SLU Charging Tickets for Musicals
To start the 2024 school year, St. Lawrence University’s Theatre changed the ticket prices from free, to five dollars. Economic pressure and student attendance were driving factors in this decision. Charging students for tickets covers partial costs of the plays and gives students a reason to show up.
The proceeds from the tickets will be used by the theatre department at SLU to help with additional costs. “We’re facing around a 20-25,000 dollar price slash from the university,” said Dan Gallagher, Technical Director and lighting designer for this semester’s production of “Urinetown: The Musical”. Charging for tickets will not cover the entirety of the price slash, but it will help in covering the extra cost of doing a musical this spring.
A musical was what the students wanted for the spring play, but it came at a higher cost. “A musical costs around four to five times as much as plays do,” said Gallagher. “That additional revenue allows us to offset the cost.” If SLU keeps charging for tickets, it allows for more engaging productions to be put on, which will increase attendance.
Free tickets caused a lot of problems among the students and their attendance at the plays. Students would block off sections of five or more students, and none of them would show up. Once all the seats were reserved, no one else could get a ticket, making it hard to fill the house.
Having a cost behind the ticket incentivizes students to show up for the play. It signifies that these plays have value to them. “If that’s how people assign value to things, then we should sell tickets for money,” said Micheal Osinski, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance.
Students may be upset with this change, but five dollars is only half of what other schools like Colgate University and Hamilton College charge. “I was surprised when I learned I had to pay, but didn’t mind doing so,” said Quin Fedor ’26. Being a smaller department on campus, charging for ticket prices is a way for it to grow.