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It's time again to talk about the cost of seeing a show in Las Vegas.
They aren't getting any cheaper, that's for sure, but a tiered pricing system that will soon be in place for "EFX" at the MGM Grand Hotel raises fresh questions about how hotels are handling seating options in various Strip venues today.
Of course, in the days before the arrival of single-priced reserved seating, customers were expected to "grease the palm" of a showroom maitre d' to score that prized ringside table or booth. Otherwise you took your chances and usually ended up somewhere near the back of the house.
That wasn't necessarily a crime -- most showrooms are intimate and afford good views even from a distance -- but the advent of reserved seating in the early 1990s was considered a positive step toward equal treatment for all. Tips disappeared along with many of the maitres d'. People who buy their tickets early now fare better than those who step up to the ticket window at the last minute.
Which is an indirect way of saying fans of Celine Dion had better get cracking. The French-Canadian singer returns to Caesars Palace April 25-27 with a hefty $125 ticket price to match her status as one of the world's hottest young singers.
Dion made her Las Vegas debut at Caesars last fall, before she scooped up all those Grammy Awards, at $65 per ticket. She's now selling out the likes of Madison Square Garden so the chance to hear her in a 1,050-seat showroom is a factor in the price.
And while Caesars officials won't disclose how much they are paying her, a good source at another property said Dion turned down $90,000 a show (and 70 percent of the door receipts!) two years ago when she was still a rising newcomer.
Her current fee is surely higher, but the real question is whether a patron in the rear rows should be paying the same price as those seated close enough to check for freckles.
"We briefly dabbled with a (varied price) reserved ticket policy in the 1980s," said Tom Pilkington, vice president of entertainment and special events for Caesars. "We used a three-tiered system for acts like Frank Sinatra and Paul Anka and we found that it had a reasonable effect on filling up seats during the week.
"But on weekends it had a reverse effect," he said. "More people wanted to only pay for a top ticket. ... We found it was not workable."
While Pilkington sees "some merit" in varied pricing during the week, Caesars is unlikely to revive the system in a room in which the back row is just over 100 feet from the stage.
Likewise, no efforts are in the works to offer different pricing options at 650-seat showrooms at the Sheraton Desert Inn or MGM Grand or the 1,100-seat Celebrity Room at Bally's.
However, the less intimate 1,700-seat showroom that houses "EFX" and the occasional headliner will offer two prices when the production show returns to action April 8, said Richard Sturm, the MGM Grand's vice president of entertainment.
"We appeal to such a wide demographic that there's truly a segment of our customers that wants a less expensive ticket," said Sturm, "and the benefit is twofold. It maximizes the use of the room (i.e., fewer empty seats) and answers customer demands."
"EFX" will maintain its $70 regular ticket but also offer a $49.95 option that will include seats both in the rear and on the extreme sides of the showroom.
If other properties are unlikely to follow suit, the Riviera uses a pricing structure that's something of a compromise. For an extra $5 to $10, patrons can buy VIP seating for resort shows.
"We always sell out the VIP seats first," said Steve Schirripa, a former maitre d' who is now the resort's entertainment director. "People would rather pay more upfront than haggle (for better seats) in the showrooms like they did in the old days.
"And the hotels get the extra revenue that used to go into the pocket of a maitre d'," he added. "I think there should be even more tiered seating because it gives more flexibility to the customers."
Michael Paskevich's entertainment column appears Fridays and Sundays.
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