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Changes Are being Made, but Are They Enough?Dateline: 29th June, 2003The news that Cameron Mackintosh is to go ahead with the ambitious programme of refurbishment of his West End theatres and the creation of a new studio-style theatre, to be known as the Sondheim, is very welcome. Couple with that the commitment, also given last week, of Westminster City Council to cleaning up the West End - spending more on street cleaning, tackling begging and crime - and we can hope that the West End may soon see a rejuvenation comparable to that of Times Square under Mayor Giuliani. At the launch of his new proposals, Mackintosh made some attempt to tackle the criticism that West End theatre is too expensive. "A lot of tosh is talked about prices in the West End. The truth is, for just about any show, at least 30% of tickets are available for less than £25," he said. "We're as price-conscious as any industry." High prices, he went on, are a reflection of the high costs of putting on shows, but he does intend, he says, to attempt to make the incidental costs of theatre-going (prices of programmes, interval drinks, etc.) cheaper. Here he is touching on a real bone of contention with ordinary theatregoers: these incidental costs horrify many people and can make the difference between going or not going to the theatre. Recently at the BTG we have been receiving numerous emails about one thing, which seems to cause more anger than anything else - ticket agents' fees, which can add 20%, or even more, to the cost of a ticket. Often these are called payment processing fees and are levied on purchases made by debit or credit card, but since the only way tickets can be bought for cash is in person at the Box Office, that £7 (or thereabouts) fee is effectively part of the ticket price. People who are travelling to London want to be sure of seeing the show they want, so they have to book in advance: turning up at the Box Office in the hope of getting one of the limited number of day seats or returns is not acceptable. And then there is the cost of interval drinks. Everyone expects to pay premium prices for drinks in a theatre, no matter where they are, but when the price of a single drink is higher than that for a round for three people in the pub down the road, people naturally start to get very angry. Americans, I know, do get rather annoyed at the cost of theatre programmes. I was in one theatre a couple of years ago when an American patron expressed surprise that he was being asked to pay for a programme. The response of the seller was disgraceful: very sarcastically he damanded, "I suppose you get them free where you come from?" You could see the man biting his tongue as he moved off, without a programme. I wasn't so restrained: "Actually they do," I told the seller. "A copy of Playbill is included with every ticket bought." The response from the seller was a twisted face, a shrug of the shoulders and a "Huh!" Perhaps worse than the expense is the arrogant response to complaints. As one who visits theatres in many parts of the country, I find that where the West End excels is in the way that many theatres' staffs make you feel that they are doing you a favour by allowing you to pay a very large sum of money to enter their hallowed halls. Well done, Westminster City Council! Well done, too, Cameron Mackintosh! But CM and other theatre owners, isn't it about time that you started addressing the many niggles that detract from the pleasure of a visit to your theatres? Articles Indices:
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