Kelli O'Hara on Vacation

I've held 2 center orchestra tickets for the July 19 matinee of The King & I since 5 minutes after the reviews started to come out in April. Last night I happened to look at the official website to find out the length of the show so I could make dinner reservations, only to find out Kelli O'Hara is away on vacation for a week starting, you guessed it, July 19...Now I suppose she deserves a break like anyone else, but she was my primary reason for going. I saw the 1996 version, and I have no desire to see it again without Kelli.

I know there's never a guarantee of seeing a specific performer, given the chance of illness and injury, but a Tony-award winning star voluntarily taking off three months into the run seems particularly unfair to long-time ticket holders. I feel like we should have been given the opportunity to exchange our tickets, or at least been notified of her vacation so we could decide to sell. If I hadn't happened to visit the website, I wouldn't have even known she was absent til I arrived at the theater (I live in CT), and I think I would have flipped out. So I've posted my tickets on Stubhub and will only attend if I can't get rid of them at a small profit.

Just venting, I guess. I don't suppose I have any other recourse, do I?

If you can get face value, consider yourself lucky. As you said, you were going to see her. Mostly all of those attending are doing the same. She is the draw so why would anyone pay over face value to see it without her?

You are all geniuses! I called Telecharge (told the truth), didn't even have a wait, and exchanged for this Sat. evening, just one row back from where I was. Had to pay a bit more for a Sat., but that's okay. Alternative was to wait til August, but I wasn't about to take any chance that she'd be gone by then. Now let us all pray for a healthy star for the next few days!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Updated On: 6/25/15 at 04:00 PM

Glad you got it figured out! Enjoy the show. Kelli O'Hara is simply stunning.

Telecharge is actually pretty great about exchanges. I've exchanged tickets for five different shows with them in the past, and every single time it was a pleasant and painless experience. Their policy is to have you buy the new ticket before they refund you for the old one (I'm guessing this is to make sure that you do actually buy a new seat, which is fair) and they're usually pretty quick about processing the refund, all of mine have been issued within 3 days. I've also always found their phone operators to be respectful and polite as well.

Glad it all worked out! She and the show are worth a little anxiety!!

Updated On: 6/25/15 at 05:32 PM

@gothampe,

Not illegal to sell tickets at a premium in my state. Always best not to offer advice online if you just "think" something, especially when it's easy enough to look it up and be sure. In any case, my tix are off Stubhub now.

I still think the ticketholders for her vacation period should have been notified of the change and offered the opportunity to switch. Not everyone is monitoring this stuff (me, for instance). If I hadn't happened to check the website for an unrelated reason, I'd never have known and would just have shown up at the theater after spending 90 minutes and trainfare to get there. At that point even an exchange offer on the spot wouldn't have been enough to make things right. I understand that the risk to the theater is that they'd have a lot of empty seats for the performances Kelli is missing, but that's a financial issue for the Beaumont to work out with her, rather than a problem to dump on the patrons. A one-week hiatus by the star that is announced long after tickets have been purchased really needs special treatment, don't you think?

Anyone know if Ann Sanders might be going on during Kelli's vacation?

Sometimes understudies go on once or twice during vacations with the standby doing most.

A one-week hiatus by the star that is announced long after tickets have been purchased really needs special treatment, don't you think?

No. When you buy your tickets, you're told that cast is subject to change. It is not the theater's responsibility to keep you updated. If the theater were to do that, it would be out of courtesy, not obligation. Actors are entitled to vacations, just as you're probably entitled to a vacation at your job.