Last night, Friday June 16 for Saturday June 17 tickets experience. This is coming from my perspective of someone who waited 18+ for SRO
The first two people got online at 2pm, next two at 3:30pm, the I got there at 4:15pm and was told by everyone their ticket numbers I would be 9/10 tickets. However the line is confusing at this time because it is the SRO for the next day and the cancellation for the evening show. Between 4:30 and 5:30pm 4 more people arrive for SRO only to bring the line up to 17/18 tickets for the last person, the next SRO wouldn't arrive until 9pm. Around 6pm they separated the lines between cancellation and SRO which helped actually see who was in front which is where the "cutting" started. The people who arrived at 2pm somehow gain in size and now when people would ask how many tickets they were getting the number increased to 5-8 depending on who asked.
Closer to the end of the show several people behind me got the attention of the house staff to explain what was happening and how this was potentially becoming an issue. In the between there was now three people sitting in the front two spaces. Now of course half the line wanted to watch the stage door happen at the end of the show which is when the House manager yelled at everyone that no one should be adding in front of others in the line and everyone can only get two tickets when the box office opens. Most of the line was like, yes we know this was the rules. However the first people got upset with the staff saying they always had three people, which of course the line disagreed with. The House staff said they only say two people's stuff so they could only get a total of four tickets in the morning and that they would have security on hand in case things escalated.
After that point they moved us back to our fourth and final location because the theater was cleared and the stage door quieting down and the Marriott did not like that we were moved to their property.
For the rest of the evening/early morning nothing else occurred. Once the box office staff got there in the morning they were clearly in the know of what had happened the night before with potential cutting. Actually one of the House staff was there at 9am helping the BO staff make sure they knew who was the concerning party. For the last hour of the line there was always of BO staff outside paying attention to anyone who walked to ensure no one was adding to the line ( at this time there was probably 40-50 people total on the line, most being told they would probably not get tickets). There were also three or four Shubert organization security guards wondering the line and talking with people. Once we were able to buy tickets there wasn't any problems, largely because the staff had all been informed and quick to ensure fairness for everyone on the line.
I hope this helps clarify things and helps others understand that the Music Bix staff does care about the fairness within the overnight line. I wouldn't be surprised if official rules similar to Hamilton don't start coming out after this and others experiences wth this line. Hope this helps and best of luck to any overnight sitters!
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