#51
Posted: 10/17/06 at 4:33pm
I think there should be a sign-in sheet as you arrive where you show ID and number of tickets, show it again at purchase and I dont think you should be given your ticket(s) till just before showtime by reshowing the ID.
You're right, that would be a lot better. I'm sure lines would still form before box office staff arrived (for popular shows like Jersey Boys), but then the monitoring wouldn't be a problem since the sign-in policy would drive away rush scalpers like the ones in the original post. I don't see why theatres don't do that--they still get lines forming outside the box office all day (which many producers like because it makes their show look like a hot ticket...pretty much free marketing), but they can crack down a lot on the illegal scalping that inevitably goes along with any rush. Lottos could do this sign-in also--there's really no reason that people have to get their physical tickets before the house opens a half hour before the show. In addition to signing in and showing ID, patrons (at the time of the rush or lotto) could be given some kind of print-out that verifies their claim to the seats...anything short of giving them the actual tickets which, of course, can be re-sold.
Does anyone have any idea why theatres don't do this? It seems like common sense now that Spouzic mentions it.
ETA: Just saw this as I was posting:
The only thing about picking up tickets a half-hour prior to showtime is that the box office is generally a zoo from half-hour up until curtain...
But patrons do the half-hour pick-up through TDF all the time, and it's usually not a problem. If theatres made this new half-hour pick-up part of their rush/lotto policy, they could easily do something to make sure those tickets would be handled efficiently (something like a separate line).
You're right, that would be a lot better. I'm sure lines would still form before box office staff arrived (for popular shows like Jersey Boys), but then the monitoring wouldn't be a problem since the sign-in policy would drive away rush scalpers like the ones in the original post. I don't see why theatres don't do that--they still get lines forming outside the box office all day (which many producers like because it makes their show look like a hot ticket...pretty much free marketing), but they can crack down a lot on the illegal scalping that inevitably goes along with any rush. Lottos could do this sign-in also--there's really no reason that people have to get their physical tickets before the house opens a half hour before the show. In addition to signing in and showing ID, patrons (at the time of the rush or lotto) could be given some kind of print-out that verifies their claim to the seats...anything short of giving them the actual tickets which, of course, can be re-sold.
Does anyone have any idea why theatres don't do this? It seems like common sense now that Spouzic mentions it.
ETA: Just saw this as I was posting:
The only thing about picking up tickets a half-hour prior to showtime is that the box office is generally a zoo from half-hour up until curtain...
But patrons do the half-hour pick-up through TDF all the time, and it's usually not a problem. If theatres made this new half-hour pick-up part of their rush/lotto policy, they could easily do something to make sure those tickets would be handled efficiently (something like a separate line).
"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit."
(Emanuel Azenberg)
Updated On: 10/17/06 at 04:33 PM
