Adventures in Theatre
A few months back, a friend visited the city, bought two tickets for the revival of 'Sunday in the Park with George,' then failed to go. He passed the tix on to me, with a note saying that I could call the box office on the day that I wished to attend, and they'd see if seats were available.
So, Saturday, Greg and I decided to go. I called the box office, and was told that they had a few spots open but it'd be general admission. I made a general admission that I didn't care.
We went to the box office two hours before curtain to get numbers assigning us preferential seat treatment (first come, first served--so we made sure to be number one and number two). I'd noticed that the original tickets were about 30 bucks--balcony. I assumed we'd get comparable seats, and I was fine with that. But what happened was that we were told we'd get 'best available'. And lord, did we ever get best available.
We were seated five minutes to curtain. Our first seats were stage left, six rows from the stage, with partial obstructions (the set was blocking the set, so to speak). As we settled into those seats, happy to at least be in the theatre, an usher told us that the people who'd previously bought those seats had shown up, so we were told to sit three rows from the stage, a left of center. Decent seats, but "too close." We got comfortable, and then were told again by an usher to move one row back because THOSE people had shown up.
So, grumbling and tired of being shuffled around, we crawled over the elderly and infirm to get to our final seats: fourth row center orchestra. Damn fine seats, Probably the best seats in the house, and three to five times more expensive than the 30 dollar balcony seats that had been given to us for free.
Even though we spent most of the first act expecting to be told to move yet again, we enjoyed the show. I love the Bernadette Peters/Mandy Patinkin production, but this one had more heart and felt more authentic. And they finally thank god fixed the second act.
So, apparently, the best way to get good seats on Broadway is to buy cheap seats, tell the box office you can't make that performance, and return weeks later for general admission, where you'll be seated in someone else's 200 buck seats.
Edit: Btw, until you've seen "Beautiful" performed live, you can't possibly appreciate the beauty of the song. My favorite from the show remains the second act opener "It's Hot up Here" but, wow. "Beautiful" made me get misty-eyed.
So, Saturday, Greg and I decided to go. I called the box office, and was told that they had a few spots open but it'd be general admission. I made a general admission that I didn't care.
We went to the box office two hours before curtain to get numbers assigning us preferential seat treatment (first come, first served--so we made sure to be number one and number two). I'd noticed that the original tickets were about 30 bucks--balcony. I assumed we'd get comparable seats, and I was fine with that. But what happened was that we were told we'd get 'best available'. And lord, did we ever get best available.
We were seated five minutes to curtain. Our first seats were stage left, six rows from the stage, with partial obstructions (the set was blocking the set, so to speak). As we settled into those seats, happy to at least be in the theatre, an usher told us that the people who'd previously bought those seats had shown up, so we were told to sit three rows from the stage, a left of center. Decent seats, but "too close." We got comfortable, and then were told again by an usher to move one row back because THOSE people had shown up.
So, grumbling and tired of being shuffled around, we crawled over the elderly and infirm to get to our final seats: fourth row center orchestra. Damn fine seats, Probably the best seats in the house, and three to five times more expensive than the 30 dollar balcony seats that had been given to us for free.
Even though we spent most of the first act expecting to be told to move yet again, we enjoyed the show. I love the Bernadette Peters/Mandy Patinkin production, but this one had more heart and felt more authentic. And they finally thank god fixed the second act.
So, apparently, the best way to get good seats on Broadway is to buy cheap seats, tell the box office you can't make that performance, and return weeks later for general admission, where you'll be seated in someone else's 200 buck seats.
Edit: Btw, until you've seen "Beautiful" performed live, you can't possibly appreciate the beauty of the song. My favorite from the show remains the second act opener "It's Hot up Here" but, wow. "Beautiful" made me get misty-eyed.