Odd Man Out - Parabasis

Odd Man Out - Parabasis:

Whenever the question of price comes up, someone trots out the whole "people drop lots of money on music or bars, so it's not like they're poor" argument. It completely misses the point. The question to ask is why? Why do people who would never drop $40 bucks on an Off-Broadway play feel comfortable dropping $100 to see Prince? Because of the quality of the experience. Theatre is falling down on the quality of the experience.

Concert ticket sales are suffering. Album sales are suffering. No one says that music is dying. When your team is bad, your ticket sales suffer. Baseball isn't dying. I don't think theatre is dying, but I think it's time to retire the entire idea of the fabulous invalid, sitting high above other experiences as a special thing, meant to be nurtured and given love and support for simply existing. Our theatres are failing and they're failing because of the work they're doing. Not just because the country is full of philistines.