For the past 4 years in the musical industry, there has been an unwritten rule ‘The price of VIP seat tickets for domestic productions should be within 150,000 won’. The reason is that if the price of two tickets exceeds 300,000 won, the demand for couples who want to enjoy a ‘musical date’ may drop sharply. So, musical agencies have kept this price, whether they are posting expensive works or making musicals featuring popular actors.
The ‘VIP seat = 150,000 won’, which is called the ‘psychological marginal line’ of the musical entrance fee, was broken. This is attributable to a large increase in various costs due to omnidirectional inflation. The revival of demand for musicals as the COVID-19 calmed down also played a part. This is a result of reflecting the confidence that “we can fill enough seats even if we raise the entrance fee”. The performance industry expects that the ‘ticket price increase’ movement, which is appearing in musicals following movies and classical performances, will become steeper and spread more widely.
Musical admission fee increased for the first time in 4 years
According to the performance industry on the 6th, the musical production company Shownote has set the price of the VIP seat ticket for ‘West Side Story’, which will open in November, at 160,000 won. This is the first time that the entrance fee for a musical made in Korea is set at 150,000 won or more. R seats are 130,000 won, S seats are 100,000 won, and A seats are 70,000 won.
This performance is a reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as a regional version of New York’s West Side in the 1950s. Thanks to its huge box office success on Broadway in the US, licensed performances are continuing around the world. In the Korean licensed performance, star actors such as Kim Junsu have been confirmed, and there is already talk of ‘sold out’ tickets.
Starting with this work, the industry believes that ‘VIP seat = 160,000 won’ will become the new price formula. This is because in the past, when some large works cut the ‘starting tape’ of price increases, other works followed immediately. The VIP seat ticket price, which was 120,000 won in 2010, has risen to 150,000 won in 2018. It has been keeping this price for 4 years, judging that ‘if the price of two tickets exceeds 300,000 won, a headwind can blow’.
Shownote argued that the situation might no longer be tolerated. A company official said, “In the followingmath of inflation, the cost of stage production such as costumes, props, lighting, and video has increased significantly, and labor costs have also risen sharply,” said a company official. Other musical production companies are said to have entered Django ahead of the year-end concert ticket opening. An industry official said, “Most production companies are burdened with breaking the barrier of ‘VIP seats = 150,000 won’, but considering the explosive increase in demand for musicals this year, they do not expect price resistance to be large.” According to the Arts Management Support Center, ticket sales in the first half of this year reached 182.6 billion won, doubling from the first half of last year (91 billion won).
Won Jong-won, professor of Journalism and Broadcasting at Soonchunhyang University (musical critic) said, “Unlike Broadway in the US or West End in the UK, where the same performances are continuously held in dedicated theaters, in Korea, the break-even point has to be crossed within 3-4 months. If there is a ‘supply shortage’, the ticket price will go up,” he explained.
◆Classic concert ticket prices are also ‘high march’
It’s not just musicals that have increased admission fees. The price of the R seat for the London Symphony Orchestra concert with pianist Seong-Jin Cho next month will be 400,000 won, up regarding 15% from 4 years ago (350,000 won). The price of an R seat ticket (340,000 won) for a famous overseas orchestra concert in Korea in June has nearly doubled compared to 2017 (180,000 won).
The industry expects that the price of R seats for top-class overseas orchestras, which was in the late 400,000 won range last year, will soon break the 500,000 won wall. Airfare is so high. In order to invite a famous orchestra to Korea, it is necessary to purchase plane tickets for at most 100 people, including conductors, members, and staff. Large instruments such as the cello also occupy a seat.
An official from a classical performance agency said, “In a situation where the number of seats in the concert hall cannot be increased, the cost has increased significantly, and there is no other way than to raise the admission fee.” The cancellation of the concert with conductor Klaus Mekele and the Paris Orchestra, scheduled for next month, was also due to the cost burden caused by the surge in logistics costs.
The same goes for movies, where ticket prices have risen. Major movie theaters, such as CGV, Lotte Cinema, and Megabox, raised their admission fees several times as their business conditions worsened in the followingmath of Corona 19. The current weekend entrance fee is 15,000 won. Tickets for special halls such as 4DX cost well over 20,000 won. It is up regarding 30% from the pre-pandemic level.
Reporter Yeonsu Shin/ Dongkyun Cho sys@hankyung.com