre was Rent.
However, our season tickets for the local professional theatre were the first thing to go in a budget crunch. I miss it. A lot. Movies? Not so much. |
11-14-2006, 12:07 PM
| | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Lansing, MI, United States
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Do you have non-professional theaters in the area that put on anything of interest?
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Bridgette
"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; politics without principle; science without humanity; business without ethics." --Mahatma Gandhi
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11-14-2006, 01:24 PM
|  | Mistress of Mayhem | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York
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I much prefer live theater to movies. But, it's extremely cost prohibitive. Even college productions cost about $15 to attend. (I'm going to see one next week.) Community theater is in the same price range.
Occasionally you can score professional theater tickets for $30 to $50. But then you have to add on for dinner (because it's an 8:00 curtain and you manage the time otherwise) and parking (which can be $30-40).
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11-14-2006, 01:25 PM
| | thread-killa | | Join Date: Dec 2000
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The community theaters tend to do more kitschy stuff because they can't really compete. |
11-14-2006, 01:30 PM
|  | Insert witty comment here | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Alabama
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Movies around here are $5-10 depending on the theater and the time. We have a professional theater company here (ASF - Alabama Shakespeare Festival) but prices there are at LEAST $20 per person, I don't know about concessions. Beauty and the Beast, the Broadway traveling company, coming soon, and tix for that will be starting at $35.
If it's about money, around here it's a no-brainer. 
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11-14-2006, 02:01 PM
|  | Yes, I am just this cute! | | Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: The Gem State
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Yes, we have a non-professional groups that perform in my small town. I haven't been able to get my husband interested in attending and neither do our friends. I'm going to have to start taking my daughter as my date as now she is old enough! Admission is usually $5
[I really have the secret desire to perform and not just attend but I'm not willing to make the time committment right now.]
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11-14-2006, 02:24 PM
|  | I'm Sparkly in Real Life | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: It's not heaven, it's Iowa
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Money (live is much more expensive) and special effects in movies win out everytime. I enjoy live shows, but there's too much competition from the mass-produced and readily available film industry.
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11-14-2006, 05:21 PM
|  | Mom of the Four Men | | Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Canada, sort of
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Money, for one. Here in Windsor, even the cheapest live theatre tickets run about $25, no discount for students. When you want to take 5 people to a show, that adds up fast. I tried to take the boys to a traveling production of Pirates of Penzance, and a matinee showing would have cost about $600 for all of us.
I've looked into ushering, and the youngest boys are still too young to do that. Otherwise, that would have been my plan for this year. So, we can go to an occasional college production, but that eats up our entire entertainment budget for a month.
These probably aren't the answers you want, right? I feel really bad- I love the idea of supporting live theatre (and we don't go to movies unless something's playing at the $4 theatre) but I just can't afford it for all of us. |
11-14-2006, 07:33 PM
|  | Glamorous Hollywood Star! | | Join Date: May 2001 Location: Hollywood, California by way of Birmingham, Alabama
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I am very involved in live theater in the Birmingham area. Ticket Prices tend to run from $15-$30 apiece. $15 for small cast dramas to $25-30 for mainstage musicals. I am well enough known locally to get comped in to pretty much anything I want to see, but usually pay as every theater company in town is usually two steps away from broke. The quality varies from bad to mediocre to pretty darn good. If you go expecting Broadway level production values, you won't find it. This is community and semi-pro level and no one can afford to produce with those sorts of production values. There are a lot of decent performers in town and I have certainly seen performances locally every bit as good as I have seen professionally. A lot depends on the level of your expectations. Tommy and I go to about six plays a month locally - we are friends with most of the local theater community and we try to see what our friends our up to and they do the same for us when we have a project in the works. (Next up for me - Lazar Wolf in 'Fiddler on the Roof' running Jan 18-Feb 4. If anyone wants tickets, drop me a line...)
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11-15-2006, 03:15 AM
| | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Lansing, MI, United States
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Actually, Cindy, the kind of things I'm hearing are really helpful. I mean, I know that live theater attendance is pretty darn small and I'm genuinely curious about why. It helps to know when I'm writing. One of my most frequent interview questions to directors and producers is, "What would you say to someone who has never been to a live performance to convince them to come?"
I do realize that if I had to pay to get in to see all the theater that I go to, I wouldn't be seeing two to four shows a week. Sometimes I feel bad about not paying because I do know how much the companies could use the money. So I try to give back in other ways.
MNM--have you thought about reviewing the performances you're not in at Epinions? It might help give the companies a little bit of a boost while expanding awareness of the shows and companies. And if I'm ever in Alabama, I'll definitely drop you a line to find out what's going on. I do like to visit theaters (particularly community theaters) when I travel. I've seen some wonderful things that way.
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Bridgette
"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; politics without principle; science without humanity; business without ethics." --Mahatma Gandhi
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11-15-2006, 09:14 AM
|  | Dancing in the streets | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Home of the Frito
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I'm not a god person to ask about either one, as this year I've been to two movies and one live show. For me, it comes down to:
- convenience - six showings a day vs. one or two
- price - we usually go to the $1.50 theatre. Our monthly entertainment budget is currently $25, which makes pretty much any live show cost-prohibitive.
- selection - pretty much the only live shows I like enough to see are musicals. There aren't as many of those to choose from.
- now, lack of babysitter! 
Cindy
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11-15-2006, 09:41 AM
|  | Got my hands over my eyes | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Maryland
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For me it's generally about the schedule. The local schools and many of the churches put on live theater productions regularly -- on Friday and Saturday nights when I'm working. Occasionally there will be a Sunday matinee and I do get to some of those.
Movies? You can go see movies instead of bringing them home to rent?
Just kidding, but we don't get out to the movie theaters in spite of the easier scheduling.
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11-15-2006, 10:53 AM
| | thread-killa | | Join Date: Dec 2000
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The biggest thing that movies lose from live theater is the crowd interaction. If you've ever been in a show or seen more than one performance of the same show, you "get" that the audience interaction is a part of any show... obviously, some more than others. Movies are always EXACTLY the same no matter how many times you see them. Live shows are different every single time. |
11-15-2006, 11:27 AM
| | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Lansing, MI, United States
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That's one of the things I love about them--that there is an energy that goes back and forth between the performers and the audience. The audience really is part of the show even in the most conventional of performances that would never dream of breaking the fourth wall.
Here's another question: When you do get out to live theater, what do you go see? Is it always musicals? A play that you recognize? Classics? Comedy? Drama? Anything? Would you go see "alternative" or "absurdist" or "black box" theater?
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Bridgette
"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; politics without principle; science without humanity; business without ethics." --Mahatma Gandhi
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11-15-2006, 11:46 AM
| | thread-killa | | Join Date: Dec 2000
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If I'm picking one show to see, odds are it's something I'm familiar with. Not always musicals, but maybe something I read in college.
But the nicest part of having the season tickets was seeing shows I might never have seen otherwise. For example, there are two shows, House and Garden. One was on the main stage, and the other on the second stage where the theater usually puts on more "alternative" shows. The actors actually went back and forth between the two shows! We got the opportunity to add on the second stage portion to our season tickets, and LOVED it... it was amazing to know that the actors actually left one show and walked into the other... also made it interesting in terms of timing since they were running between two stages.
Can't get that in a movie. |
11-15-2006, 12:16 PM
| | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Lansing, MI, United States
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I would love to see a performance like that. How absolutely cool.
The best show I've seen so far this year is one that I never would have gone to see if it weren't for the fact that I was judging. It sounded creepy (and was) but it was the most stunning thing I've seen on stage for a long time. (The Pillowman)
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Bridgette
"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; religion without sacrifice; politics without principle; science without humanity; business without ethics." --Mahatma Gandhi
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11-15-2006, 12:34 PM
| | Mom of the Four Men | | Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Canada, sort of
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That's a good question, Bridgette. I think it depends on who I'd be going with. By myself, I'd be much more open to seeing something new, although I am not a fan of theatre of the absurd. Although, I might go just to try it. If I were taking the boys, I would go to something much more familiar- either a musical, #2's favourite, or else a classic. I would love to take the boys to see a production of 'The Importance Of Being Earnest'. They weren't as impssed as I'd hoped when we read it together, but it's hard for me to tell if I like reading it so much because I so enjoyed seeing it performed first.
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