The Untender Trap

One of Broadway's biggest headaches is the "bonus." With good seats at good shows always as scarce as bagels in Mecca, theatergoers have long since learned that an extra dollar under the counter improves their chances of seeing such S.R.O. hits as My Fair Lady and The Music Man. As vulnerable as any to the gouging charges are Manhattan's 100-odd ticket agencies, which handle roughly 65% of theater seat sales for a legitimate fee of $1.38 above the box-office price.

Last week, for the first time in 20 months, the law closed in on a gouger. Suspended for ten days was the city's No. 1 agency, the combined Tyson Operating Co. and Sullivan Theatre Ticket Service. Out of a job was $40-a-week Clerk Theresa Hale, who extracted $10 from Businessman Philip Stogel for four tickets to Meredith Willson's cornfest, The Music Man.

Responsible for trapping Tyson were officials of the city's Department of Licenses, which fights a losing game against the gougers. Rarely can a scalper be caught in the act. And Manhattan showgoers, more interested in aisle seats than public morals, seem eager to support the hijacker when the law is not looking.

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