Profile for stormyweather2

This weekend I was in NYC for a couple of days in order to run the half marathon this past Sunday. I’m from NC, and although (like most of us here) I know every single word to the soundtrack, I had yet to actually see the show. The one day of my trip where it worked out for me to try the cancellation line was Friday 3/17 (also St. Patrick’s Day). Fair warning, this post is gonna be long; the one quality I share with A.Ham is that I have no ability whatsoever to be concise.

I got there at 6am (in 26-degree weather), hopefully thinking that I might be first -- and was a little disappointed to discover that there were no fewer than SIX professional line-sitters already there, who had all arrived between 4 and 5 AM. However, that crew ultimately turned out to be super friendly; chatting with them made the hours go by MUCH faster. (They were also exceptionally well-prepared for the cold, so making friends with them was a good idea -- one of them lent me his sleeping bag for a little while when he went to get something to eat, which was definitely the most comfortable chunk of time I spent in the line!)

The six line-sitters needed a total of 9 tickets, though they warned me it might be as many as 12 if we were made to wait until the last minute prior to curtain (because then they’d have to go in as their clients’ plus-ones). I was the first non-line-sitter, so I was #10 if all went well. Another girl showed up at 6:30am and got in line behind me (#11). There was a long gap after that. Another woman came by around 9:45 and asked us about SRO tickets; we of course had no idea, so she went into the box office at 10 when they opened, then left shortly thereafter without coming back to the line, so nobody found out what was said.

The six line-sitters had one another’s backs, of course, and they were constantly swapping in and out of line to go get food and so forth, so I was grateful for the girl behind me, so that I had a ‘buddy’ to swap with also. The weather was EXTREMELY cold (and we were under the overhang, so no sunshine) and despite long down coats, gloves, hats, scarves, two pairs of socks, and foot warmers, we literally could not feel our feet for most of the ten hours we waited there. For the first hour or so until the sun came up, I really questioned whether I could stick it out all day long, because I was already going through periods of violent, uncontrollable, teeth-chattering shivers. Hot coffee proved to be the best antidote -- I think I went to Starbucks three separate times in those ten hours. The Marriott Marquis is right next door (with a Starbucks on the ground level) and they are very tolerant of the cancellation line folks' comings and goings as long as you're not obnoxious about it. There was some kind of medical conference happening on this particular day, so the third-floor bathroom doors were propped open, which was convenient.

A mom and her grown daughter showed up and joined the line around 10:30am (they had gotten there at 4pm the previous day, been #15-16 in line, and had not gotten in, so they were a little put out to realize that they were still numbers 12 and 13 for tickets even now -- but they ultimately did stick around after debating about it for the better part of an hour). Then another super nice mom and her young son got there around 11-11:30. The little boy was a big fan and had begged his mom to “just walk by the theater!” They were not dressed for a long wait in the freezing cold, and after talking with all of us and doing some mental math, they actually decided to hire the line-sitters for the following day rather than wait in line with us. (I bet their company gets a ton of business that way!)

Someone came out and offered premium tickets around noon or 1pm, which nobody took. Then the line started to get longer in the early afternoon; I’d estimate that there were 16-18 people there by the time the line-sitters were called in, which was around 3pm. They all got their tickets -- all second-row unclaimed lottery tickets; the online lottery had closed at 1pm, and the window to claim the tickets therefore ended at 2pm, which I think is why the action started around 3.

The rest of the line (about a dozen of us) got excited when the line-sitters’ tickets were passed out; we were all on our feet after that, alert for any sort of continued action in the lobby. But once they left, there was a lull. I had overheard one of the line-sitters (on the phone to his boss) say that when he was inside, he had heard the ticket seller say they were releasing 10 lottery seats, but the long lag after the line-sitters’ departure made me think he must’ve gotten it wrong. We all therefore decided that that was probably it for the unclaimed lottery seats and the rest would probably be true ‘cancellation’ seats, the ones in the general vicinity of rows 6-10 that they usually give out just a few minutes before curtain. Yet somehow none of us sat back down. Four more hours felt like nothing compared to what we’d already endured -- heck, the temperature had risen to 35 whole degrees; we were feeling great!

Another hour ticked by. There was a guy in an A.Ham baseball cap pacing the lobby and occasionally coming outside or looking out at us, so when he opened the door to let somebody out, I approached him, put on my best smile, and said, “I’m in no rush, I’m happy to stand here all the way til curtain -- but since I’m all by myself, I just wanted to ask whether I have time to run next door to the bathroom, or whether you think there’s going to be any more action in the next ten minutes?” I was doing this for two reasons: first because I really did have to pee, and second because I wanted him to know that I was a single ticket, not a pair -- just in case there really was a tenth seat left in that second row. He smiled and said he would let the box office know that he had let me go to the restroom. I made it back in record time, caught his eye through the glass, and gave him a thumbs-up. Not even three minutes later, he came back out the door and said, “You just need one?”

I breathlessly said, “Yes.” (OHMYGOD OHMYGOD)

“And YOU just need one?” he asked the girl behind me. When she also said yes, he said “Okay”... and held the door open so we could come inside!

I literally danced into the lobby, punching the air and chanting “YES, YES, YES!” (It was either that or burst into tears!) And then, wonder of wonders, I was handed a SECOND-ROW TICKET -- the tenth and final unclaimed lottery seat (the girl behind me was inexplicably given a seat in the lower mezzanine). Not only was I FINALLY going to see Hamilton, but this was EXACTLY where I had hoped to sit. I truly think I would have kissed the ticket-seller if there hadn’t been glass between us!

Ultimately, I think close to 20 tickets must have been given out; the last people in line at 4:15pm (when I got my ticket and left) were a mom and 16yo daughter from Texas, both celebrating their birthdays that weekend, who literally came straight from the plane to the theater, arrived around 4pm, and (happily) managed to get tickets! Compared to everyone else’s arrival times, it would have been easy for me to regret getting there so early -- I definitely still would have gotten in if I had arrived a lot later -- but I actually feel really validated, because I got exactly the seat I wanted, and the way the chips fell on this particular day, I wouldn’t have gotten that seat if I had arrived even just 30 minutes later than I did.

In conclusion: WORTH EVERY SINGLE MINUTE. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Although the temperature was pretty miserable (which might be part of why the line wasn’t as busy on Friday as it sounds like it was on Saturday), it still really did not feel like ten hours (and there was some exceptionally interesting people-watching that day, it being St. Patrick’s Day and all -- LOL). I read a few chapters of a book when I first arrived, but after that, I honestly spent most of the time talking to others in line! The waiting in and of itself was part of the experience, and the whole day was one that I’ll never forget. When the show finally started, I was in tears for the first ten minutes -- I can’t describe how it felt to actually SEE the faces, gestures, and staging that I had imagined in my head so many times! Some of it fit what I had envisioned; a lot of it didn’t, but that was precisely where the magic was.

I’ll spare you all the details of the show and the stagedoor (I’m going to write a separate blog post about all that; it doesn’t really belong in this thread) -- but one other happy surprise was that Andrew Chappelle (one of the swings, whom I follow on Instagram) just happened to be on as Lafayette/Jefferson! He was absolutely spectacular; I feel so lucky to have seen him.

THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone on this thread who has shared so much helpful information! I’ve been lurking here for months now, and your willingness to share your line experiences in such detail is precisely the reason why my own was so wonderful!!! <3