Posted: 3/10/16 at 12:36pm
I completely agree with you on that point, Kad. I would much rather show up at box office at 7am and know that I am "guaranteed" a ticket rather than trusting my luck with a lottery.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 12:37pm
I don't hate lotteries, but I appreciate it when shows keep the lottery AND have a rush/standing room option.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 12:40pm
I saw the original cast of Book of Mormon a few times thanks to their SRO rush. I was a student at the time and thought nothing of sitting there for a few hours in exchange for a good vantage point to the hottest show in town. I never entered the lottery because it was so crowded.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 12:44pm
I think the Hamilton lottery has tickets unclaimed almost every day bc I see tweets about people who got them on cancellation line. I think if you enter an online lottery to hot shows and don't claim then you should be prevented from entering for 30 days. I guess they go to the line instead of being redrawn bc of the hour hold for purchasing? In that respect, in person is better bc if winner left, another name is picked.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 12:46pm
I'm pretty sure when I won Fun Home lotto via TodayTix, I was in that second wave of winners (based on those which went un-confirmed within an hour), because usually you get an email by 3 if you lost. I was told by around 4 that I won. Which was kind of fun because at 3:15 I started to think, "Maybe..."
Posted: 3/10/16 at 1:32pm
I really miss in-person lotteries. Just yesterday my friend and I both entered Something Rotten, Wicked, The Lion King, Hamilton, She Loves Me, Noises Off, Curious Incident and School of Rock. We didn't win any. However, after receiving 8 rejections, I entered the in-person BoM lottery and won.
The main reason I dislike online is because say my friend and I won two or three of those online lotteries yesterday, or if we both won the same one - We will only pick one set of tickets which means the others go to waste and NO ONE gets them, whereas in person you can only enter once.
I hate not knowing my odds.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 1:49pm
Scarywarhol said: "I have never won an online lotto, after hundreds of entries, so it's hard for me to feel good about them. I have won in person a number of times, and even losing often means access to heavily discounted "loser" seats."
I like that also. Got a great losers' lotto seat for if/then at a very low price. Also, some lotteries are through Today's Tix and it is not available on my tablets. Don't have a smart phone so I am out of luck on those.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 2:00pm
haterobics said: "If you win the Hamilton lottery, you do have to pick up the tickets personally. But I'm not sure if you still get wristbanded and have to be the person who enters, but even in that situation, you could have an extra front row seat to sell, which one imagines would not be difficult, given there is a line of people there waiting to buy one. That said, since it is an odd number of seats, I often only enter for one ticket, since the nature of online lottery means they have to pick at least one winner from people who only want one seat."
I won the Hamilton lottery last week, and they no longer give out wristbands. Instead, a separate line is formed on the steps in the front of the theater for lottery winners alongside the patrons already holding tickets. They're very adamant about not releasing the tickets until 30 minutes before curtain, at which time they take winners in one by one to claim their seats. Then, you're immediately ushered inside.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 3:09pm
As an experience, no, I don't think the in-person lotteries are that great. The exception would be Hamilton, of course (putting aside the crowd control factor). Aladdin was also high energy and kind of fun. That said, I do agree that for me, in-person lotteries have been easier to win. Either way the element of chance is what gets me. I'd so much rather show up in person for rush with a friend or a book. The time flies by.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 3:16pm
I got a loser lotto code via email when I lost Something Rotten's lottery.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 3:20pm
haterobics said: "If you win the Hamilton lottery, you do have to pick up the tickets personally. But I'm not sure if you still get wristbanded and have to be the person who enters, but even in that situation, you could have an extra front row seat to sell, which one imagines would not be difficult, given there is a line of people there waiting to buy one. That said, since it is an odd number of seats, I often only enter for one ticket, since the nature of online lottery means they have to pick at least one winner from people who only want one seat.
I won the Hamilton lotto a few weeks ago and the box office attendant made us skip ahead of the people who were waiting in line to enter the theater and get DIRECTLY inside.
"
Posted: 3/10/16 at 3:21pm
I definitely appreciate the convenience of the online lottos, but I've entered dozens of them and have won zero times. I know people who have won them, but either the odds really suck or I'm just very, very unlucky.
Posted: 3/10/16 at 5:36pm
Last time I went to NYC I entered 10 online lotteries and did 2 in person lotteries. I won 1 online one. The Lion King. All of the Broadway Direct lotteries give you an hour limit to claim them. If you don't they will pick someone else. Also a few shows offer discounted tickets with a code they send.
Posted: 3/11/16 at 11:39am
Hell no, brah. Digital is the way to go. Its the wave of the future.
Updated On: 3/11/16 at 11:39 AM
Posted: 3/11/16 at 12:26pm
what shows have online lotteries?
Posted: 3/11/16 at 12:27pm
http://www.playbill.com/article/broadway-rush-lottery-and-standing-room-only-policies-com-116003
Posted: 3/11/16 at 11:30pm
musicaltheatreman2 said: "what shows have online lotteries?"
I believe most are listed here: http://broadwayforbrokepeople.com. It's a table format, so a bit easier to read than some sites.
Posted: 3/12/16 at 11:20am
LizzieCurry said: "I don't hate lotteries, but I appreciate it when shows keep the lottery AND have a rush/standing room option.
"
I agree with you! I live three and a half hours from the city so when I do get to go in (usually every few months) I like being able to know I can get decently priced rush tickets to a show (especially now that I am back in school in preparation for grad school in the fall) so I qualify for student rush again now as well. Lotteries are nice, but I don't always have the greatest luck with them. I think the last one I actually won was Wicked about 4 years ago! I've tried one digital lottery in New York (On the Town) and lost. But digital lotteries are starting to spread. My mom won the digital lottery for Pippin in Boston last month and Broadway in Boston will also be doing digital lotteries this spring for Matilda, Sound of Music and If/Then. Our Pippin tickets were super cheap ($25), we got to purchase three (my dad came along with us as none of us had seen Pippin before) and we got to pick our own seats. We also were able to enter for multiple dates at once before the run of the show even started. So while I thought the digital lottery was a great experience in Boston (we were even notified on Thursday that we won for a Sunday performance) I'm not crazy about them in New York. My mom and I will be in NYC next month and have already purchased our tickets for Waitress and are planning on grabbing rush tickets for School of Rock the night before.
Posted: 3/12/16 at 1:11pm
I've had luck with a couple of the online lotteries. The only lottery I won in person was School of Rock, and that was on a Wednesday matinee in previews when I think everyone won. I won the Fun Home TodayTix lotto on the day of the big snow storm this year when the Saturday shows were cancelled. I thought I was SOL, but I got a call from TodayTix, and they offered to honor my win at another performance (which was so nice of them)! The only other digital lotto I won was for An American In Paris. I would much rather lose a lottery from the comfort of my own home than I have to trek out to the theatre, deal with a crowd, and put my name on a slip of paper, but that's just me!
Posted: 3/12/16 at 6:51pm
LizzieCurry said: "I'm pretty sure when I won Fun Home lotto via TodayTix, I was in that second wave of winners (based on those which went un-confirmed within an hour), because usually you get an email by 3 if you lost. I was told by around 4 that I won. Which was kind of fun because at 3:15 I started to think, "Maybe..."
Yes they usually give the first winners notice four hours before and a lot of no you didn't win notices as well at 4 hours also. Then at 3 hours before they will notify the second round winners I guess from those who didn't claim their win. In addition I've gotten a phone call abiut an hour before the show saying tickets became available....did I want them.
"
Posted: 3/12/16 at 9:52pm
Since Hamilton started the digital lottery, I've entered my boyfriend and myself every weekend--no luck yet. I prefer the digital lottery because I'm in CT, but every weekend I end up feeling like a big loser. I get my hopes up and put on a cute outfit, only to have my heart broken (ok, I'm exaggerating) but it is a bummer. I decided today that I'm wearing what I want and if somehow I actually win on a day I've been playing fetch with my dog in the backyard and I'm covered in dirt, that's how I'm going to the show. There's just not enough time to make a train/drive to ny and make myself look presentable. So, if you see someone in distressed jeans in the front row, hair in a pony tail, looking like a homeless person it's probably me.
Posted: 3/12/16 at 10:09pm
I'm not sure if they already do this, but i think if you win a lottery you shouldn't be allowed to enter for the same show for a period of thirty days or more.
Posted: 3/12/16 at 10:59pm
I think most of them have that in the fine print, but not sure how many enforce it.
Posted: 3/13/16 at 1:15am
I thought they might but I did the BOM lottery a few years ago for five straight nights and one person won three nights in a row
Posted: 3/13/16 at 1:21am
Oh, I was referring to digital lottos. Matilda used to keep track of people who entered the in-person lotto, but I heard it was really unwieldy because they had to check the names while they were there, which took forever. Digital lottos would be easier to keep people from entering more than once in 30 days, as the user is the one inputting their name, which means it can be easily cross-checked by a computer.
