Hamilton Cancellation Line
May 21
2016, 03:55:48 PM
May 19th and May 20th Cancellation Line Update:
Caveat: My brain is sleep deprived beyond comprehension and cognitive function is definitely lagging. I read through every single posting on this thread and found the information so useful that I really wanted to help contribute by sharing my cancellation-line experience. I hope it is helpful to someone. I'll try my best to be organized and coherent while responding to previous points made in this thread as well as summarizing my personal observations.
I won't get into any of the "political" discussions regarding what's fair or right; I'll just say that when you're exhausted, dirty, achy, disappointed from not receiving tickets after a long wait - ppl can be testy and act differently than their general personalities. Also, the box office really doesn't want to get involved and unless there's violence or something drastic - they pretty much left it to us to police ourselves. Having spoken to people (on my lines) who had done this line before, it seems that the (now missing) professional line sitters served at least one purpose - they made rules pretty clear and everyone knew where they stood.
I think the most helpful thing posted on this board was a few pages ago where someone essentially said there really is no rhyme or reason or system for predicting outcomes. In my experience waiting on the line for this past Thursday (and then Friday's) show - nothing sums it up better. I sat on two lines for two consecutive days and the experiences were drastically different. The one common thread was not a single professional line sitter either day, so I was surprised that people said they were there Wed and again this morning.
So...here's my story - which begins at the Wednesday, May 18th, lottery.
I went for the in person lottery (along with what appears to be the rest of NYC!) and did not win. I've never seen the cancellation line so I went just to check it out, find out where to stand, etc. It is 1pm on Wednesday with a long line and there are 3 young girls at the back who I speak with. (Someone referenced seeing them a few pages back) They explain to me that they are not at the back of the Wed line - they started a line for *Thursday* night's show at 11 am. I think this is crazy (post-script - it is not; only 1 other ticket will be given out besides theirs the next evening) They have made it clear to everyone around them that they are here for Thursday and it appears that this is accepted policy (more on this later as it comes up again for Friday.)
I felt discouraged that 3 people were already online so early and felt it made no sense to even try for Thursday's show since I wasn't interested in sleeping outside overnight. I came home, rested, and decided on a total whim that I would in fact go early Thursday morning and check out the situation. If there were a ton of people there when I arrived, I would just turn around. I arrived at 5:30 am on Thursday morning.
I arrived to find the 3 girls sleeping, along with two additional men. I was honestly kind of shocked there were so few people! (The situation on Friday will be COMPLETELY different) The 3 girls wanted 4 regular tickets (one friend joined them after work), one of the men (arrived 9pm) wanted 2 regulars, and the other man (arrived 10:00 pm) wanted 1 regular. So I was in 8th place for a regular ticket and no one had come between 10:00pm on Wednesday and my arrival at 5:30am on Thursday. A man arrived at 6 am after me (wanting 2 tix) - and then no one until 8 am or so. It seemed like really good odds for such a "late" arrival and I was fairly encouraged. Especially since it was a Thursday show. (Which I will soon learn is a perfect example of why trying to "plan" is a futile effort!)
Many have described the line conditions and I don't have much to add. The Marriott's facilities are a life-saver, people in line look out for each other, and no one complains if you go to the bathroom, get food etc. There seems to be much discussion re: safety issues. Everyone has their own level of tolerance so it's a personal decision. The only helpful info I feel I can add is that you most likely won't be alone. I spoke at length with those three young girls and they said that a man came up to them while they were sleeping and wanted to smoke cigarettes with them. This probably would have freaked me out - they were MUCH younger than me and from out of town yet...totally unfazed. The other two guys from the line were sleeping, but I'm sure their presence was at least reassuring. Either way - I don't think you'll be murdered - but people may come to you. (At one point we got sick of the odd stares and one of my line friends made a cardboard sign that read, "Not Homeless Desperate 4 Hamilton."
At about 9:30 am the box office ppl moved us over from the left side of the theater to the front of it, where we remained until 6pm when they moved us back to wait before the evening show. (To point out how unpredictable things can be, on Thursday night/Fri morning the police came at 1:30 am and moved the group to the front of the theater and that's where everyone waited until being moved back pre-show. I personally prefer being to the left of the theater where you can lie down and stretch out - those stairs are knee killers! Have I mentioned I am too old for this?) Back to Thursday. At about 10 am when the box office opens 1 regular ticket comes out (Front mezz, Row A) and the girls take it. Nothing else happens until 1:09 when a premium ticket comes out. It actually goes back down the line a few places beyond me and an older woman takes it. (I will come to regret this decision like no other in my life!) I just couldn't bring myself to pay $477 when it really seemed like I had a good shot at tix.
The afternoon was uneventful other than the fact that the Tony nominees' luncheon was a block away. Several actors came to the stage door to drop stuff off and head over to the luncheon. Everyone was dressed so nicely. The only one who stopped was Daveed and I can't express how kind he was. First he stopped for a random group of students who happened to be passing by and he took photos so patiently with everyone. Then our little group noticed and ran over and he took pics with us too. Just so, SO nice. And since this was my first day of line sitting, I actually still looked somewhat decent at that point :)
At 6pm they moved us back to the left of the theater. The experience was exactly as many before me have described. Nothing happened until like 6:54 - a few minutes before showtime. The girls got 3 more tickets so their party of 4 got in, and only one other ticket was given out. It was kind of heartbreaking. The man waiting for it had slept over since 9 the night before and was surprising his gf for her birthday. She came after work and the whole line cheered for them. Only 1 ticket was available and he made her take it since she was Hamilton obsessed. So...only 4 house seats were released. From what I could piece together from the girls something like 8 and 10 tix were given for Wednesday's shows and many of us got in on Friday night - so moral of the story - there is no rhyme or reason. Thursday might be the best night to wait or it might be the absolute worst. We speculated that perhaps ppl in town for that Tony luncheon had taken up all the house seats? Who knows. Funny post-script - the woman who took the premium ticket earlier in the afternoon came to see us in line and was so kind. She brought us jelly beans and wished us good luck and checked in on us before she went in. It really is like family!
Before I had a chance for the disappointment to even sit in...the guy in front of me (my new best friend) sat himself right back down and said, "on to Friday night." He was from out of town and flying out Sat morning and determined to get tickets. I sat down as well but couldn't even imagine another 25 hours of this. Two other girls who had joined Thursday's line in the late afternoon joined us as well. Then there was drama. A woman who had been kind of hanging around the line to check things out but then walked across the street, approached us and said she was first in line for Friday's show and had started the line across the street because we were standing near the theater so she couldn't wait there. The whole thing was crazy. She had someone in a wheelchair with her and was really antagonistic. The guy in front of me just didn't engage and was like I'm not moving. I didn't know what to do. Long story short - she complained to the box office and they clearly told her that we had the right to be first in Friday's line. As it turns out she left at like midnight and others on the line felt she was a line sitter/someone trying to scalp tickets or whatever. At this point I don't know what the official "rule" is. Those girls on Wednesday made it clear to everyone they were there for Thursday and no one gave them a problem. But no one from Wed night's line stayed around. I honestly don't know what would have happened if that came up. In contrast, Thursday night's woman had no argument because she didn't tell anyone she was starting a Friday line. If it's something you're doing, I'd just be very clear to every single person around you that you're starting a line for a future day and maybe even tell the box office? I don't know.
Back to my saga. I was too wiped. The guy in place #1 decided to stay and that he'd waited so long he now wanted two tickets to bring a friend from out of town who was working and couldn't come to the line. I partnered with one of the girls who joined the line (God bless her). She was so inspirational. She had never planned to wait for Friday but when she saw us she decided to stay. College age, nothing with her for a planned overnight and told her parents she was "staying with a friend in the city." (Technically not a lie; we were all friends at the end!) She lived out in NJ and it didn't pay for her to go home. So I went back to my apt, showered, slept a few hours, and came back early Fri morning.
Friday was a TOTALLY different story in every way. People came all throughout the night/early hours of Thursday night. A 5:30 am arrival that got me 8th ticket spot on Thursday morning was probably at least 12th on Friday. There were many more over-nighters. Probably because of the perception that Friday night is harder to get tix. And in the end...so many more tix were available for Friday night's show.
The guy who had first place in line NEVER left. God bless his soul. I mean, he went to the bathroom and for food or whatever but he never went back to his hotel downtown since he decided that he now wanted two tickets. I promise you we were all praying for him like nobody's business. He was the only person in the group who had slept outside the theater for two nights. He was ready to buy anything at this point - reg or premium. Around noon, a single regular ticket became available. The lady working the front of the theater was legit ecstatic for him as were all of us. I was taking pictures of him while he purchased. It was all very exciting. I think this experience restored my faith in humanity. From the guy who gave his gf the ticket the night before, to my new friend who got that ticket after 38 hours and 10 minutes...AND THEN STAYED for his friend's ticket. He could have gone to his hotel, showered, slept, and come to the theater refreshed. He'd even scored a regular priced ticket! But he stayed for his friend. That's some serious loyalty.
Nothing else happened for a few hours...no premiums which surprised me. On Friday they moved us back to the left of the theater and off the stairs around 4pm which was weird - 2 hours earlier than Thursday, for a show that started an hour later. Then...more good luck! Two premiums came out shortly after we moved. My friend took one and I was so happy that he now had his two tickets and the time to go shower and rest at least a little before the show. Myself and two people behind me passed on the 2nd premium ticket. Then...the BEST NEWS EVER. At around 6:45, we were told there were 2 reg tickets. Myself and my line friend ran to the box office (and everyone cheered again which was so nice) and as it turned out they were lottery winners who didn't pick up their tickets. That's why we were able to get them so "early." We needed to show IDs to purchase, but we were seeing HAMILTON!!
We went to the Marriott to just sit in a chair and have some quiet from the streets and use the bathrooms. I tweeted out all my photos from the two day drama (I was waiting until I had tickets to tweet) and she called her parents to tell them the news/where she'd really been the night before. We came down to go in at like 7:40 and I wished everyone in line good luck once again before heading in. I kept looking to see who got in and to my best count, I think at least 8 people got in behind us. Lottery no-shows helped, but there were definitely way more house seats for Fri night than Thursday. I spoke with a woman during intermission and she said she was last in at 8:01 but we couldn't remember how many tix that was (I was on very little sleep!) but she did say that she'd arrived at around 7am I believe. So all the over-nighters got in and someone who arrived later than I had on Thursday, got in for a Friday night show while that time wasn't sufficiently early for a Thursday night show.
The definition of "Premium" is also really weird. The premium ticket on Thursday was 5th row center. The two on Friday were Row O. And that first regular ticket that went on Friday was Row P. I don't think anyone got offered Standing Room on Friday; definitely not on Thursday.
The entire original cast was there (minus Groff - though that character was still brilliantly played and hilarious) and I feel so incredibly lucky. I know front row is a bit harder to see the whole stage, but there's something to be said for seeing the sweat pouring down faces and the spit coming out of mouths as they rap. It's INSANELY amazing. We had center aisle seats so I could sprint out for my souvenir cup during intermission and still get back to my seat in time to take some photos. It was...perfect.
I hope that was coherent and helpful to at least someone out there and I hope everyone who tries the cancellation line has success!!!
"Hey, and if you don’t know, now you know"
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