Newbie needs advice

[rocks911]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 2:08pm

Coming to the big apple 7-30,31 and the wife and daughter want to see a braodway show.
Mom wants to cater to the kiddo who wants to see chitty chitty bang bang, egad! and the kiddo in question is almost 19, what to do.

I've done a little preliminary research and it seems almost impossible to get tickets on short notice for any of the more popular shows. I suppose most of the tickets are sold to concierges and the like.

How about re-sale? either online or otherwise.

Any recommendations for shows to see?

Whats dress code, or more to the point what is the most comfortable/ least formal that is accepted?

Thanks in advance, D

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 2:15pm

I'm going to speak on Chitty's behalf. I'm nineteen. Granted, a huge fan of Chitty Chitty's leading man, but nineteen no less. I went to see the show for said actor, and I fell in love with the show. It's certainly not high art, but the sets are beautiful, and the special affects astounding. I've seen it a few times, and I'm always extremely impressed at the brilliance of this cast. If anything was done right with Chitty, I think that was it. They've put some of our best actors into this show, and they absolutely shine - at least as best they can with not-so deep material. But they're funny, and form a great onstage bond of wonderfully talented individuals. The show is far from perfect, and certainly isn't the best theatre Broadway has to offer right now, but there is something to be said for pure fun. It makes you feel like a kid again, which is sometimes a really nice feeling.

Certainly with a nineteen-year-old there are plenty of other things you can see, but don't discount the flying car.

And you can wear whatever you want.

Updated On: 7/10/05 at 02:15 PM

[BluCat500]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 2:20pm

I'm 19 and loved Chitty too! so its not so crazy ...I checked and its definetly still possible to get decent Chitty orchestra tickets for that date....

Heres the code to get discount tickets...The site also has codes for other shows if you change you mind...
http://www.broadwaybox.com/shows/chitty_chitty_bang_bang_nyc_tickets.aspx

Also if you don't find the tickets your looking for you can be spontaneous and wait until the day of and buy tickets at the time square tkts booth for a discounted price...It does involve standing on line though...
http://www.entertainment-link.com/tkts.asp

I also suggest Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, great show, which your whole family would enjoy

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 2:25pm

You can get decent seats for Chitty the day of, most of the time.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 2:28pm

Yeah whats up with that, People go to Chitty dang it

[rocks911]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 2:57pm

Thanks for the advice

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 3:12pm

Try for seats to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I know it is selling well but a friend of mine just got tickets online for 2 weeks from now. This site, among others, offer ticket purchasing. You can also find discounted tickets too. I find that most of them have the same things available for discount. I usually get good discounts at theatremania.com.

Updated On: 7/10/05 at 03:12 PM

Posted: 7/10/05 at 3:20pm

You can wear anything you want-- cut off jeans to prom dresses will be in eveidence.

If they want to see Chitty, go see Chitty-- you are always better off seeing something you want to see rather than something you SHOULD see. You've got almost 3 weeks, get shopping! If all else fails, show up empty handed and hit the TKTS booth that day and buy whatever sounds interesting-- I've seen some wonderful shows that way.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 3:51pm

I had an e-mail from a friend of a friend. She is making her first trip to New York at the end of July and was asking me much the same thing.

Some ticket "broker" was offering her rear balcony seats for WICKED for $102 I told her to pass on that since A) it is coming back to Toronto and b) it's not a great show worth paying that much for.

She wants her first Broadway show to be a really good one so I gave her a list of 5 shows that I felt would be worthwhile and she chose to go for DRS. I got her the $25 discount coupon from Playbill-on-line. She got great seats and is really looking forward to it.

In general I say avoid brokers. Box office or TKTS is best way to go. Check the box office 48 hours ahead of the performance. That is when unclaimed house sets get released for public sale. Even a sold out show can sometimes have house seats come available.

Hotel concierge services can sometimes get seats for you but they usually charge a fee of $10 -$25 and why not go directly to the theatre and save that fee?

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 4:47pm

I agree with the TKTS option. I was there in may and had purchased advance seats before I arrived. While walking up to Times Square I decided to check out TKTS just for the heck of it. 3 shows that were not discounted online were on the board at TKTS (Spamalot, Piazza and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). I got a good discounted orchestra seat for DRS for that evening. Also, if you are able to see a matinee, go to TKTS' second location at South Street Seaport and get your tickets the day before the show as opposed to trying the day of the show at the Times Square location. A friend said you may get better seats. TKTS has a website.

[rocks911]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 8:11pm

Thanks

[BluCat500]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 8:54pm

Spamalot was at TKTS in May?

[Toon]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 10:52pm

you can wear whatever you want

That someone would write this makes me sad. That people actually think this is true makes me even more sad.

Just because people will wear cut off jeans doesn't mean they should.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 10:55pm

You know, I sort of figured that people on here are smart enough to know that it meant within reason. There's no rule that you have to dress up for the theatre, but you should look presentable. I didn't mean for that to be taken literally, and common sense would tell you so.

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 10:56pm

lol, Toon, I think they were going for humor.

[Toon]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:01pm

lol, Toon, I think they were going for humor.

If you look at how people dress for the theater these days you will see there is no humor there. Saying you can wear "whatever you want" is a round about way of saying that many things are acceptable now. No emcee, there is no rule that you have to dress up. But people used to. Many do not anymore. And I am not saying dresses and suits are necessary but now people come in shorts and flip flops. To me it is not only sad but I completely see a correlation between how people dress and act in the theater re: food and cell phones. The standards of respect have diminished in the theater unfortunately.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:04pm

I'm not saying I agree with the way it is, I'm just saying that it's become acceptable. When someone asks the question, it's not my job to preach to them about what people used to do. For the record, I usually try to dress up a bit, but I have had nights where I just go in jeans. Therefore, not exactly my right to tell people it's not as PC to wear jeans, etc.

[Toon]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:08pm

I'm just saying that it's become acceptable

It has become acceptable to those that do it. To a large portion of the theater going audience it is not. The mere fact that the original poster asked about a dress code signifies that there used to be one and some still do hold to it. So it is not entirely something people "used" to do. Many still do even when it would be more comfortable not to.I hope you know I'm not picking on you emcee but rather venting a pet peve.

[Toon]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:11pm

For the record, I usually try to dress up a bit, but I have had nights where I just go in jeans. Therefore, not exactly my right to tell people it's not as PC to wear jeans, etc.

If someone is asking what they should wear you are well within your right to let them know that they should consider something a little nicer than jeans. Again, just because some people will wear them doesn't mean they should.

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:16pm

this conversation is silly.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:19pm

Hmmm. I almost never DON'T go in jeans. I believe that it is the viewing of the art that matters, not how one looks to others in attendance.

[Toon]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:21pm

this conversation is silly

You just proved my point. I'm done with this one now.

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 11:24pm

glad I could help, toon! :)

[rocks911]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 7:14am

I'm with you on that thinking

[jczelyph]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 7:25am

I wear whatever the hell I like to theatre. My comfort is the primary concern when I spend up to $100 to sit down for 3 hours. As long as I don't smell bad, or affect other people's viewing pleasure, nobody has the right to tell me how to dress. The actors could seriously not care less about what you wear, and most of the people in the theatre couldn't either. I think it's kinda cute that people dress up for the theatre still (usually Long Island people). It makes me kinda feel bad that I'm lucky to go to the theatre a lot, so it's not such a momentous event for me, and I don't feel the twee need to dress in my sunday best.

Rocks911: Take a look at my thread where I reviewed some recent Broadway shows. It might help. Personally I think a 19 year old would prefer Rent, Wicked or Hairspray to Chitty Chitty (or Cruddy Cruddy as I call it). https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=857923#1214437

Updated On: 7/11/05 at 07:25 AM