It is absolutely absurd. I was fortunate to be able to rush the show last week after getting a day off work but in the weeks before whenever I had a free afternoon or evening I would check throughout the day to see if standing room was being sold and continually encountered the same rude box office employee who would tell me I'd have to check back later that there were seats available and standing room was only when every single seat was sold.
I checked on Telecharge each time and the most number of seats that were ever available on the nights where the box office wouldn't sell the tickets was 7 randomly scattered single seats. Most other nights it was 3 or 4. They were mostly $135.
Let's say there are 25 standing room spots and they sell them at $30 per person (not sure on these numbers since I never actually got standing room for Pippin), that's $750 of revenue per show they're missing out on, or $6000 per week, no not a huge amount of money, but not insignificant. This also doesn't even include other benefits the show receives by having 25 extra bodies in the house like merchandise and food and beverage sales and good old word of mouth. The average person willing to wait on a line for hours and check back with a box office all day to stand for three hours during a show is not someone who's going to spend $135+ on tickets. Them withholding standing room will do ZERO harm to the sale of a few randomly scattered single seats but will annoy people who want to see the show and everyone else trying to pick up will call 10 minutes before curtain and fighting past a bunch of people hoping the box office will release standing room.
The point of selling standing room "when the show is sold out" is because if there are tons of seats throughout the theatre at a variety of prices, it would make sense why a producer wouldn't want to lose out on potential sales of slightly more expensive seats. It isn't to sell 3 extra seats that no one who would otherwise get standing room will ever buy. No other show that I have ever stood for has ever had such an absurd policy. If the producers insist on continuing this for whatever illogical reason, I suggest they develop some sort of system to ease the traffic flow at the box office if nothing else. Perhaps tweet when standing room becomes available? What about actually putting up the "sold out" sign when the show is sold out so people who want standing room don't need to constantly ask and check, they can just look for the sign? Or at the very least, have a box office employee who appears to have some interest in his job and can answer questions without being condescending and causing more confusion.
Rant over!
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.