Incredibly gutted to hear this news – HAIR was the best thing to hit the West End in years in my opinion and a show that I blogged about and love(d) A LOT!
Please click here to read my review of the show, which has proven quite popular in recent weeks.
This song from the show (though admittedly I prefer the 2009 OBC recording) has a lyric that resonates with my thoughts at the moment:
How dare they try to end this beauty, how dare they try to end this beauty.
In my opinion, I reckon that some of the problems with this production seem to have been the restrictively high seating charges, what seems to be an unwillingness to embrace an online/youth-friendly online pricing structure (though tkts have been discounting same-day tickets pretty much since day one); which in turn seems to have led to half empty houses after the initial excitement had died down (certainly when I’ve been), and a really unforgivable lack of marketing for the show.
Admittedly, aiming your pricing at a younger audience isn’t going to sustain a show, of course not, however I feel that a midweek pricing model could have helped enhance the show’s wider audience base and brought in more money for the show and helped get more bums on seats.
Such a shame – I don’t think any other show closing has upset me so much!
Really hoping to get to see it as many times as possible before it goes, if anyone wants to go on a night where it’s not £65 to sit in a seat without restricted view, do please get in touch!! Pleased that at least we have several months to get to see it before it goes.
Thanks to folk on twitter for highlighting, and to some of the various West End Wendys that I know for confirming.
Gari Wellingham 
I too was absolutely gutted and quite frankly astonished to hear that Hair was closing in September due to poor ticket sales.
I saw it by chance on Broadway on a trip to New York for my 40th birthday and was blown away. Best musical I’d ever seen and the cast is amazing inspiring and unbelievably authentic. Quite embarrassed that they haven’t been given the reception/publicity that this Tony Award winning production so rightly deserves.
Was planning to try and get tickets later in the year to see it again in London (I live in Manchester) but obviously we’ll have to get our skates on now and move it forward. Please can you let me know how we can get decent seats at a decent price. (Saw it for £50 on Broadway by queuing in Times Square!).
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Hey Melanie – thanks a mil for stopping by! (always great to hear from a fellow Mancunian!).
The good news is that you can probably see it even cheaper here in London! The theatre do ‘day seats’ for £20 if you attend the theatre box office first thing on the day of the performance (usually, they’re front row or similar – possibly classed as limited leg room, but the hippies will play with you a lot!), alternately if you go to the Official Half Price Ticket Booth (TKTS) in Leicester Square (click here) then you can usually get top price tickets for that same day for £39.50 (plus maybe a small booking fee) instead of the usual £65. You can also advance book from them to get the £39.50 price, so ideal if you get here on, say, a Monday, but the show isn’t until Weds for example. If you queued on Broadway, chances are you bought from TKTS New York (I’ve done that too, marvellous!). From what I hear, the auditorium is never full now and so personally I’d take chance and just buy on the day (at worst, you’ll pay full price for a seat from the Box Office, but at least you’ll get one), though obviously this all depends on how certain on seeing the show you want to be / if you want to be specific about your exact seats.
Hope that this info is of use and that you get to see this before it closes – a complete travesty in my opinion! If they can’t sell a genuine bona fide Broadway show to the people of London then it concerns me slightly for the future of the West End!!
(PS – if you’re getting the train down, sure you know, but book as early in advance as you can – £11 each way! ;))
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Hi I totally agree with ur blog! I’m 19 years old and love hair. Been brought up with it. Hopefully seeing it for the third time on Thursday. Because of the price I haven’t been able to see it more which is a real Shame
Do u no any where I can get discount stall tickets ?
Xx
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Hey,
Always fab to hear from a fellow HAIR enthusiast!! 😀
Hope that you get to see it on Thursday, it’s so sad that it closes on Saturday!
Unsure of whether there will be any discounts in the last week, but it may well be worth checking out the TKTS booth on the day (get there early) or else getting to the theatre super early to queue for day seats???
Gx
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Me again as a the dedicated fan that you are I was thinking do u know what the cast are
Doing after the final performance. I could imagine they are going to want to celebrate and let of some much needed steam somewhere in town. I would love to be there too! 🙂
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Unfortunately I don’t know anyone working at that theatre so I’m unable to check for you – you could always hang around stage door and then follow them, haha! (not that I’d ever suggest doing that… honest! heh). 😛
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That might hve to be the answer! Haha! Hmm I’m gonna have to have a browse 😛 xx
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