Delacorte Standby Line

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 11:57am

Hi, guys -

Please pardon if this has been asked before, but I can't find it. I have never done the standby line for Shakespeare in the Park and am considering going tonight. How early should I get there - and what time do they go on sale?

Thank you so much!

[flinger072]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 1:32pm

I have no idea about crowds for the current show, but I have done standby in past seasons. If memory serves correctly, believe I lined up around 5pm/5:30pm and they started handing out tickets in waves - most released in the 30 minutes prior to the show start. The two times I've gone, a fairly large number of tickets were distrubuted. Bad weather and going early in the run always helps too.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 1:56pm

Thanks very much! I plan to get there around 5.

[macnyc]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 5:56pm

How is it going? Are you on line?

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 6/18/14 at 6:05pm

Oof. To tell you the truth, I wound up getting halfway there and turning around. The city was awfully crowded and very hot. Just didn't think I'd enjoy the show by the time it finally started. Going to try this weekend if I don't win lotto...

[dave1606]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 9:54am

I tried this twice this week with no luck but I learned a few things that I thought I would pass along. The first is, is that it really can vary wildly. Wednesday night, which was very hot and muggy out, the line was pretty short. However, I didn't arrive until 7:45pm just to check out how bad it was. They gave started to give out tickets pretty shortly after I got there and stopped around 8pm. They told us the next batch of tickets you would likely miss the first 5-10 minutes of the show. We waited and they stopped about 10 people in front of us. If I had been 20 minutes earlier I likely would have gotten a ticket.

Last night at 7:10pm there were much more people. I was almost back to the bench by the third tree. They told us our chances were "slim" but we stayed around. The staff there explained to us how the ticket batches were given out, which I had never hear before:

7:00pm Any tickets not collected from the online lottery
7:30pm Any tickets not collected from cast and crew tickets
8:00pm Any Donor seats that were not picked up.

I found this extemely helpful for the future. Ironically despite being much further back last night we came the closest to getting in. They were distributing tickets up until almost 8:20pm, and then the final batch was given out and we were just 4 short of making it!

Frustrating, but I am glad to have learned more about how the stand by tickets work. I will do the regular line on Saturday.

[macnyc]

Posted: 6/20/14 at 7:50pm

Thanks for the detailed info! Best of luck on Saturday. With good weather predicted, best to get there early. But sitting outside will be nice anyway!

[dave1606]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 1:19pm

Update! I got tickets today. I thought I was beyond hope when I got there a little later than I wanted 7:30am, but was just before the rock of no hope. The line staff said we should be fine which I am so glad I heard because I almost went home.

The line was the longest I had seen at that hour. I think the great reviews and the great weather were definitely a factor. Also I am so glad they moved up the distribution to 12pm rather than 1. That really helps in not totally killing your day.

I definitely would not get there much later than 7:30am on the weekends, especially as there are only a few weeks left in the run. They did seem to have a chunk of tickets left after I got mine though.

It was a lovely morning in the park. Very excited to see the show tonight.

[Sophiia]

Posted: 6/21/14 at 5:14pm

Just got to the standby line! Seems like a big crowd to me...anyone have advice on how many tickets they usually give out? Trying to decide whether it's worth it to stay...

[Irenka]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 7:30pm

Does anyone have any info on the standby line recently? I would like to go on Wednesday or Thursday...

[ultraviolet99]

Posted: 6/30/14 at 11:37pm

I went last Friday at 5, and was probably 60 or so people back. When the first batch of tickets came, it stopped 10 people in front of me. I got in on the 2nd batch at 7:55. It only looked like they had about 20 tickets left when I got mine, and I'm not sure if they had a 3rd batch of tickets.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 7/1/14 at 12:33am

I got in line around 7:00 or so last Wednesday. The line seemed really far back and I was about to leave but the people in front of me convinced me to stay. Luckily I did since I got in on the third batch of tickets and was in my seat by 8:10, just as the show was starting.

I think I may have been in a bit of an anomalous situation since the weather was iffy, but since there's a chance of rain later this week, you may have a good shot like I did.

[Someday]

Posted: 6/19/15 at 11:08am

Hey All — I'm wondering how the standby line has been for The Tempest, post-opening. Brantley in The Times seemed to like it, with reservations, but most other reviews were less favorable. Anyone tried standby after the opening, and if so, how early should a person arrive to have a decent shot at getting in?