Good thread, this one. Broadway Shows, and open-run Shows in other cities, live and die by their Advance Sales, even though only the
House profits from the interest earned on the advance money. I was surprised when I moved here 16 years ago that Vegas didn't work that way. All tickets were sold day-of or day-before the performance. Most older rooms didn't even use tickets--the patron just made an unpaid reservation, lined up one hour prior to curtain, and "greased" the maitre'd (House Manager) to get the best un-occupied seats. They would be shown to their seats by a Captain (usher) who also expected a "toke." Dinner shows were pretty much gone in Las Vegas by 1993. During the last 15-20 minutes of the show, the waiters would come by with the bill and their flashlight, and expect settlement then and there, during the show!
Since then, just about every venue in town has converted to standard
theatre seating, eliminating the long tables and VIP booths, and gone to advance purchase reserved seats. I suspect some shows have built quite an advance. Even the shows without an advance are not in much danger of closing, as an investment has been made of $10-80 million to customize the venue. Plus production costs of $10-100 million. Las Vegas is not like Broadway, where a producer can put on a small play with a measly $5M capitalization.
About three years ago, two competing "TKTS"-type (half-price, day of show) outlets sprung up here, and speculation arose how well they would do, and whether Hotels/Productions would be willing to discount their unsold seats.
I have no answers, as the results are still unclear. As I used to explain to callers when I worked as a phone operator in Chicago and was asked why my show wasn't available at a discount: "Theaters only make tickets available to Hottix when they can't sell them all at full price." Thus the shows that
are available at Tix-4-Tonite are not the most desirable shows. Not that they're bad shows, just that they don't sell out in advance the way that say
O,
LOVE,
A New Day, do.
Everyone agrees an unfilled seat is unfulfilled income potential.
No one agrees on what to do about it. Sorry if I've talked a lot and said nothing. While proof-reading my post, that's the impression I've given myself. Can I
BE any more ego-centric?