Hamilton Cancellation Line- Page 58

[MyFavoriteBrunette]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 2:39am

tmm709 said: is the BO going to make them sit in the lobby until showtime?   From what I've read, the professional line sitters have always passed on the premiums. 

In the past, when "the sitter must purchase" rule came (to prevent client swapping), I believe that sitters passed on premiums as per the client request.  The client is searching for the golden ticket of $177.00 x 2 to keep costs down since a lot of their money is already invested in let's say 30 hours of sitting time.  Unless the client instructed the line sitter grab what they can get and included a premium ticket price in their payment. 

Don't quote me--this is all based on speculation!  LOL! 

But definitely no one is waiting for hours in the box office because the RRT did away with any waiting in the box office during the winter time.  Somewhere in these 50+ pages, there is a story about that. Maybe a board veteran can verify the story.

But still, ask your sitter of choice =)

 

[casedilla2]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 2:57am

For reference, for those of you who are shut out of tickets due to the theater's failure to enforce their own posted rules, here is the customer service email for Nederlander (who runs the Richard Rodgers Theater): [e-mail]

I think it's worth a try for you guys to email them and let them know their own employees are giving the paid line sitters special treatment and letting them slide past the rules. Any of our personal feelings about the paid line sitting aside, it's incredibly unfair to everyone for them to have clearly posted rules and then bend them for certain people.

[MyFavoriteBrunette]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 3:24am

casedilla2 said: "For reference, for those of you who are shut out of tickets due to the theater's failure to enforce their own posted rules, here is the customer service email for Nederlander (who runs the Richard Rodgers Theater): [e-mail]

Oh gosh!  I need this email address!  Couldn't find it anywhere on another theater page last month when after a performance, I got into a verbal confrontation with a patron who gave me the only nasty look and said I was rude for telling her to shut off her cell phone during the performance.  It was pitch black and she decided to start texting...for a while...and chit chat with her friend in between texting!  HOW DISTRACTING!  and I'm rude?  UGH!  That's another message board...LOL! 

 

[MyFavoriteBrunette]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 3:28am

ChiTheaterFan said: "Does anyone have thoughts on what time you need to be in line if you are willing to take premiums? "


There is no set window of time when Premiums are offered so one would have to line up early.  I showed up at 3am and was willing to take Premium tickets but they were never offered the day I waited.

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 7:03am

MyFavoriteBrunette said: "But definitely no one is waiting for hours in the box office because the RRT did away with any waiting in the box office during the winter time.  Somewhere in these 50+ pages, there is a story about that. Maybe a board veteran can verify the story."

When I did the cancellation line last fall, we were able to wait inside the box office but were not allowed to sit down on the floor. We had to stand up the WHOLE time inside the box office (but we'd rather stand up and lean against the wall inside versus standing outside in the cold.) They also sold cancellation line tickets throughout the day back then. Oh and the cost was only $167. Since the fall, I've been on the cancellation line 3 times and was never offered a premium ticket... so one some days there are a lot of them and on some days they just don't have any.

As for what happened yesterday, my guess is there were no line sitters for the matinee since Lin-Manuel wasn't performing. I recall walking past the theater late Friday evening and there were already 3-4 line sitters in front of the Hotel Edison/Finding Neverland theater (eventually they'll move back to RRT.)

Even with the new cancellation rules, there's still a market for professional line sitters. The scenarios I can think of are:

1) Patron who only wants 1 ticket. He'd hire a line sitter for the day and also buy him a ticket to see the show with him. (For simplicity of math, let's say it costs $500 to hire a line sitter.) So patron would spend $500 + $177 = $677 total.

2) Patron wants 2 tickets. Then he'd have to hire 2 line sitters for the day to buy him tickets. $677 x 2 = $1354 total. Not sure if people would hire line sitters at that price given the price of resale tix do drop throughout the day.

I'm sure there are other scenarios out there that's still possible without breaking any of their new rules.

Either way, the theater never banned line sitters as it was never stated in the new cancellation line rules. In fact, I can put a post on craigslist right now that as a diehard Hamilton fan, I'm willing to wait 8 hours for free as long as you pay for my Hamilton ticket (which costs $177). Feel free to PM me as well as I may be able to do it during the weekend. hehe

I have nothing against line sitters (love Rob & SOLD) but if the RRT really doesn't want line sitters to be there, then they should perhaps add a rule that a person can only purchase cancellation line tickets once from now until end of July (when Lin is reportedly leaving).  

Hmmm.. or another idea is to change the rules such that a patron in the cancellation line can buy at most 1 ticket. Thus, there wouldn't be any client swapping of any sort and only the people who were on the line will see the show. Some theaters have this policy for their SRO or rush.

Updated On: 5/15/16 at 07:03 AM

[Boday]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 7:55am

MyFavoriteBrunette said: "Welcome Boday!

I had a double whamee.  I waited on a day where no premiums came out at all and where StubHub orchestra seats were priced at $700-$750 before fees at 7pm.  That would have meant $1700 for two tickets.  So walked away from the cancellation line completely defeated =(  but the recent stories tell of so many premiums being offered."

 

Ugh sorry to hear that!

I live in Ohio so our upcoming trip is kind of my "one shot" to see the OBC (-Groff of course) so we've set our limit at $1600 for two tickets... Of course we'll be thrilled if we can spend less!

 

[talinatter]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 7:58am

So I guess nothing has changed? People still queuing up 24+ hours before?

[Sunshine31]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:10am

MyFavoriteBrunette said: "ChiTheaterFan said: "Does anyone have thoughts on what time you need to be in line if you are willing to take premiums? "


There is no set window of time when Premiums are offered so one would have to line up early.  I showed up at 3am and was willing to take Premium tickets but they were never offered the day I waited.

 

 

"

It can be first thing in the morning or minutes before curtain. It depends on availability.

 

@MyFavoriteBrunette = I'm laughing at your new avi. #17Hours 

Updated On: 5/15/16 at 09:10 AM

[Sunshine31]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:21am

broadwayfever said: "New rules for cancellation line went out the window tonight. Every single rule was broken. Security guards in on it...#Kickbacks.

Security guards put on a really good show in front us by telling the professional line holders that they had to buy a ticket for themselves and only one for their client...and then immediately go into the theater. However, in the end, they were allowed to leave the box office after purchasing the tickets and basically meet up with their clients in a different area to hand over the tickets.

You have to keep in mind that these security guards have been friends with the professional line holders, scalpers, and ticket brokers for a very long time. Kickbacks is how they maintain their good status with the security guards. Now they are at a crossroads. They don't want to lose their jobs but at the same time, they don't want to bite the hand that's been feeding them for so long with generous kickbacks.

Tonight was quite comical because thee same guard that was telling the line holders that they couldn't leave the theater after purchasing the tickets, was the same guard that let them out of the theater and said nothing to them...go figure."

 

I'm not surprised at all. Management needs to make a decision regarding line-sitters (no offense to SOLD/LineStandingNYC).  But you can't apply the rules to certain people. 

Someone tweeted this 13 hours ago: "Spent day in line for cancellation tix at #Hamilton and would have gotten if not 4 line sitters breakin rules #heartbroken @Lin_Manuel"

It needs to be addressed. 

Updated On: 5/15/16 at 09:21 AM

[talinatter]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:26am

Sunshine31 said: "broadwayfever said: "New rules for cancellation line went out the window tonight. Every single rule was broken. Security guards in on it...#Kickbacks.

Security guards put on a really good show in front us by telling the professional line holders that they had to buy a ticket for themselves and only one for their client...and then immediately go into the theater. However, in the end, they were allowed to leave the box office after purchasing the tickets and basically meet up with their clients in a different area to hand over the tickets.

You have to keep in mind that these security guards have been friends with the professional line holders, scalpers, and ticket brokers for a very long time. Kickbacks is how they maintain their good status with the security guards. Now they are at a crossroads. They don't want to lose their jobs but at the same time, they don't want to bite the hand that's been feeding them for so long with generous kickbacks.

Tonight was quite comical because thee same guard that was telling the line holders that they couldn't leave the theater after purchasing the tickets, was the same guard that let them out of the theater and said nothing to them...go figure."

 

I'm not surprised at all. Management needs to make a decision regarding line-sitters (no offense to SOLD/LineStandingNYC).  But you can't apply the rules to certain people. 

Someone tweeted this 13 hours ago: "Spent day in line for cancellation tix at #Hamilton and would have gotten if not 4 line sitters breakin rules #heartbroken @Lin_Manuel"

It needs to be addressed."

 

+1 to that

 

[MyFavoriteBrunette]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:50am

Sunshine31 said:@MyFavoriteBrunette = I'm laughing at your new avi. #17Hours 

LOL!  Thank you!  To you and @Anakela.  Glad there's a chuckle about it =)

 

[Frida3]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 9:55am

If I were doing the cancellation line from now on, I would do what the people in front of me did on Friday and take videos.  Or even tell the guy who is supposed to be managing the line that you're going to be taking videos of him from when the line sitter goes to buy the ticket and if he lets them exit the box office or hand it over to their clients, then you're going to send the video to Nederlander Customer Service.  So if they want to keep their job, they better do it right.

[Jennabee]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:00am

Boday said: "Ugh sorry to hear that!

I live in Ohio so our upcoming trip is kind of my "one shot" to see the OBC (-Groff of course) so we've set our limit at $1600 for two tickets... Of course we'll be thrilled if we can spend less!"

Boday, we're in Ohio too!  (Columbus.)  Good luck with your quest!  (We still haven't decided for sure if we're questing or not.)

 

[MyFavoriteBrunette]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:08am

talinatter said: "So I guess nothing has changed? People still queuing up 24+ hours before?

I didn't think anything would change.  Even with the tweeted rules.  Status quo.  The scalpers keep scalping, the sitters keep sitting and we have to find ways to work with it.  Waiting for price drops or lining up as long as a sitter does.  Like my husband told me "might as well accept things than to wait on line for hours angry about it"  LOL!   

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:08am

The security guards at the RRT are running a racket. 

[MISH2]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:16am

Hamilton the Musical tweeted their supposed new cancellation line rules on May 12.  Maybe someone should post a tweet on their page to complain about the lack of enforcement, if so inclined.

 

https://twitter.com/HamiltonMusical

 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CiRkC79UUAAxhY_.jpg:large

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:21am

broadwayfever said: "New rules for cancellation line went out the window tonight. Every single rule was broken. Security guards in on it...#Kickbacks.

Security guards put on a really good show in front us by telling the professional line holders that they had to buy a ticket for themselves and only one for their client...and then immediately go into the theater. However, in the end, they were allowed to leave the box office after purchasing the tickets and basically meet up with their clients in a different area to hand over the tickets.

You have to keep in mind that these security guards have been friends with the professional line holders, scalpers, and ticket brokers for a very long time. Kickbacks is how they maintain their good status with the security guards. Now they are at a crossroads. They don't want to lose their jobs but at the same time, they don't want to bite the hand that's been feeding them for so long with generous kickbacks.

Tonight was quite comical because thee same guard that was telling the line holders that they couldn't leave the theater after purchasing the tickets, was the same guard that let them out of the theater and said nothing to them...go figure."

 

A good friend of mine tried to score tix last night. She said it was a mess and saw what was going on with the security guards. She was pissed, and rightfully so. They weren't discreet about it at all. She said some of the people they let get away with purchasing tickets for other clients were high five-ing each other, etc.

She was extremely disheartened. I told her to get off that line and meet me for drinks, so I treated her to dinner and cocktails and cheered her up.

That cancellation line sounds completely insane. No show is worth that kind of aggravation. 

 

 

 

 

[Frida3]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:28am

Your friend should complain to Nederlander Customer Service. And if they go back again, take videos of the security guard letting it happen.

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:33am

Boday said: "I live in Ohio so our upcoming trip is kind of my "one shot" to see the OBC (-Groff of course) so we've set our limit at $1600 for two tickets... Of course we'll be thrilled if we can spend less!"

Why not hire 2 sitters from SOLD or Linestandingnyc? I think it should cost less than $1600. 

Or... treat 2 broke diehard Hamilton fans in NYC who just want to watch the show and who are willing to wait in line for you in exchange for a ticket (total you'd potentially spend is $177 x 4 = $70?

The above two options abide by the new Hamilton cancellation rules set on May 12th.

 

[Jennabee]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 10:48am

Wick3 said: "Or... treat 2 broke diehard Hamilton fans in NYC who just want to watch the show and who are willing to wait in line for you in exchange for a ticket (total you'd potentially spend is $177 x 4 = $70?

The above two options abide by the new Hamilton cancellation rules set on May 12th."

If that is in fact legal, I might be up for that.

 

Updated On: 5/15/16 at 10:48 AM

Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:05am

Actually thinking of making a twitter just to call out the RRT on the lack of enforcement. Ive been a die hard fan for the past year an now I've saved up $250 dollars to go into the city and stay there for 28 hours and have my plans ruined by some line sitter. I mean how can you be an actual fan of the show, and just pay someone to take away the chance of someone else to get tickets.

Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:08am

Actually thinking of making a twitter just to call out the RRT on the lack of enforcement. Ive been a die hard fan for the past year an now I've saved up $250 dollars to go into the city and stay there for 28 hours and have my plans ruined by some line sitter. I mean how can you be an actual fan of the show, and just pay someone to take away the chance of someone else to get tickets.

[MISH2]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:19am

nrubanobroadway said: "Actually thinking of making a twitter just to call out the RRT on the lack of enforcement. Ive been a die hard fan for the past year an now I've saved up $250 dollars to go into the city and stay there for 28 hours and have my plans ruined by some line sitter. I mean how can you be an actual fan of the show, and just pay someone to take away the chance of someone else to get tickets.

 

I just did a tweet.

 

[mbusani14]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:29am

Just to clarify...going as a single is suggested if possible??

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 11:30am

Jennabee said: "Wick3 said: "Or... treat 2 broke diehard Hamilton fans in NYC who just want to watch the show and who are willing to wait in line for you in exchange for a ticket (total you'd potentially spend is $177 x 4 = $70?

The above two options abide by the new Hamilton cancellation rules set on May 12th."

If that is in fact legal, I might be up for that.
 

"

That completely reads to be legal under the new rules to me too. You would be the +1 of one, and your companion would be the +1 of the other. 

 It'd be a matter of finding someone you'd trust to do it, etc. but I'm sure there's a broke college kid or someone out here for a summer internship or something who would be up for putting in the hours in order to be treated to a ticket. Maybe we could start a BWW matchmaking service for this. :)