Sunset Boulevard Revival Broadway Thread- Page 38

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 8:32am

castlestreet said: "...It was the show that took my life in a much different direction, and what I attribute the theater playing such a major role in my life."

I'm very intrigued by people's stories of particular shows that launched their passion for theatre.

For me, it was Phantom of the Opera. Having previously never been to the theatre (at all), my partner took me to see a touring production of Phantom in the 90s because I was doing lighting design for clubs at the time and I thought that pictures of the show looked interesting. I had no real prior knowledge of the plot or score and my ears simply weren't equipped to absorb my first-ever sung-through show, so I left the theatre at a loss as to what I'd just seen.

Fast-forward to 2004 when the Phantom movie came out. Similar to my experience in the 90s, I saw the trailer for the film and commented on how interesting it looked. Movies were a lot cheaper than stage shows back then, so we thought "Why not give this a try?". Although the vocal performances left a lot to be desired, the movie looked great and it was much easier to follow the plot (probably because several characters spoke-sung their lyrics, which now drives me crazy). I immediately wanted to see the stage show again, so when another tour came around, we again bought tickets. This time I loved it, and I was absolutely hooked - and I knew I had to see it on Broadway.

Over the last 13 years, I've seen this show in multiple touring incarnations (including the recent and very disappointing "re-imagining" by Cameron Mackintosh), on Broadway (literally every time I visit NY; I have truly lost count at this point), and in London (both the original at Her Majesty's and the 25th Anniversary Production at the Royal Albert Hall). Over time, this evolved into a passion for other Andrew Lloyd Webber works, particularly Sunset Boulevard, The Woman in White, Love Never Dies, and to a slightly lesser degree, Evita. It now pains me greatly that we visited NY when both Sunset and Woman in White were playing, and literally walked right past their respective theatres. To this day, I can still see the marquee for The Woman in White outside the Marquis Theatre, and I remember fleetingly wondering what that might be about.

I also have the Aspects of Love cast recording and, although I like select songs from it, the show as a whole doesn't seem sufficiently cohesive to me. However, I would see it if a revival was staged because my experience with Phantom taught me that my first impression of a show could be quite wrong.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 8:34am

chernjam said: "Oh and the group trip to see Sunset - I'd love to be in with you all.  Would be fun to meet you all.  I'm hoping to make my second visit this Saturday afternoon"

Only your second? I'm a bit shocked!

Might anyone else be at the evening performance on Saturday, April 29?

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 8:35am

CT2NYC said: "I used "Will Call" at the Palace through Ticketmaster in February."

How on earth did you manage that? I have never seen a Will Call option at any time when booking through Ticketmaster.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 8:37am

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "Someone on eBay is currently a selling a Sunset lot with a playbill/ticket stub/bag and the new souvenir "photo book" so I'm assuming they have started to sell it at the theater. "

 

They've been selling it at the theater for the past few weeks. It was available the last time I went at the end of March.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 9:54am

Lot666 said: "CT2NYC said: "I used "Will Call" at the Palace through Ticketmaster in February."

How on earth did you manage that? I have never seen a Will Call option at any time when booking through Ticketmaster.

I don't use Ticketmaster very often, so I had no idea it wasn't always an option. I do "Will Call" because I like to have a physical ticket to keep as a souvenir. It probably offered the option because I bought the ticket close to the performance. It was within a week, if I remember correctly.

 

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 9:58am

CT2NYC said: "I don't use Ticketmaster very often, so I had no idea it wasn't always an option. I do "Will Call" because I like to have a physical ticket to keep as a souvenir. It probably offered the option because I bought the ticket close to the performance. It was within a week, if I remember correctly."

I'm the same way; I never choose the "Print at Home" option because I want a physical ticket for my collection. I have never seen a "Will Call" option from Ticketmaster (only from Telecharge), but I'm not sure whether I've ever purchased within a week of the show date.

Anyone else have any experience with this?

[carnzee]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 10:42am

^^ I just chose print at home, even though I don't like it, because I'm going in two weeks and didn't want to wait for them to mail. There was no option for will call, but just out of curiosity, I looked at tomorrow's performance of Present Laughter, and Will call was offered. Either some shows offer it or it's only offered close to the date. Frustrating. One reason I prefer Telecharge, though I hate how glitchy it is. 

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 10:42am

Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "...
Only your second? I'm a bit shocked!

Might anyone else be at the evening performance on Saturday, April 29?

"

Tell me about it Lot!  Sadly between work and crazy, crazy hours - as well as a chronic medical thing that has been acting up for the last few months, I've been a bit gun shy and unavailable to buy tickets as often as I wanted (and the one week I was free/available, the tix they had left were really crap seats)

 

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 10:46am

castlestreet said: "
So- I did not actually get to see it, but my best friend and his family took a trip up to Toronto.  Back in the mid-90's Livent was still a major player, and anything that Drabinsky did up there was an event.  Recently some new videos have surfaced of that production on YouTube, and show that her Norma was much different than the others.  The show ran a much shorter run than anyone had thought it would and closed at a massive financial loss in Canada, even after the move to North York.  Interestingly enough- I remember reading years ago that the role in Toronto was originally going to go to Buckley, and when RUG found out that was Drabinsky's intent, they offered her Glenn's replacement on Broadway first.

"

I'm pretty sure I remember reading this as well... that they had wanted Betty.  Not sure if that was post-re launch in London when Betty had won universal acclaim over there or even before that.

Yeah it was sad that basically every production of Sunset shuttered around the same time... and Canadian version was right up there with that.  I did get the recording, which non-Norma parts had a fresher, livelier sound than some of the other recordings.  For me, her voice was just awkward for Norma.  But I realize I'm a minority on my preferences - I hated Elaine Paige's Norma (and blamed her for killing the NY production :) )

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 10:48am

carnzee said: "^^ I just chose print at home, even though I don't like it, because I'm going in two weeks and didn't want to wait for them to mail. There was no option for will call, but just out of curiosity, I looked at tomorrow's performance of Present Laughter, and Will call was offered. Either some shows offer it or it's only offered close to the date. Frustrating. One reason I prefer Telecharge, though I hate how glitchy it is."

Thanks for sharing this information; it seems that CT2NYC's theory is probably correct (Will Call is only offered when the show date is within a certain window, maybe a week).

I, too, greatly prefer Telecharge. I have had repeated problems with Ticketmaster pages loading very slowly or not at all, and often cannot get the venue map to display to select my seats. It seems particularly problematic in Chrome (my preferred browser), so I sometimes have to grudgingly switch to IE to get anything done, but even IE fails sometimes. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 10:55am

chernjam said: "Sadly between work and crazy, crazy hours - as well as a chronic medical thing that has been acting up for the last few months, I've been a bit gun shy and unavailable to buy tickets as often as I wanted (and the one week I was free/available, the tix they had left were really crap seats)"

I'm so sorry to hear this.  Hope you can take advantage of this run a few more times before it ends!

I'm actually debating grabbing a cheap ticket for the April 29 matinee, which would have me seeing the same show twice in one day for the first time ever (has anyone else ever done this?). I don't have any other openings during my trip and I seriously doubt I'll get back up there before Sunset closes. I started toying with this idea a few weeks ago but haven't committed to anything because A) there are a few other shows that I would also like to see while I have a chance, and B) I've been holding out hope that they would announce an extension...maybe with Betty Buckley! 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 11:53am

I think you should go see it twice on the same day. Once is not enough! I've seen it 4x already and someone I know saw it 28x.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/6/17 at 11:55am

muscle23ftl said: "I think you should go see it twice on the same day. Once is not enough! I've seen it 4x already and someone I know saw it 28x."

This won't be my first time; it will be my third.

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 7:49am

AHHH! They're really tempting me now. I just checked Ticketmaster for the April 29 matinee and they've dropped the price of several seats in the front orchestra from $299 to $199 (no code needed). I can't figure out the logic behind it, however; the lower-priced seats seem totally random. And while it's good news for me, it makes me worry that sales are slipping (because I was hoping for an extension).

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 8:42am

http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/news/articles/2017-04-06/201704061491489663479.html

"Tracy Christensen will be considered eligible in the Best Costume Design of a Musical category for her work on Sunset Boulevard.

"David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber will be considered eligible in the Best Orchestrations category for their work on Sunset Boulevard."

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 10:02am

Lot666 said: "AHHH! They're really tempting me now. I just checked Ticketmaster for the April 29 matinee and they've dropped the price of several seats in the front orchestra from $299 to $199 (no code needed). I can't figure out the logic behind it, however; the lower-priced seats seem totally random. And while it's good news for me, it makes me worry that sales are slipping (because I was hoping for an extension).

"

Don't read anything into it Lot666- this has been going on since it opened.  The "premium prices" as the dates get closer and seats remain tend to go to $199 (thats why I always encourage Wednesdays if people want to get tickets... most shows are readily available that day and there's usually good seats)

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 10:06am

chernjam said: "Don't read anything into it Lot666- this has been going on since it opened.  The "premium prices" as the dates get closer and seats remain tend to go to $199"

How do they determine which seat numbers will be reduced? I could see no rhyme or reason to it, as there are seats closer to the aisle and closer to the stage that are now $199, while other seats that are further off to the side and further back are still $299. 

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 10:15am

Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "Don't read anything into it Lot666- this has been going on since it opened.  The "premium prices" as the dates get closer and seats remain tend to go to $199"

How do they determine which seat numbers will be reduced? I could see no rhyme or reason to it, as there are seats closer to the aisle and closer to the stage that are now $199, while other seats that are further off to the side and further back are still $299. 

"

I remember reading some article about the "science" of these different ticketing things.  That these agencies throw a few seats at "reduced" prices ($169 is reduced) so that a ticket buyer trying to decide whether to go or not, sees that and is more inclined to jump at the seats thinking they're getting a bargain.  The $299 is targeted more for the out-of-towner only coming for a day or two and really wants to see this show.  I was surprised that a week ago there were many seats not available for this coming Sat matinee and then Monday night, two rows of center orchestra became available.

Sadly all of the shows seem to do this.  

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 10:23am

chernjam said: "...I was surprised that a week ago there were many seats not available for this coming Sat matinee and then Monday night, two rows of center orchestra became available.

Sadly all of the shows seem to do this."

I HATE this. It's very frustrating to buy your tickets in advance, only to later find that better prices and/or better seats are suddenly available. 

For the Phantom 25th performances at Royal Albert Hall, I set my alarm and got up in the middle of the night to buy tickets when they went on sale in London. You couldn't choose specific seats; the website only did the "best available" thing. Because there was a virtual queue and high demand, I accepted the first pair of "best available" seats that it offered and charged them to my credit card. Around midday, I went back to the website just to see how sales were going and found that a whole new block of seats had been dropped that were closer to the stage than what I'd bought. I was furious and emailed the website to complain. It took lots of back-and-forth, but they eventually allowed me to swap my seats to the better location.

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 10:42am

Lot666 said: "chernjam said: "...I was surprised that a week ago there were many seats not available for this coming Sat matinee and then Monday night, two rows of center orchestra became available.

Sadly all of the shows seem to do this."

I HATE this. It's very frustrating to buy your tickets in advance, only to later find that better prices and/or better seats are suddenly available. 

For the Phantom 25th performances at Royal Albert Hall, I set my alarm and got up in the middle of the night to buy tickets when they went on sale in London. You couldn't choose specific seats; the website only did the "best available" thing. Because there was a virtual queue and high demand, I accepted the first pair of "best available" seats that it offered and charged them to my credit card. Around midday, I went back to the website just to see how sales were going and found that a whole new block of seats had been dropped that were closer to the stage than what I'd bought. I was furious and emailed the website to complain. It took lots of back-and-forth, but they eventually allowed me to swap my seats to the better location.

"

I bought tickets for Sunset the day they went on sale - back in October - for Feb 4.  Especially remembering how I did the same thing when it first opened and ended up in Row Y of the minskoff theatre (and reading how tickets evaporated in London when Glenn did Sunset at ENO) I didn't want to wait.  So Feb 4- Preview Sat Matinee, I bought Row P on the aisle (they actually gave me row Q, not sure what was up with that) - and as the months passed by, more tickets started becoming available.

They're assuming most ticket buyers aren't as obsessed as we are that they're constantly checking the stock of tickets, especially for a performance we've already bought tickets for :)

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 10:59am

Lot666 said:

I'm actually debating grabbing a cheap ticket for the April 29 matinee, which would have me seeing the same show twice in one day for the first time ever (has anyone else ever done this?). 

Since you already have a ticket for the evening show, I would recommend taking your chances with TKTS thar day. Since the Palace is such a large theatre, it's been listed regularly at 40-50% off, even on weekends. You'll get the best bang for your buck that way, and, on the off chance it's not listed, I'm sure there'll be something else on there that you'd like to see, or you could sightsee. In any event, the chances of it being sold out are slim, so you'll probably also have the option of buying a full-price ticket if you'd like. Also, since the Brooklyn and South Street Seaport TKTS booths sell matinee tickets the day before, you can check to see if it's listed, and you'll have a better idea of what to expect at the Times Square booth on Saturday. For example, the other booths open at 11:00 a.m. today, and SUNSET is on there at 40% off for tonight's show AND tomorrow's matinee. Just some food for thought...

Also, as a bonus, you'll have a REAL ticket to save for your collection.

Updated On: 4/7/17 at 10:59 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 11:21am

CT2NYC said: "Also, as a bonus, you'll have a REAL ticket to save for your collection."

I always get a real ticket. 

Updated On: 4/7/17 at 11:21 AM

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 4/7/17 at 11:33am

Lot666 said: "CT2NYC said: "Also, as a bonus, you'll have a REAL ticket to save for your collection."

I always get a real ticket. 

Ahhh, right, I forgot you don't use "Print-at-Home." You're a REAL purist. 

 

[10086sunset]

Posted: 4/8/17 at 1:25pm

Just came across a great deal on stub hub. Wish I was going to be free that night!

Saturday night 5/13, two tickets, orchestra sides, Row M, $113 each.

That's lower than face value.

[chernjam]

Posted: 4/8/17 at 3:27pm

Podcast/interview with Michael Xavier on Theatre People:  http://www.theaterppl.com/portfolio-view/michael-xavier-sunset-boulevards-leading-man/