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#TBF23 Q&A: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’s Madison Lymer

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With TheTicketingBusiness Forum 2023 just around the corner, we spoke to Sonia Friedman Production’s Madison Lymer, who is currently the sales and ticketing manager for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on London’s West End. 

Lymer has previous experience as a producer for Canadian hybrid performance company, SipderWebShow Performance, and as a sales development manager for Vault Festival, which is an independent showcase of live performance and art across theatre, comedy and live entertainment in the UK. 

We asked Lymer about the current trends, more specifically in theatre ticketing, and what she is most looking forward to about April’s Forum at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester…

TheTicketingBusiness: What are the key current challenges and opportunities in the sector? 

Madison Lymer: “Booking trends are continually brought up in theatre as the lead time for bookings becomes shorter and shorter. This can be quite challenging to the sector as discounting becomes more prevalent and consumers begin to expect a better deal the longer they wait to book. As ticketing professionals we’re continually looking for ways to buck this trend and encourage our audiences to book as far out as possible. 

“Avoiding day seat rates and instead looking at how to reward audiences who plan and book 8-12 weeks out is key to longevity in this sector. It’s quite different from other live events which might be a limited run or one-off occurrence as scarcity isn’t a factor when you have an open-ended run. 

“Manufacturing that urgency to book when you have a year on-sale at any one time demands a certain level of creativity, but also offers a lot of opportunity to test the waters and really work out what resonates with your core audience.”

TTB: What are the most interesting trends you are witnessing in the sector? 

ML: “The resilience that entertainment brands have had over the past year has been nothing short of incredible. Through the pandemic, strikes, inclement weather, and now a recession, I’m continually struck by how quick audiences are to come back. 

“It’s certainly felt like the past couple of years have presented hurdle after hurdle, but audiences have continued to prove that if you’re responsive to the environment, they’ll keep returning. It’s been incredibly encouraging and given us the confidence to forecast up knowing that in spite of everything our audience will keep returning. It seems clearer than ever that in tough times shared cultural experiences remain a harbour for us to come together in spite of turbulence.”

TTB: What are your company’s plans over the coming year, and what are you looking forward to exploring more at the Forum?

ML: “Our focus is to continue developing our B2B sales funnels and corporate partnerships in order to strengthen our relationships within the local territories we operate in and on a global scale across our six productions. I’m most looking forward to exploring the opportunities other sectors have found in the past few years and to learn more about what strategies we might be able to adopt that are non-traditional to the arts.”

Explore the future of ticketing with Madison Lymer and hundreds of industry leaders at #TBF23 at Emirates Old Trafford, April 19-20. BOOK TODAY.

Background image: Elizabeth Jamieson on Unsplash