<B>Mackintosh hits out at ticket cost as he scoops lifetime award</B><BR>by Judd Hollander in The Stage<P><BR>Cameron Mackintosh has criticised fellow West End producers who are trying to hike up ticket prices to Broadway levels.<P>With the backers of hit US show The Producers rumoured to be considering charging £50 for top-price tickets when it eventually transfers to London, Mackintosh said a significant hike in the price of West End tickets was unfortunate but inevitable. Top prices for the production on Broadway are already at the $100 mark.<P>Speaking in New York, where he was accepting the 13th Annual Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre, Mackintosh said: "Ticket prices will eventually rise. I just hope that 'eventually' is kept off as long as possible.<P><A HREF="http://www.thestage.co.uk/paper/0224/0102.shtml" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A>