SCR Alters ‘Pay What You Will’ Rules

In November, South Coast Repertory instituted a discount policy, which designated the first Saturday matinee of every production as a “pay what you will” performance. The policy has allowed patrons to make same-day, box-office purchases of up to four tickets each at any price they chose, until all unsold seats for that performance ran out.

“Those performances tend to have slow ticket sales,” SCR spokesman Cristofer Gross said Wednesday. “That’s why we picked them for ‘pay what you will.’ We need the business, and it gives people a chance to see the show for a low, low price. We suggest a $5 price, but people have been paying less than that on average.”

However, having fielded one complaint from a patron who lined up for a “pay what you will” ticket and couldn’t make a purchase because all the unsold seats had run out, SCR will begin limiting sales of “pay what you will” tickets to two per person. The modification is to take effect April 20, for the first Saturday matinee performance of “El Dorado.”

“That will give more people who line up a shot at the discount,” Gross said, “unless people begin lining up with a relative. If that happens, the line will just get twice as long.”

SCR has sold an average of 70 “pay what you will” tickets per show at a total of six performances, Gross said. The most recent “pay what you will” sale came to 91 tickets for “You Can’t Take It With You” at an average price of $2.60 per ticket. Volunteer prices ranged from 50 cents to $10, he said. Full prices normally run from $23 to $30.

SCR also has a “today tix” discount policy, which allows patrons to make same-day, half-price purchases of unsold tickets for any performance. There is no limit to the number of “today tix” tickets a patron may buy.

“Obviously,” Gross said, “on the days we have ‘pay what you will’ performances, we wouldn’t run out of those discount tickets and then switch to the half-price tickets. ‘Pay what you will’ would take precedence. Of course, if somebody wants to pay for a half-price ticket on that day, the box office wouldn’t be obligated to offer a ticket for less.”