Cheaper seats fit the bill

Rising gas prices have forced theatergoers to reassess their spending. But theater operators say that when economic times are slow, people will still go to see live entertainment, opting instead to postpone trips or luxury car purchases. These days, however, half-price tickets are taking center stage for those who usually buy orchestra seats, and the changing buying patterns are forcing theaters to find creative ways to reach out to patrons.

“I will never give up my seats at the Ahmanson, but I didn’t buy the whole series this year,” Patsy Limon says. “I was more selective. Like everybody else, I’m just more conscious of the money.”

Limon, chief financial officer for Snyder Diamond, is a season ticket holder for the Geffen Playhouse, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Da Camera Society. She goes to Hollywood Bowl concerts, South Coast Repertory shows, and enjoys dance performances at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

“This year, for the first time, I’m using Goldstar to get discounted tickets. When I go to Hollywood to see something, I take the subway, which is much cheaper than paying for parking. And whenever possible, we carpool.”

Sheldon Epps, artistic director of the Pasadena Playhouse, says ticket sales have been sluggish since late 2007. “We first began noticing it during the run of ‘Ray Charles Live,’ ” he says. “We thought some of it was attributable to the writers strike, as lots of people were worried about not working. As the strike ended, we ran into other economic fears but are still doing well because of aggressive pricing.”

The theater offers a variety of discounts. For example, full-price tickets for the musical “Mask” are $61 to $76, with nine discounts available, including $15 student tickets, $35 group prices, a 2-for-1 postcard offer and a pay-what-you-can performance.

Executives with Goldstar and the LA Stage Alliance, which offer half-price tickets to events, say business is brisk, but they don’t know how much is because of the economy and how much is because of increased purchasing online.

“There’s been a tidal wave of change in the way people make their entertainment choices since the Internet revolution, and the downturns and booms in the economy are sand castles in the path of that wave,” says Jim McCarthy, chief executive of Goldstar. “From our perspective, we’re continuing to set internal sales records every month.”

This stands in contrast with full-price ticket sales at venues such as the Geffen Playhouse, where sales have been sluggish since the end of January, according to Managing Director Stephen Eich. Patrons previously purchased tickets two or three weeks in advance, but now buy only days in advance.

“People are planning more carefully and being cautious about spending their dollars,” Eich says.

Jim Royce, director of marketing and communication for Center Theatre Group, which includes the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre, says the economy often has an opposite effect on theater ticket sales. “When the housing market was doing well, we saw a downturn in ticket buying because when people are buying homes, that first year of discretionary income restricts them,” he says. “But audiences don’t stay home in a downturn.”

CTG offers a limited number of $20 tickets for productions. When the discounted tickets were announced online for “My Fair Lady,” Royce says, $22,000 worth were sold in one day. “But we won’t sell third-row seats at $20. Even on a walk-up, someone will buy it at full price,” he says.

Theatergoers are cutting back on purchases and thinking twice about how far they’re willing to drive.

“My partner and I are big fans of Bernadette Peters, and she’s got a show coming up in the Cerritos Arts Center, which is about 20 miles from where we live,” says Matthew Lynch, a fundraiser for a local nonprofit who lives in the midcity Wilshire area. “With gas prices being what they are, that’s too far to go for us. Maybe wealthy people continue to patronize all the arts, but when you look at middle-class families, we’re scaling back.”

The two are now exploring shows at Black Dahlia and 2100 Square Feet, small theaters closer to home.

Kaz Matamura, co-owner of the Secret Rose Theatre, a small theater in North Hollywood, says all phone reservations for their latest show, “The Rabbi and the Shiksa,” came from the 818 area code.

“For other shows, we usually get calls from 323, 213 and 949 area codes as well, but for this last show, it was all people who live nearby,” Matamura says.

High gas prices worry Tim Dang, artistic director of East West Players, because research shows about 40% of the audience drives 11 to 20 miles to the Little Tokyo theater, coming from the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel, Torrance and Gardena. “We’re trying to think of ways to reach out to our audience and to expand it,” says Dang.

“We’ll have the usual pay-what-you-can performances, seniors and student tickets and on slow nights will go to half-price tickets with Goldstar and L.A. Stage Alliance. But everyone nationwide is hunkering down because foundations and corporations have told us that funding will be less next year.”

Goldstar research shows that 95% of Los Angeles theatergoers are not willing to travel more than 12 miles to a venue, but if a show is hot, exceptions are made.

East Los Angeles resident Susan Santillan attends theater about three times a month. “Nobody wants to pay a lot of money for gas,” says Santillan, an Oracle support specialist for a local distribution company, “but if it’s a show I want to see, I’ll do it because it’s a one-time thing.