The nationally-touring live stage show based on television's longest running game show will be making it's way to Central Texas in March, the CBS TV station in Austin which carries the original show has announced.

"The Price is Right LIVE!" (their exclamation point, not mine) will make its way to the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park on Thursday, March 9 according to KEYE-TV (K-eye, as in the CBS eye...get it?).

The venue announced tickets will go on sale this Friday, January 13, 2017, at 10:00 AM CST. They will be available through Ticketmaster.com, the H-E-B Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, or charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000. Ticket prices are $29.50, $39.50, and $59.50. No word on whether or not your distance to contestants row will help in getting you selected to play. The Price is Right Live! stage show has given away more than $12 million in cash and prizes.

There's also no word on who will host this stop of "TPIRL!" but I'm willing to bet money it won't be Bob Barker. It won't even be Drew Carey. Former whammy host Todd Newton, an excellent host in his own right, has been most frequently associated with the production although some very interesting celebrity guest hosts have jumped aboard the tour at times, including NSync member Joey Fatone, the one and only Jerry Springer of all people, George Hamilton who I always thought was a dead ringer for Barker, and hosts of other games Bob Goen, David Ruprecht and the always fun Chuck Woolery.  Even the late Alan Thicke took a spin.

I'm not afraid to admit this publicly, but the TPIR is one of my favorite TV shows, game show or otherwise, from my early childhood through today. It's such an inventive show because the prices are a part of the format. Everyone buys groceries and things for the home - it's a common denominator of American consumer culture.

Production is very close to the original, and I can't imagine hauling The Price Is Right from venue to venue across the country. Then again, in the '70s and '80s Barker used to do a hybrid of Price and Truth or Consequences called the Bob Barker Fun and Games Show where he would tour around arenas in the summer giving out prizes.  Eventually, the producers of Price figured they do the same thing and make some dough by giving out some dough.

To see what the touring version is like check out this video from a recent stop about a month ago (I had no idea Todd Newton was tatted up with sleeves!).

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