Tuesday, January 30, 2007

An Update From Backstage

The blog can now be accessed via www.viewfromthestalls.co.uk as well as its original viewfromthestalls.blogspot.com address.

We've also added a new section to the sidebar links (over on the right) called "Stage Door". This will contain general theatre links and resources - the first of these is a link to the Scottish Theatre Forum which is a great forum for those involved in any aspect of theatre to exchange views and share information and even those like us whose only involvement is in the cheap seats are made very welcome. The Forum also has its own production coming this summer - the smash hit Queen musical - "We Will Rock You"

If you have any suggestions for sites that we should also include please drop us an e-mail at blog@viewfromthestalls.co.uk

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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Pay Less.... See More

As you can see from our Now Booking / Coming Soon we've got a lot of shows coming up in the first half of the year and the cost of tickets quickly adds up - no press freebies for us! So we take advantage of any offers we can to reduce ticket prices, and it seems only fair to share some of these tips with you...

The offer we make the best use of is definitely from the Citizens - every seat for performances on a Tuesday night is only £6 which is a great saving on prices in the main theatre, and makes the more "unknown quantities" in the Circle studio less of a risk.

The Citizens also does special previews for some of their bigger shows and the prices for these can be as low as £3, but these are only available in person on the day. September 2007 - as per the comment below the previews are now pre-bookable.

A lot of other shows/theatres also do discounted tickets for the first night of a run and this generally suits us as it's nice to get a review up here nice and early when anyone reading can still get tickets for the show. Our bookings for Futurology by the NTS at the SECC cost only £5 per ticket instead of £15, and for Aalst by the NTS at the Tramway is only £6 instead of £12.

The Traverse for example does an Apex ticket offer which offers discounts on selected performances for tickets booked a week in advance.

Another tip is to look at shows in studio theatres or unusual venues where seating is unreserved. For these you can often wait until reviews come out before booking and you won't miss out on the best seats by booking late - so long as you remember to turn up early on the night! But be careful you don't get caught out by waiting too long and find the show is a sell out - as happened to us with "Volpone".

Shows that are touring can often have quite different prices at different venues so it's always worth checking if there is an alternative local venue that may offer better value.

It's also worth considering youth, community and amateur productions as with no professional salaries to be paid tickets tend to be generally better priced.

Lastly, come Edinburgh Festival time most shows do 2 for 1 offers for the first weekend. It's a bit of a risk as you'll not have seen any reviews but if you can pick shows based on the past performances by companies it's a great way to see things a little cheaper and minimise any loss if you do end up catching some of the inevitable dross.

And remember - don't just save money - use it to see more shows!

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