So I’m seeing Aladdin tonight on Broadway (very exciting!) and as I wait for the show to start I thought I’d blog. Our tickets were not very expensive and, as such, we are way up in the balcony. I recently purchased tickets at a different show and noticed certain patterns in the pricing structure. For example, the center front of the mezzanine is the same price as the side of the orchestra towards the back. The price for the center orchestra changes farther back than on the side.
All of this is not news to people, but I wonder how these prices are determined? How do you decide that two disparate sections are worth equal amounts? Certainly the angles of the show and thus what you can see are different, but maybe that can be calculated.
Even better, this is the 21st century – why have the same price for a huge section of seats when the seats are obviously not of equal value? You could come up with a formula to determine the price of seats by location, surely.
James Cleveland-Tran
The Roots of the Equation 
Comments on: "Theatre Pricing" (1)
Considering how price fluctuation is common in other industries, such as airline tickets, I’m surprised no one has implemented this idea. Maybe there’s some factor inherent to theatre ticket buying that makes it not a worthwhile idea?
Whereas air travel is sort of a necessity in order to get where you’re going, attending the theatre is a much more luxury experience. Perhaps if people knew that prices varied so wildly it would turn people off because they might feel cheated? Or perhaps people like the risk taking of buying seats in a particular category and scoring the “good” seats in that category? Or, finally, perhaps the price variation that the market accepts is so small that grouping into the tiers that they currently use is good enough?
Whatever the reason, it was interesting to think about. Thanks!