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The West End vs Broadway? How much do you want to pay?

Posted by (Duluth, MN🌲) on

There was a fun 3-minute video in the New York Times today online. Two journalists, American Michael Paulson and British Alex Marshall, went to see a show in their respective theatres and then compared prices. The price difference was astronomical. Alex went to see "Paddington" in the West End, and paid $170 (2nd row center) and Michael paid $975 for cabaret seating at "Just in Time" on Broadway.

Michael Paulson pointed out that "Just in Time" is so high because of Jonathan Groff, who everyone loves, but Alex countered that "[they] don't need celebrities" in the West End for a good production. Overall the average ticket for a West End production is $81 compared with $127 on Broadway—and that was for the 2024-2025 season. It has gotten higher in the last year or so.

They then went on to compare prices for snacks and wine, and the same differences applied. It's an interesting and fun video, and worth watching. It almost makes me wonder if it would be cheaper to see all my theatre in London rather than New York.

I am 98% sure that the article was unlocked for everyone, as there was no process for gifting it. Let me know if that's not true, but I did test it on a browser I'm not logged in on, and it worked there. https://www.nytimes.com/video/theater/100000010758946/same-shows-different-prices-broadway-vs-the-west-end.html?smid=url-share

Posted by
2931 posts

Interesting topic, Mardee! I don’t see plays on Broadway but I do sometimes go in Seattle and I really like to have a nice seat, up front, with extra leg room, if possible. These seats are often hundreds of dollars - so I tend not to go that often.

I just bought tickets to two West End plays for September. I got a seat for the Lion King - Row 2, last seat on the left, tons of extra leg room. $52 dollars.

I bought for The Play That Goes Wrong as well. Row 6. Last seat on the left, tons of extra leg room. $33 dollars.

It’s quite a stark price difference in my opinion. And there are no additional fees like in the US - the ticket price is the full price.

Posted by
6537 posts

Here is the print version if you prefer to read it rather than watch a video:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/theater/tickets-theater-broadway-west-end-london.html?unlocked_article_code=1.XFA.BiF-.sE50tHks_a53&smid=url-share

I read that article the other day. The only thing I didn’t like was that they compared the top prices rather than providing a range for each production. The average person doesn’t buy $900 seats so it would have been more fair to also show the least expensive seats. While one of the writers says that they don’t need celebrities, there are plenty of London performances with celebrities and sometimes those tickets are priced higher.

I typically see a show every night when I am in London. I buy about half of the tickets at a discount. The prices in London have been creeping up but they are still less expensive than NY or even DC. I’ve been able to see a range of well-known actors (Judy Dench, Helen Mirren, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Sally Field, etc.). London theatre is really first rate.

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