Inflation, There’s the Rub
Jam Productions’ Steve Traxler, a coproducer of The Irish…and How They Got That Way, believes most off-Loop theatergoers balk at $40 tickets. “We could have charged a lot more for this show,” he says, “but we wanted to hold the price down to emphasize that this is a family show and to attract that audience.”
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Higher ticket prices may be justified, but are these companies driving away younger audiences?
Steppenwolf is offering its main-stage subscribers a 20 percent discount on each ticket, and audiences are responding. “We were up to a new high of 23,000 this season from 21,000 last year,” says Tim Evans, who concedes that at 49, the median age of a Steppenwolf subscriber isn’t young. He says the company is trying to appeal to a broader range of patrons by offering lower-priced shows in its studio and garage series, which have also spotlighted younger companies, such as Lookingglass and Roadworks. “We want to attract different kinds of audiences,” says Evans.
