Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 9:21 AM by Gene

POPULIST SENTIMENT OF THE WEEK:

More and more seats at hit shows are being set aside for well-heeled customers. Most producers are thrilled with the demand, because it increases their chances of making money in an industry that has always been a crapshoot.

But some fear the emphasis on premium-price seats is alienating middle- and working-class theatergoers.

Says one producer: "The number of premium seats for the special-event shows are spiraling out of control. We're setting up a system that says, Hey, if you're not rich, don't even bother coming to our show.

"That's good for our bank accounts, but it's not good for the health of the theater."

Cut the comedy, guy. (You've already cut the drama and the musicals.) Aren't you familiar with the old Irving Berlin lyric -- "Everything the traffic will allow"? What you producer-conspirators REALLY ought to do is price the first twenty rows of the orchestra at $2000 and every other seat at $1000 -- except the last row of the nosebleed section, which you can price at $10 and suitably trumpet in a PR campaign.

Thankfully these are theme parks, not theaters.

P. S. On July 9 at 5:46 p.m.: I fixed the post; I thought the lyric was "anything."