Rush/Lottery vs. SRO and Pippin Rush advice

I think the orchestra seats they sell for Pippin rush are actually quite good; they are off to the side but very close to the stage and you don't really miss anything.
Pippin SRO is also good, but it's always hit or miss, since they will not sell the tickets unless every single seat is sold. I would go with rush.
I am not sure what time to get there, though.

With Matilda, if you try a Wednesday matinee lottery, you have a pretty good shot at getting in. There were maybe 40 people there when I tried and nearly everyone got tickets. There will be a lot of people (probably 100-300) if you try on the weekend, but it's still worth a shot. As far as the seats go with the Matilda lottery, you have to get lucky. The seats are really scattered everywhere so you're as likely to get good seats as bad ones. It's a pretty intimate theater, though, and unless you're up in the balcony blocked by one of the poles you should be fine. When I won I got tickets for row H in the orchestra all the way to the left side and had absolutely no problem, despite the ticket saying "partial view". I say go for it! It's a really fantastic show.
If you want to know which seats you're getting for sure, though, they do sell discounted tickets right after the lottery is over.

Updated On: 10/20/13 at 09:49 PM

Standing room for both of these shows are wonderful. My friend and I went at the end of September on a saturday morning to Pippin at 6:30am, and there were already 55 people in line (for 40 tickets...) so we went to Big Fish. This past Friday I went to the BO for Pippin at 6:30pm and got the last standing room. It was a great view! (except for the snotty pretentious people sitting in front of me that talked about how they didnt want anyone behind them.)

2 Fridays ago me and a friend did the lotto for Matilda and lost AGAIN. This time, no discount tickets were offered so we ran inside and were the first to buy standing room. View was amazing, and seats opened up at intermission.

-Pippin ONLY sells SRO when it is 100% sold out.
- I've heard mixed rumors over Tumblr about Matilda. Every time i've asked, they will not sell me a SRO if there are tickets still available. The only time I got SRO was after the lottery. According to some people online though, they sell SRO before it's sold out. Whatever.

Fun fact - people sell Matilda balcony seats for face value ($32-45) for almost every performance on stubhub. It is reliable and cheap, and you dont have to worry about the lottery or standing room. I've sat in the balcony 3 times (twice in the last row) and even with the damn pole in front of me, I've had a great view. (I just really like Matilda, as well).

It's like that both days. People are flocking to this show in the strangest way. It is a great show, but I would never wait that long for rush. The thing with Sunday, is a lot of people don't know/care that the box office opens at noon. They'll still arrive early.

It's also easy to tell if it's worth it get in line because they are very strict with their 20 seat max, and it's only 1 ticket per person. So, the moment you count 20 (or 40 on 2 show days), dont wait. Only wait if you check Telecharge and the show is sold out, then they'll sell SRO immediately following rush.

Thanks so much for posting! These two shows are on my list, and this is super helpful in deciding which tickets to try for what show.

Basically, my takeaway is try Pippin rush (20 per show) on a weekday for a good chance, and choose orchestra.

Matilda lottery on a weekday or try Stubhub for cheap last row seats.

thanks again!

Does anyone have any advice on what the rush line is like for Pippin during the week?
My parents would like to see it when they're in New York next Tuesday and while I wouldn't mind going early myself, I don't want to drag them out too early on their vacation just to make sure they get tickets.

Matilda lottery on a weekday or try Stubhub for cheap last row seats.

When are you planning to go? If your schedule is relatively flexible, you can just buy the least expensive tickets on Telecharge or at the box office. I sat in the very last row of the balcony for Matilda and I thought the seats were fine.

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