Photo by Ndesh
If you’re like a lot of people in New York, you’re always down for a good music concert, dance performance, or maybe even the occasional Broadway show, but attending those events can result in a big jolt to the pocket book. Audience Extras hears your pain and works with dance, theater and and musical organizations throughout New York to accommodate both your’s and the organization’s needs. Read on below to find out how you can enjoy some of NYC’s best performance troupes without lack of funds holding you down.
Audience Extras is a cool little program that as flown under several radars. As a former director of an arts organization, I only found out about them out of the necessity to fill some seats for a major performance we were having. Members pay yearly dues of $85 and an additional $30 when you sign up that goes into your “Reserve Account”. You purchase your $3.50 tickets through this account, which is basically a processing fee for the tickets to the shows you attend. For those of you who don’t instantly recognize the savings, allow us to demonstrate:
Tickets to most off-Broadway performances usually sell for around $40. If you attend ten events in one year, you’ll spend $400 on tickets – and that’s just for one ticket each performance. With AE, you spend the $85 annual membership fee, plus a $3.50 handling charge for each ticket. And since you already have $30 in your reserve fund when you sign up, you end up paying only $12 per ticket or $120 for ten shows. You are limited to purchasing two tickets for each show; however, if you make a tax-deductible contribution of $50 you are allowed up to 4 tickets for each performance. Not a bad deal
The only down side is that you never know what is going to be available; however, in my experience there are always a few major shows each season you can attend. This is due to companies needing to have a sold out house for major events such as Galas or when the NY Times critics are there to review the performance. It’s all about impressions. You don’t want someone to pay $500 for a Gala ticket and then have a half empty house.
Audience Extra is a great way to nab tickets to events that you would normally not have access to or just outright wouldn’t be able to afford. And the best part is that it’s beneficial for both the company and the attendee.
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