5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 30, 2017 23:09:51 GMT
I know there are a few of you out there that likes their programme, me included. It is an out time we had another gripe, as it has been 2 months since the last one!!! The price seems to of gone North, but the quality seems to have gone South and a good example of this would be This House programme, which is playing the Garrick after playing The National 3 years ago, so a great litmus test for my example. In the National one, which cost £3, but would be £4 now. In this one you had; - Author Notes (2 Pages)
- Who Governs (6 Pages)
- Teeming and Lading (4 Pages)
- Lord Pendry (2 Pages)
- MPs Appearing or Referred To In This House (2 Pages)
- The House - A Glossary (2 Pages)
The one at the Garrick costs a eye watering £5 now. But only includes; - Author Notes (1 Page)
- MPs Appearing or Referred To In This House (1 Page)
- This House - A Glossary (1 Page)
- Echo Chamber - By Nick Clegg (2 Pages)
- House Calls - Some Key Players in 1970s and 1980s (A very watered down 2 pages, that takes a minute to read).
Look at programmes like the Old Vic which are expensive and a joke.
I don't get me started on musicals where they want to flog you a programme (cast list) and a brochure (song list) absolute joke.
Anyway I had my £4 worth or should that be £5 or maybe £8 for Dreamgirls or The bodyguard?
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Post by Ade on Jan 31, 2017 8:22:44 GMT
My big gripe as well as the above (but also related to the above) is that the blooming things are all different sizes. My RENT programme this last weekend was the first standard size programme I've had since my trip to Harry Potter back in July. Everything else has been Square or A4 or brochure sized. It makes them a nightmare to keep them looking tidy.
It seems the days of theatres doing the nice standard sized programmes are over and they're all just doing their own thing in order to charge a bit more.
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2,702 posts
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Post by viserys on Jan 31, 2017 8:24:35 GMT
I did notice during my most recent trip that programmes for musicals had become more pricey. For Lazarus I put it down to being something extraordinary plus wanting to cash in from Bowie fans. But then Dreamgirls was £8 as well.
However to put this in perspective, that's still less than you pay for most programmes on the continent. France takes the biscuit here with programmes around 20-25 Euro (!). And while you could argue that you get a free Playbill on Broadway, tickets there are MUCH more expensive than in London.
I suspect that brochures don't sell as well as they used to. When I started seeing shows in the late 80s, glossy souvenir brochures were the only way to get some pictures of the show in question. These days they are all over the internet long before you have even seen a show. I can't remember the last time I bought a souvenir brochure. I suspect even programmes are selling less and less as people can look up the cast, song numbers, etc. for free on the internet. So they make up by hiking the prices.
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Jan 31, 2017 12:31:22 GMT
I suspect that brochures don't sell as well as they used to. When I started seeing shows in the late 80s, glossy souvenir brochures were the only way to get some pictures of the show in question. These days they are all over the internet long before you have even seen a show. I can't remember the last time I bought a souvenir brochure. I suspect even programmes are selling less and less as people can look up the cast, song numbers, etc. for free on the internet. So they make up by hiking the prices. Printing - especially glossy colour printing - works on economies of scale. It will actually cost more per brochure to produce fewer of them. So fewer people buying them makes them more expensive - it's not just the producers trying to make up for lost profits, the costs actually rise. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2017 13:18:56 GMT
Printing - especially glossy colour printing - works on economies of scale. It will actually cost more per brochure to produce fewer of them. So fewer people buying them makes them more expensive - it's not just the producers trying to make up for lost profits, the costs actually rise. Yes, my autobiography can be purchased at the special pre-publication price of £846,271.99 |
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8,162 posts
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Post by alece10 on Jan 31, 2017 13:48:41 GMT
The most expensive programme I have ever seen was Liza and friends at the RAH many years ago. It was an eye watering £100 but it was a charity concert.
Needless to say I declined.
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Post by infofreako on Jan 31, 2017 15:13:59 GMT
Printing - especially glossy colour printing - works on economies of scale. It will actually cost more per brochure to produce fewer of them. So fewer people buying them makes them more expensive - it's not just the producers trying to make up for lost profits, the costs actually rise. Yes, my autobiography can be purchased at the special pre-publication price of £846,271.99 I will wait to see the price of theatremonkeys memoirs before making a decision |
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Post by schuttep on Jan 31, 2017 15:54:15 GMT
I used to buy a programme every time I went to the theatre. But if I'd kept them all since 1974 I'd have no space.
Now I buy RSC, National and RC play texts (and any other play texts provided at cheap prices). They are all informative and not expensive, but from subsidised theatres.
Slightly aside: My gripe is that the RSC have stopped making and selling programme binders so my latest programmes are not kept as neatly as the older ones. If the National can still do binders at a very reasonable cost, why can't the RSC?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2017 16:11:17 GMT
School of Rock's programmes are £5 and their brochures are £15.
I also overheard someone being sold a Wicked programme at £8, didn't they used to be £7?
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Post by d'James on Jan 31, 2017 16:17:36 GMT
£15??!!!!??!?!!!!! Fracking hell!!!! I remember the original Sister Act one was £10 but that came with a poster, stickers and postcards so it seemed OK value. When they did subsequent versions, it had none of that but was still £10 which I thought was a bit unfair.
If it's just pictures for £15 pound then I think that's a total rip off.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2017 16:18:56 GMT
School of Rock's programmes are £5 and their brochures are £15. I also overheard someone being sold a Wicked programme at £8, didn't they used to be £7? Was just about to mention School of Rock, its weird considering the programme also contains photos from the show. For once i actually skipped getting a brochure. Ah I thought Wicked used to be £7, thought I was going mad when I was told £8. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2017 16:20:37 GMT
£15??!!!!??!?!!!!! Fracking hell!!!! I remember the original Sister Act one was £10 but that came with a poster, stickers and postcards so it seemed OK value. When they did subsequent versions, it had none of that but was still £10 which I thought was a bit unfair. If it's just pictures for £15 pound then I think that's a total rip off. Think the School of Rock came with a couple of posters, stickers and sheet music for one of the songs. |
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Post by d'James on Jan 31, 2017 16:22:23 GMT
£15??!!!!??!?!!!!! Fracking hell!!!! I remember the original Sister Act one was £10 but that came with a poster, stickers and postcards so it seemed OK value. When they did subsequent versions, it had none of that but was still £10 which I thought was a bit unfair. If it's just pictures for £15 pound then I think that's a total rip off. Think the School of Rock came with a couple of posters, stickers and sheet music for one of the songs. A bit better, but it still sounds a lot. |
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5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 31, 2017 16:24:11 GMT
^ For that, I'd expect her to read it to me... On the cost of producing a programme, to print one of those glossy £8 jobs costs 85p. If you calculate that the cost of the journalism is probably £1.50, editing 75p or so - that is a healthy profit... Licence to Print Money perhaps? |
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5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 31, 2017 16:29:33 GMT
My big gripe as well as the above (but also related to the above) is that the blooming things are all different sizes. My RENT programme this last weekend was the first standard size programme I've had since my trip to Harry Potter back in July. Everything else has been Square or A4 or brochure sized. It makes them a nightmare to keep them looking tidy. It seems the days of theatres doing the nice standard sized programmes are over and they're all just doing their own thing in order to charge a bit more. I agree with this 100% I had the nightmare of sorting through all my programmes last night, that's what prompted that This House example and I have 6 plastic crates fall, so a real headache to sort out, especially with the different sizes and shapes, at least with Playbill apart com them being free they come in one standard size, which I am fine with. |
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5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 31, 2017 16:31:24 GMT
^ For that, I'd expect her to read it to me... On the cost of producing a programme, to print one of those glossy £8 jobs costs 85p. If you calculate that the cost of the journalism is probably £1.50, editing 75p or so - that is a healthy profit... Remember that the printing maybe cancelled out by those adverts? |
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5,062 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Jan 31, 2017 16:35:49 GMT
School of Rock's programmes are £5 and their brochures are £15. I also overheard someone being sold a Wicked programme at £8, didn't they used to be £7? Peter Pan at the National recently came with a colouring in section, so should keep Quentin Letts amused, but cost £5 😡💷😡💷😡 |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2017 16:52:50 GMT
I have 6 plastic crates fall, so a real headache
Programmes - OuchI hope that this incident has caused you no permanent damage. Although how would anyone be able to tell? |
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385 posts
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Post by Ade on Jan 31, 2017 17:39:32 GMT
My big gripe as well as the above (but also related to the above) is that the blooming things are all different sizes. My RENT programme this last weekend was the first standard size programme I've had since my trip to Harry Potter back in July. Everything else has been Square or A4 or brochure sized. It makes them a nightmare to keep them looking tidy. It seems the days of theatres doing the nice standard sized programmes are over and they're all just doing their own thing in order to charge a bit more. I agree with this 100% I had the nightmare of sorting through all my programmes last night, that's what prompted that This House example and I have 6 plastic crates fall, so a real headache to sort out, especially with the different sizes and shapes, at least with Playbill apart com them being free they come in one standard size, which I am fine with. Exactly. And it is starting to put me off getting them. Because where I used to be able to avoid brochures and stick to popping a programme in a binder, I'm now met with Square programmes (shame on you Mr Mackintosh), scaled back brochures masquerading as programmes, and in the case of school of rock a weird not-quite-programme-not-quite-brochure size that just doesn't go alongside anything. |
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Post by kathryn on Jan 31, 2017 20:37:16 GMT
^ For that, I'd expect her to read it to me... On the cost of producing a programme, to print one of those glossy £8 jobs costs 85p. If you calculate that the cost of the journalism is probably £1.50, editing 75p or so - that is a healthy profit... Add on design, typesetting, proofreading, someone to manage the process to make sure it's ready on time (who may or may not be doing the typesetting/editing etc as well) and someone handling the advertising sales. Of course there's a profit margin - no-one would bother otherwise. If they really are selling less than the per unit cost will rise, though. |
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Post by fiyero on Feb 4, 2017 22:51:08 GMT
My recent programme from The Mayflower, Southampton had a lovely spread on their air conditioning system. 2 pages I think.
Now I actually did find that interesting but not sure how many of the audience of Evita would agree!
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Post by lynette on Feb 4, 2017 23:14:48 GMT
I don't buy them anymore, lack of space now. Not missed except when I want to check whether I've seen something or not! And of course I forget the names of the actors though I know who they are so to speak!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 2:16:37 GMT
I dread to think how much money I've spent on programmes - sometimes they've been more than the ticket price for me!
I do think I'll stop one day when I run out of room, but also think it's a shame when you can find full biographies and production or rehearsal photographs, I think they should start being more unique somehow. Having said that I always end up giving in and getting one!
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4,806 posts
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Post by Mark on Mar 4, 2017 8:10:44 GMT
Through my uni years I'd buy a programme for pretty much everything and I now have boxes and boxes full of them. Have stopped now apart from the very odd one not just because of the price, but I just don't have the room to store them.
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4,156 posts
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Post by kathryn on Mar 4, 2017 8:39:58 GMT
The 85p included layout and proof, as well as print. That's all done in a single job, along with the production management of it. Advert sales they can tap into a pool, too. The margins are huge, and theatres love it as they keep the cash. Different from other printing, I think? You'd know, I think Kathryn as I think you are in that field? Hmm, maybe I should switch to programme publishing...sounds like a *lot* less hassle than my job! |
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