The Call of Broadway: Too Pricey For Students

It's undeniable that most students choose Columbia because of its location in the greatest city in the world. However, each semester, students rarely take advantage of all the city has to offer. More specifically, most students are by no means "avid theater-goers." But this doesn't mean that students don't like theater or are uninterested in live performance. "I appreciate the acting and enjoy the singing," said Rohit Dixit, CC '04. "It's more exciting to see people on stage cry, laugh, be angry ... you get the full range of emotions and they are a lot more convincing."

The real question then becomes: why don't students attend more theater, dance, and opera performances? The answer to such a question is easy to find by analyzing the average student's budget at college. Broadway ticket prices have become nothing short of exorbitant. At $100 per seat for the most prized shows, and close to $40 for the worst seats in most theatres, it's no wonder that students don't see more New York plays.

And even while Broadway is, of course, not the only theatre district in Manhattan, off-Broadway shows--while relatively inexpensive--are often very far downtown, requiring travel time that most students can't afford to lose. Plus, off-Broadway shows may offer $10 and $15 tickets, but a portion of those shows are often under-rehearsed, poorly cast, and attract only those theater-goers who can truly appreciate theatre at its most raw.

Jenn Chu, a junior in the college, says she attends performances "two to three times per year," citing the popular Nutcracker Ballet as a show she attends annually. But she, too, rebuffed the expensive ticket prices, instead trying for the half-off and rush-ticket prices some shows offer. "I don't go more often because it's annoying standing in line waiting for the half-off tickets," she says, referring to the phenomenon organized by the big theatre producers in an attempt to sell show tickets that have not sold by the performance night for a cheaper price.

Chu simply cites a general problem with New York Theatre: while everyone waits for the more affordable theatre tickets, Broadway continues to lose money because of its high ticket price mark-ups. Even campus theatre has experienced a ticket price increase. The last three large productions of the Columbia Musical Theater Society, Godspell, Company, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying all charged approximately $10 per ticket.
Columbia should respond to its students by creating more affordable opportunities to see Broadway and off-Broadway shows at discounted rates. Programs like Urban New York are simply not enough. Perhaps the best show of Columbia's attempts at ticket discounts has been the half-off ticket prices at the MET and City Opera that come with a simple flash of your Columbia ID.

Can such a program be instituted for Broadway shows? It can, but only with student initiative. If the administration and class deans know that the students care about theater and want to see shows more often, they are far more likely to institute programs which allow students to attend the theater affordably, without having to wait in line for hours or wait until their parents come into town. No student should have to give an arm and a leg to see smiling faces and dancing feet.