Pricing Backlash Over Acorn Antiques???

Theatregoers aren’t the only ones balking at the high ticket prices for Victoria Wood’s upcoming musical version of her TV spoof Acorn Antiques, which starts performances next month at the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket (See News, 2 Dec 2004). The Stage today reports that several leading agents are refusing to stock it because the top-price of £65, which sets an all-time high for the West End, makes bulk-buying too great a financial risk. What’s more, according to the newspaper, a “ludicrous” £4.75 per ticket charge passed on to the agents themselves on top of the face value for any stock not bought in advance has discouraged many from promoting the show to their customers at all. At a press conference earlier this month, producer Paul Roberts from Phil McIntyre Promotions admitted to Whatsonstage.com that Acorn Antiques is an expensive ticket – “there’s no point in pretending otherwise” – but that the “simple economics” of putting on a star-cast musical at the 888-seat Haymarket necessitated the hike.

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