Chatty strolls down Sesame Street...and learns some numbers
Chatty’s first experience with live theater in the Phoenix area was a wonderful dinner theater show about Patsy Cline – but that was last year.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, in a fit of – Chatty isn’t sure what, just that it was a fit of some sort – she decided to buy tickets for the grandchild, The Wiz, and herself to see “Sesame Street – When Elmo Grows Up”, a production currently touring the US.
On a Thursday night.
Yes.
Apparently, Chatty is not too bright.
The grandchild loved the show – he completely ignored his seat and sat on The Wiz - quivering like a greyhound, totally focused on what was happening onstage…just as such an experience SHOULD be… but he (and most of the other kids) were fading for the last 20 minutes of the show. It might have been different had we been attending a matinee, but a show aimed at the 3-6 year old set that starts at 7:00 p.m. should NOT have an intermission. Chatty's just sayin'...
Nevertheless, the powers-that-be decided to have that 15-minute intermission (which stretched to 20 minutes), instead of going straight through - so the 7 p.m. show (which started late) didn't end until almost 9 p.m. Most of the kids were sleepy and dozed through the last 3 production numbers.
This ticked Chatty off, because the ONLY reason she can figure out they insisted on an intermission was to give them the opportunity to sell more, ummmm… “stuff” (actually, Chatty is thinking of a four-letter word that starts with “c” and ends with “rap”. And BOY was there a lot of it on sale). Chatty uses the term “on sale” loosely, because it was more like highway robbery.
She paid 7 dollars for the “program and activity book"; The Wiz stood in line through the entire intermission to get the grandchild an eight dollar "Elmo" helium balloon (which hit a ceiling fan the next day when the grandchild accidentally let it go - it popped loudly, deflated instantly, and generated many tears); the popcorn was 4 bucks; the nachos were 5 bucks (there were also “kid’s meals” available for $6.50 – nasty-looking, over-cooked “chicken fingers” and corn dogs, oh my - but the grandchild had eaten earlier and only wanted popcorn, which he spilled, but hey - it wasn't very good popcorn anyway); the tickets were $15 PLUS an 8 dollar "handling fee" per ticket; and a small cup of Miller Light (which Chatty really needed, surrounded as she was by screaming, drooling, sticky infants) was another seven bucks. Parking was an additional nine dollars. Luckily, The Wiz didn’t fall for that – he found a spot on the street. All in all, we paid $108 for this little evening out, and because of greed on the part of the organizers, the grandchild (and all the other children Chatty could see) dozed through the last 20 minutes of a 75-minute show.
But hey, we got off cheaply - the tickets for the WEEKEND shows (from the scalpers) are going for $115 and UP. Can you believe it? And, of course, NO discounts for children. Period. What a rip – especially as most children sat in a parent’s lap anyway…
Chatty was lucky and got the tickets for what they were worth (except for the handling fee...which was more than half of each ticket price…grrrrrrr) because the local news station mentioned a free members-only site that had tickets if you signed up and gave them your email address. But, her $15 tickets were selling for $75 elsewhere on-line, for those unlucky enough to buy late.
Let’s do the math for three children and a parent. Let’s assume that they got the tickets for $25 x 4 = $100 (this is optimistic, unless they bought weeks ago). Plus an $8 handling fee per ticket x 4 = $32. Three kid’s meals @ $6.50 = $19.50; plus drinks ($15 for the kids at five bucks a pop, and let's throw in a beer for dad (or mom) – another $7). Then there's $9.00 for parking, which a parent alone with three children would probably opt for out of necessity. And what about the souvenirs? Let’s say Dad (or mom) keeps it to a pennant ($10), a program ($7), an Elmo balloon ($8) and a CD ($15). That adds up to around $220. Now, if the kids want any of the puppets, or GENUINE chocolate chip cookies and COLD MILK (a separate stand, another line), or cotton candy (another stand, another line), or stuffed toys etc. etc. etc. – just keep adding.
Chatty is sure many of you have had experiences like this – probably even more expensive - and are laughing at Chatty’s naivete. She is also fairly certain that taking the family to a baseball game, or even out to dinner and a movie is much the same. And Disneyland probably requires a bank loan if you don’t live in the immediate area (which Chatty did for many years, so she knows), because even then, it’s absurdly expensive.
It’s just that Chatty doesn’t understand how the majority of parents with two or three children can provide such treats for them.
Maybe they just can’t, and that’s a darned shame.
It’s wonderful for a child to be exposed to live theater; to see their favorite characters come to life; to go out for an adventure and learn to behave nicely in public…(which most of the children did, Chatty is happy to report).
But, it’s an experience priced so high that many children may never have the opportunity for such an adventure.
Chatty finds this sad.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, in a fit of – Chatty isn’t sure what, just that it was a fit of some sort – she decided to buy tickets for the grandchild, The Wiz, and herself to see “Sesame Street – When Elmo Grows Up”, a production currently touring the US.
On a Thursday night.
Yes.
Apparently, Chatty is not too bright.
The grandchild loved the show – he completely ignored his seat and sat on The Wiz - quivering like a greyhound, totally focused on what was happening onstage…just as such an experience SHOULD be… but he (and most of the other kids) were fading for the last 20 minutes of the show. It might have been different had we been attending a matinee, but a show aimed at the 3-6 year old set that starts at 7:00 p.m. should NOT have an intermission. Chatty's just sayin'...
Nevertheless, the powers-that-be decided to have that 15-minute intermission (which stretched to 20 minutes), instead of going straight through - so the 7 p.m. show (which started late) didn't end until almost 9 p.m. Most of the kids were sleepy and dozed through the last 3 production numbers.
This ticked Chatty off, because the ONLY reason she can figure out they insisted on an intermission was to give them the opportunity to sell more, ummmm… “stuff” (actually, Chatty is thinking of a four-letter word that starts with “c” and ends with “rap”. And BOY was there a lot of it on sale). Chatty uses the term “on sale” loosely, because it was more like highway robbery.
She paid 7 dollars for the “program and activity book"; The Wiz stood in line through the entire intermission to get the grandchild an eight dollar "Elmo" helium balloon (which hit a ceiling fan the next day when the grandchild accidentally let it go - it popped loudly, deflated instantly, and generated many tears); the popcorn was 4 bucks; the nachos were 5 bucks (there were also “kid’s meals” available for $6.50 – nasty-looking, over-cooked “chicken fingers” and corn dogs, oh my - but the grandchild had eaten earlier and only wanted popcorn, which he spilled, but hey - it wasn't very good popcorn anyway); the tickets were $15 PLUS an 8 dollar "handling fee" per ticket; and a small cup of Miller Light (which Chatty really needed, surrounded as she was by screaming, drooling, sticky infants) was another seven bucks. Parking was an additional nine dollars. Luckily, The Wiz didn’t fall for that – he found a spot on the street. All in all, we paid $108 for this little evening out, and because of greed on the part of the organizers, the grandchild (and all the other children Chatty could see) dozed through the last 20 minutes of a 75-minute show.
But hey, we got off cheaply - the tickets for the WEEKEND shows (from the scalpers) are going for $115 and UP. Can you believe it? And, of course, NO discounts for children. Period. What a rip – especially as most children sat in a parent’s lap anyway…
Chatty was lucky and got the tickets for what they were worth (except for the handling fee...which was more than half of each ticket price…grrrrrrr) because the local news station mentioned a free members-only site that had tickets if you signed up and gave them your email address. But, her $15 tickets were selling for $75 elsewhere on-line, for those unlucky enough to buy late.
Let’s do the math for three children and a parent. Let’s assume that they got the tickets for $25 x 4 = $100 (this is optimistic, unless they bought weeks ago). Plus an $8 handling fee per ticket x 4 = $32. Three kid’s meals @ $6.50 = $19.50; plus drinks ($15 for the kids at five bucks a pop, and let's throw in a beer for dad (or mom) – another $7). Then there's $9.00 for parking, which a parent alone with three children would probably opt for out of necessity. And what about the souvenirs? Let’s say Dad (or mom) keeps it to a pennant ($10), a program ($7), an Elmo balloon ($8) and a CD ($15). That adds up to around $220. Now, if the kids want any of the puppets, or GENUINE chocolate chip cookies and COLD MILK (a separate stand, another line), or cotton candy (another stand, another line), or stuffed toys etc. etc. etc. – just keep adding.
Chatty is sure many of you have had experiences like this – probably even more expensive - and are laughing at Chatty’s naivete. She is also fairly certain that taking the family to a baseball game, or even out to dinner and a movie is much the same. And Disneyland probably requires a bank loan if you don’t live in the immediate area (which Chatty did for many years, so she knows), because even then, it’s absurdly expensive.
It’s just that Chatty doesn’t understand how the majority of parents with two or three children can provide such treats for them.
Maybe they just can’t, and that’s a darned shame.
It’s wonderful for a child to be exposed to live theater; to see their favorite characters come to life; to go out for an adventure and learn to behave nicely in public…(which most of the children did, Chatty is happy to report).
But, it’s an experience priced so high that many children may never have the opportunity for such an adventure.
Chatty finds this sad.
It is sad that family stuff is so pricey. But I do think it is wonderful that children, despite their exposure to the special effects of tv and movies, can still be enthralled by live theatre.
I took a group of Big Brother/Big Sister children to a play several years ago. It was so much fun to see them "glued to the action" - which was pretty tame compared to movies/tv.
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Oh yes, I totally get what you're talking about. Which is exactly why we don't go often to places like that. And when we do, our kids know you eat first, drink water from a fountain (which is become increasingly scarce, and consider yourself lucky if you get ice cream!
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Yours is a lucky one, wouldn't you say? Thanks for your story and taking him out!
You know, I havn't been to Disney, but I have heard of the prices, but aren't the lines awfully long too? Sounds like purgatory to this quiet and childless guy.
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Good article on the primary/secondary ticket market:
http://www.ticketnews.com/Ticketmaster-begins-scalping-Radiohead-tickets-on-TicketsNow4816789
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