Drama from ticket window to the stage

YES, it’s sad that today’s prices have risen to the point that many former regular theater-goers can no longer afford to attend [“Now That’s Rich,” by Mike Boehm, Dec. 2]. But sadder still is the fact that, in order to command those prices, the theater experience has had to change from “seeing a play” to being part of an “event.”

Homogenize the script so that it’s not offensive to anyone, sprinkle a few stars into the cast (whether or not they’re appropriately cast -- or can even act on a stage), market the show as the “must-see” ticket of the season, and voila, a $100 ticket is born.

TOM OGDEN

Hollywood

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BOSTON COURT, Lillian, A Noise Within, Pacific Resident Theatre, Open Fist, Victory, Fountain, Open at the Top -- just the beginning of a list of more than 200 theaters in the area where tickets prices range from $10 to $30. All seats are “down front.” Skilled, trained actors and directors and set designers and lighting experts use those spaces to present some of the best in the classics and the contemporary. A constant treat for theater-goers.

And if you hit a clinker once in a while, so what? The big venues are good at clinkers too. Do you really want to pay more than $100 to see people jump into an orchestra pit converted into a heated swimming pool?

JOAN MARTIN

Woodland Hills