THE (BROADWAY) SHOW MUST GO ON, WE HOPE

 

Dear Theatergoing Friends

I don't think it was my imagination, I really don't.  It was starting to feel like Broadway Theater's comeback was just the ticket to bring back life to just about every one of us that enjoy life in NYC and the surrounding area.  And life to so many friends and clients we've worked with over the past 44 years or so throughout the country and around the world.  Our small business at Applause-Tickets.com was selling tickets to all the shows in town again, hardly skipping a beat.

My favorite part of selling tickets again was being able to talk with our friends and clients, catching up on their lives, their family and work lives as well.  Sure, we did some business again and most bought tickets for one show or another to celebrate going out once again to attend one of the fabulous Broadway Shows playing in New York City.  I had just been saying to my wife Celeste that the "Broadway comeback" was going really well but I guess I spoke too soon.

No sooner did I say those words, then I had heard that Radio City Christmas Spectacular was cancelling its Friday December 17,2021 performances.  All four of them.  Then an hour or so later, I heard that they were cancelling the remainder of the seasons schedule-60 performances or so I would think.  We had sold lots of tickets for this annual New York City attraction.  We are spending most of this weekend organizing and preparing for refunds to Applause-Tickets.com friends and clients. 

Then we had heard that a few Broadway shows were cancelling one or two of their performances on the weekend as well.  Mrs. Doubtfire, Tina the Musical, Jagged Little Pill, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hamilton, Ain't Too Proud, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge! and a few others had cancelled some shows as well.  So hopefully when these shows resume playing again in a few days, that'll be the end of it.  Wishful thinking on my part.  Even though I'm an optimist in general, I'm feeling quite uneasy about this Broadway comeback-at least for now.

Just earlier today we learned that Aladdin cancelled two performances today.  And Edie Falco's final performance in Morning Sun today was nixed also.  Oh well.  What can we do, right?

Not knowing what to expect for our little business as far as a "comeback" is concerned, as we look into the future (which is only this week right now), we are prepared to do whatever we have to, to comfort our friends and clients, make refunds for cancelled shows and get people into shows that are still playing.  Most of the shows have been unaffected so far.  Let's hope it stays that way.

Whether you buy your tickets from Applause-Tickets or from somewhere else, we hope you'll call on us with a question or an inquiry on possibly making a purchase for one of the fabulous Broadway Shows in New York City.

Please stay the course my friends and let us know if we can be of service to you or someone you know, with regards to attending a show, getting information on cancelled performances or just want to talk about theater or anything else for that matter.

Cheers to one and all and best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year.  Above all, please be careful and stay safe.  After all, that's really all that matters in the end.  Broadway Theatre will comeback full force eventually and without cancelled shows due to the virus.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post.  Call me personally anytime if you want to talk about Broadway or anything else.

Best Regards                                          

Rich Gladstone

President

Applause-Tickets.com

Phone 800-451-9930 or 212-307-7050

REFLECTIONS ON BROADWAY SHOW REOPENING'S

 

To my fellow Broadway Show fanatics,

 It’s so great that we can all attend live theatre again isn’t it?  I’ve seen six shows so far these last several weeks and have plans to see several more in January 2022 when our ticket selling business at Applause-Tickets begins migrating into its usual “off peak” season in New York’s Winter months.

 Broadway ticket sales surpassed $26 million dollars last week. Can you imagine that? And 83% of the seats were filled.  This is a small drop from the previous Thanksgiving Week but still fantastic numbers since Broadways official reopening in September.

 Although several of our friendly competitors closed their business during the pandemic, we decided to keep ours open. And we are sure glad we did. We are pleased to report that business is back and Applause-Tickets is on its way back to busy times. Like we haven’t seen in a very long time. Apparently our out of town business is starting to travel again and with a fervor I thought was long gone. Not only are people now purchasing higher priced seats, often “premium” category seating but they are buying two and three shows at a time. I guess there’s something to the concept of being a “pent up demand”.  I imagine most of us shut in these last 16 months or so would tend to agree with.

 My wife, Celeste (who has been a huge help with Applause-Tickets reopening) and I are planning to go and see Moulin Rouge!, Ain’t Too Proud, Mrs. Doubtfire, Tina the Musical, MJ, the Michael Jackson Musical, Plaza Suite, which starts in February and stars Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Company, Girl from the North Country, Six The Musical and Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster in The Music Man.  And I almost forgot, we are looking forward to seeing Funny Girl, the show that launched the career of Barbra Streisand. I feel like that’s gonna be a great one. And what about Billy Crystal returning to Broadway in Mr. Saturday night, a show written by Billy, who will star in it as well. How awesome is that?

 I may make a living being in the Broadway ticket selling business, but I actually still get a thrill walking through the theater district just before going in to see a show, often after having a great meal in one of the theater district restaurants.  Or a quick slice of pizza if we are rushed for time.  Maybe even two slices.  I love New York City and have the great pleasure of sharing my experiences with my out-of-town friends and clients. It’s so awesome. I’ve been very lucky to have this job for over 44 years now.

 Lastly, I would like to say thank you to all of Applause-Tickets wonderful friends and clients that have supported our business over the years. I wouldn’t be able to write this post if it weren’t for you helping us to achieve the level of success that we have.

 And a special “shout out” to our travel industry friends, who have also had a difficult time during this pandemic. We all seem to be on our way back to business in our “new normal”. I hope you'll consider using a travel agent to book your trips.  They are experts and can be so helpful when traveling to places you might not know too much about.

 We are thankful to have our health and to have the great privilege to attend live theater on Broadway once again.  Although things are clearly not the same as they have been for most of our lives, a simple thing like attending a live Broadway show or just about any other live entertainment event, helps bring us back to days gone by. Thank goodness for this.

 I sincerely appreciate you taking a moment to read this post.  If you want to talk about Broadway Theatre, please call me anytime.  I’d love to talk about New York Theatre, restaurants or even just things to do in The Big Apple.

 Cheers to Broadway’s triumphant return. And good luck to all of us. Enjoy your holidays and have a very Happy New Year.  And a healthy one. Stay safe friends.

 Best Regards,

Rich Gladstone

President

Applause-Tickets.com

212-307-7050

800-451-9930