West End’s Longest Musicals Slash Prices

In the most visible sign yet of the growing crisis of slumped box office
figures in the West End, Cameron Mackintosh’s long-running productions of
Cats, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera have slashed their
seat prices. All seats in the top two price ranges are being offered at just
£25 for Monday to Thursday evening performances to the end of January 2002.
They must, however, be booked by Dec 31.

The move follows a similar inititave by MacKintosh in New York where the company is billing its half price ticket offers as a Broadway Winter Sale. The Broadway offers will go on sale to the general public later this week and are available from now through December 24.

Meanwhile, the soon-to-shutter Over the Moon has also been
advertising its tickets at £10 and £15.

These moves follow the initiatives announced by Mayor Ken Livingstone late
last month, in which he pledged £500,000 to help prop up the ailing
industry. The money will go towards promoting 100,000 free and discounted
theatre tickets, in a scheme whose details are yet to be announced.

Regular theatregoers, of course, are adept at seeking discounts, either via
the Society of London Theatre’s tkts tickets book in Leicester Square or via
offers such as can be found on this website.

– Mark Shenton