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Monday, December 19, 2011

Theater Theater You Can Afford.

Posted by Alison Hallett on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 10:59 AM

(Disclaimer: This is a post about coupon clipping.)

On my Angels in America review, a commenter said she wanted to see the show but lamented ticket prices—I emailed Portland Playhouse's Michael Weaver to ask if there were any cheap ticket options, and he reminded me that not only do we sell two-for-one tickets through MercPerks (to Portland Playhouse as well as PCS and the Miracle), but there are also a ton of theater coupons in the 2012 Chinook book, now available at hippie grocery stores citywide.

I asked for a Chinook Book for my birthday last month, because I am a 60-year-old woman and keeping my cat in fancy kibble gets expensive. It's got a ton of entertainment coupons: Two for one tickets to Portland Center Stage, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Artists Repertory Theater; a few general two-for-one coupons that can be used at Portland Playhouse, the CoHo, the Miracle, Profile, and others; plus deals on tickets to the Oregon Children's Theater, Tears of Joy, the Portland Art Museum, Live Wire!, and plenty more (all of which are duplicated on the great, arguably more useful $10 mobile app, btw). I'd buy it as a gift if were buying presents for anyone but immediate family this Christmas, which I'm not, because, like seemingly all of my friends—who would no doubt actually really appreciate a book of coupons right now—I am shockingly broke this year.

All of this speaks to the larger point that while theater can seem crazy expensive, between deals like these, preview nights, pay-what-you-will nights, rush tickets, OBT's new pay-your-age program, and Art for All's discounts for Oregon Trail Card holders, there are definitely ways to cram in theater on a budget.

(Tangential: I really wish people would stop telling me that "theater is the building, theatre is the art form." I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TO BE TRUE. #theatercriticproblems)

 

Comments (2) RSS

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1
It's spelled "theater" either way because we are citizens of the United States of Goddamn America and that is how we spell the word. Anyone who spells it "theatre" is a just being pretentious and/or British. #thingsIspendwaytoomuchtimerantingaboutwiththecopydesk
Posted by Ben Waterhouse on December 19, 2011 at 11:35 AM · Report
2
When people say that, do they say "Thee-uh-truh is the art form."? Because otherwise it'd sound like they're saying "Theater is the building; theater is the art form." In either case they'd sound stupid.

I suggest you hang out with other people instead, people who are more likely to say things like "The play doesn't start for an hour. Let's go to the bar. I'm buying."
Posted by dmitrir on December 19, 2011 at 12:17 PM · Report

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