Judging from the places that I've lived over the past...oh...seven years or so of my life, you would probably never guess that I'm a big city kind of guy. Sure, the Florida panhandle and central southern Indiana aren't quite metropolisis, but they aren't so bad either. Truth be told though, New York City is where I'm the most comfortable. I think it's the anonymity of being on the island of Manhattan and the fact that you can do just about anything you would ever want to do without having to step foot off of the island. Anyways, I find the topic of my blog post a little bit amusing after just having written just a few days ago about expensive cities. My other post talked about expensive cities around the world and about the fact that New York City, though expensive, really didn't even come close to being the most expensive of the bunch. After reading an article today in the news, I would tend to rethink that analysis, because a night out on the town in Manhattan has never sounded so expensive to me.
Yes, I've spent a lot of time in New York City over the last several years, but I know how to visit and have fun affordably. I know the places to go, the places to eat, and the places to shop where I'm going to get the most bang for my proverbial buck. I was a big theater kid in high school, and I still think of myself as somewhat of a theater connosieur. I know what shows are playing, where they are playing, the stories behind them, and most importantly whose going to be in them. I think in all the shows that I've seen on the Great White Way, which I would imagine numbers somewhere between twenty-five and thirty at this point, the most that I've ever paid for a seat was about sixty dollars. Sure, some of these were balcony seats, but I paid only forty-five dollars for a third row orchestra seat to see Rent the last time I was in Manhattan. Sometimes I've paid as little as twenty dollars for those lottery tickets that people show up early to get. It just all depends. Nonetheless, a beautiful night out in Manhattan filled with theater doesn't exactly have to cost you an arm and a leg. Well, at least that used to be the case. Mel Brooks is trying to change that with his announcement of proposed ticket prices for his remake of the classic black and white comedy Young Frankenstein on Broadway. The news article that I read today quoted the price of seats being around four hundred and fifty dollars per person. The average, though slightly less, was still above two hundred dollars for a seat, which the article quoted was over one hundred dollars more than tickets for plenty of other famous and mainstream Broadway productions, even those bringing in celebrities to play the roles.
What I don't understand is the motivation behind the move to jack up ticket prices by so much. The average American simply will not be able to enjoy even the worst seats in the house. Broadway in this light will become some only the richest among us have access to. I surely will not be able to afford even the least expensive two hundred and fifty dollar tickets to see the show. I'm sure that the production will be spectacular as most things put on by Mel Brooks are, but still, the prices per seat are far more than steep. I fully understand as a musician and actor myself the money that is involved in putting a production together. However, there has to be a point where you stop yourself and say, "hey...no one is going to be able to afford to see this show". Such a show will now cater only to the upper eschelon of society, which of course Manhattan has plenty of, but such prices will turn even the most devoted theater-goers away with disgust. I guess that if this is what "new" Broadway shows are coming to, I'll have to settle for seeing the revivals and the good ole standards when I want an evening out in New York City. I'd much rather save my money for the overpriced clothing in SOHO.