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Post by Phantom of London on Mar 15, 2016 12:18:30 GMT
Following on from our forum founder Burly Bear thread on 'a bottle of water please'.
I like to buy a programme and will buy then regardless of price, but begrudgingly. In America they are free and called Playbills, however ticket prices are more there.
Even though programmes cost here, on the odd occasion you get cracking well researched informative articles in there, especially the National Theatre, the Old Vic used to do an excellent one, but since Matthew Warchus has taken over these are becoming sub-standard.
The price of programmes seems to be going North and thought of starting this thread last night, when I was at my local Orchard Theatre, for Tell Me On A Sunday where I was surprised to be charged £5 for a brochure type programme.
At the Garrick for the plays at the Garrick they are asking a hefty £5, the Painkiller is identical to Red Velvet and The Winters Tale/Harlequinale in places.
For the pleasure of attending the Jamie Lloyd Season at the Trafalgar transformed they want £4.50, again with little content on cheap paper based product.
The biggest rip-off must be in musicals, where producers try and sell you a programme for the cast bio, but also want to sell you a brochure that has the song list in it. so if you was the cast bio and song list you have to buy both. Which means not only I have to shell out more cash it takes up more room in my ever growing collection, which I am running out of.
With charging more for programmes could this result in less money being collected, when a programme is sold at a cheaper price, you can sell more, therefore raise more money, so is this false economy?
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Post by Stasia on Mar 15, 2016 12:34:34 GMT
With charging more for programmes could this result in less money being collected, when a programme is sold at a cheaper price, you can sell more, therefore raise more money, so is this false economy? I can't say if it works exactly the same in London and in Moscow, but here at home I am a friend of the ushers company. THey provide their service in the different theatres. And usually the theatres make contracts with the cause "all the money you can make out of programmes are yours". I guess, it is still profitable to make prices higher. And I may suggest that performing one selling act and earning 10 x is easier for them than performing 10 selling acts and earning, say, 15x |
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Post by adrianics on Mar 15, 2016 12:56:44 GMT
Literally all I care about in any given production is performer and understudy information, so I frankly resent having to pay £10 for a combined programme/souvenir brochure where 99% is stuff that will date very quickly and that I wasn't interested in to begin with.
As far as I'm concerned, the Playbill model (basic information for free, then you can pay extra for a brochure with pictures etc if you want to) is ideal and I really wish they'd adopt it in the West End.
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Post by DuchessConstance on Mar 15, 2016 13:01:44 GMT
I do highly appreciate theatres that give out free cast sheets.
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Post by duncan on Mar 15, 2016 13:26:42 GMT
Outside of the National, who does free cast sheets?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 13:32:50 GMT
Outside of the National, who does free cast sheets? Royal Court usually do. I took one for Escaped Alone, though I also bought the play text. Heaven knows why, as on reflection I am unlikely to read it, but it's just become a collection habit I have trouble breaking. I did read the playtext for Enron a few years back though. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 13:37:46 GMT
The Royal Court playtext/programme is worth having comparatively though -especially given the cost of playtexts normally (only if you intend reading them though)
I bought a programme at the New Theatre in Cardiff last week for £3 which seemed like a bargain-even WMC are around the £5 plus mark now.
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Post by stefy69 on Mar 15, 2016 13:37:52 GMT
The biggest recent rip off I have come across was the Elephant Man at TRH souvenir brochure at £10 for very very little content  |
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Post by Snciole on Mar 15, 2016 13:56:10 GMT
Bush and Finborough had inflation busting 'programme' and playtext for £4 (or perhaps £3.50) so there are still good deals to be had but unless I fancy an actor (I know...) I don't tend to buy programmes anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 14:20:53 GMT
...unless I fancy an actor (I know...) I don't tend to buy programmes anymore. This made me laugh, as I'm the same! Now I come home and Google the cast list!  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2016 15:10:59 GMT
The RSC also does free cast lists. And I too will only buy a programme if I have a keen attachment to one of the performers (these days pretty much just John Heffernan, though I didn't get one for Macbeth so maybe my programme-buying days are finally over...).
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Post by DuchessConstance on Mar 15, 2016 15:11:17 GMT
The RSC and the Bush do free casts sheets, just off the top of my head.
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Post by d'James on Mar 15, 2016 15:27:29 GMT
I don't mind paying £4 for a programme, and most of the ones I've bought recently have been good value for money.
However, the one I bought last week for Hello, Norma Jeane at the Park Theatre was not good value at £3. However, I guess they've got to make a profit.
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Post by mallardo on Mar 15, 2016 15:37:21 GMT
I like Playbills not only because they're free but because they're all one size and they stack nicely on the shelf. These London programmes with their many shapes and sizes are a pain.
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Post by alece10 on Mar 15, 2016 16:33:20 GMT
I like the NT programmes as they are good value for money with plenty of reading material for the journey home on the train.
Chichester Festival Theatre programmes are also great value for money
The most expensive normal programme (not a souvenir one) was when I went to see The Pyjama Game at the Shaftsbury and they wanted £8. I politely declined.
I don't actually like Playbills. I know they are free but there is very little info in them, the print is tiny and the ink comes off on your hands.
The most expensive programme I have even seen was years ago at the RAH. It was a charity concert called Liza and Friends in aid of McMillan Nurses and they were £100.
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Post by Jon on Mar 15, 2016 16:38:34 GMT
The RSC charged for £6 each for when Wolf Hall/Bring up the Bodies was the Aldwych for two separate programmes but only £4 for the King and Country programme which was three different shows, you wonder why for Wolf Hall, they didn't just the one programme.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Mar 15, 2016 17:21:44 GMT
The RSC charged for £6 each for when Wolf Hall/Bring up the Bodies was the Aldwych for two separate programmes but only £4 for the King and Country programme which was three different shows, you wonder why for Wolf Hall, they didn't just the one programme. I assume that the reason is that, as several people explained in the thread above, the programme sales benefit the venue and not the show's producing company. |
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Post by Dawnstar on Mar 15, 2016 18:45:22 GMT
Outside of the National, who does free cast sheets? The Royal Opera House and ENO. It's particularly useful for revivals when all the information in the programme apart from the cast details will probably be the same as it was for the previous run. |
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Post by kathryn on Mar 15, 2016 22:02:54 GMT
With charging more for programmes could this result in less money being collected, when a programme is sold at a cheaper price, you can sell more, therefore raise more money, so is this false economy? It depends how much they cost to produce. Not all programmes are created equal - some clearly cost a lot more to produce than others, some clearly raise far more money from advertising than others. Playbills can't cost very much to produce at all - economies of scale come in to play because so many are produced - and must make money from advertising. |
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Post by Michael on Mar 15, 2016 22:50:58 GMT
Tbh, I don't find £4 or £5 for a programme that expensive. If available, I always go for a programme instead of a souvenir brochure and bite the bullet if only the latter is available.
Free Playbills are nice, but I'm pretty sure that they're co-founded by the higher ticket costs on Broadway. So I'd always choose West End ticket prices and a non-free programme over Broadway ticket prices and free Playbills.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2016 9:40:36 GMT
Regional ones are outrageous. Around the £4/5 mark. Say you have a twenty page programme, you would lose fifteen to adverts for other shows, an introduction from the manager and marketing for local businesses.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2016 9:45:56 GMT
Another endorsement here for the NT programmes, which are sometimes more interesting than the plays - Light Shining in Buckinghamshire comes to mind... They've gone up a bit but still good value.
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Post by Anniek on Mar 16, 2016 10:59:13 GMT
I have to say. I usually don't buy programmes, but I only paid £5 for a beautiful Phantom souvenir brochure.. I thought that was a bargain really.
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Post by peggs on Mar 16, 2016 12:36:05 GMT
The RSC also does free cast lists. And I too will only buy a programme if I have a keen attachment to one of the performers (these days pretty much just John Heffernan, though I didn't get one for Macbeth so maybe my programme-buying days are finally over...). I now don't buy a programme until the interval and then only if I'm really enjoying the show and/or don't have cast info from something else in another programme already. Sometimes I snap under a performance and buy one but generally then regret it as if it' taken me the whole production to decide it merits me buying it I'm quite likely to not still think that the morning after. Also more likely to buy those where the content is more than just a few headshots and a load of adverts, these days I go home with as many flyers as programmes. |
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Post by boybooshka on Mar 16, 2016 13:55:29 GMT
I just can't not buy them, no matter the price. I love to browse through the collection every now and then. I work at a music venue and compared to the brochures you get on a lot of the bigger name and/or flashier tours most theatre programmes are cheaper/ better value for money.
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Post by viserys on Mar 16, 2016 14:52:11 GMT
People, you should all go and see the French "spectacles" in Paris or on tour. Programmes for those, admittedly quite large and fancy like souvenir brochures, sell for 20 or 25 Euro! It annoys me very much that they don't offer separate programmes for cheap for those who only want to know the cast names and perhaps an article on how the show came about (or in most cases "What the heck were they thinking?!"). I've gone on to check out the cast bios etc on their websites ahead of a show as I can't justify 20-25 Euro for something gathering dust soon enough.
Interesting observation from the two tours in Amsterdam in recent months: When the UK Tour of Priscilla came to town, they sold souvenir brochures that didn't even contain a cast list of the tour. Had to pull that up online on my phone (and was very annoyed that I had forked out for the brochure). Now with the US Tour of Pippin they are handing out free "playbills" (that don't look like the American playbills with their yellow cover) that contain a synopsis and a cast list, but no cast bios. Would it have broken the bank to add another page? Also, the ushers didn't hand the freebies to everyone coming in, you had to ask for one. It was all a bit odd.
All this said, I think the programmes in London are usually okay, only the Menier programmes are a rip off. I also just can't not buy them as I have amassed this big collection now and I do always want to know who I'm seeing and I love the background articles and everything.
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Post by 49thand8th on Mar 16, 2016 15:12:58 GMT
Now with the US Tour of Pippin they are handing out free "playbills" (that don't look like the American playbills with their yellow cover) that contain a synopsis and a cast list, but no cast bios. Would it have broken the bank to add another page? Also, the ushers didn't hand the freebies to everyone coming in, you had to ask for one. It was all a bit odd. Wow. Really? The Pippin tour is still Equity, right? You have to have headshots and bios of everyone in the cast. (Some tour venues don't use the actual Playbill design or content, based on their contract.) |
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Post by musicalfloozie on Mar 16, 2016 16:52:46 GMT
I love my programmes and pay anything for them but have an ever growing collection to keep storing somewhere and as you say come in all shapes and sizes.Me and other half play spot who's been in The Bill. No doubt will have to knock this game on the head as been off air for ages haha.
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Post by d'James on Mar 16, 2016 18:03:09 GMT
I love my programmes and pay anything for them but have an ever growing collection to keep storing somewhere and as you say come in all shapes and sizes.Me and other half play spot who's been in The Bill. No doubt will have to knock this game on the head as been off air for ages haha. Play spot who's been in Doctors instead. |
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Post by Flim Flam on Mar 16, 2016 18:35:36 GMT
Before they sign up for the Coronation Street/Eastenders 'retirement plan'.
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