Tdf seating alphabetically?

[Heman5up]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 11:51am

I am thinking of getting tdf membership. Is it true that TDF member tickets are assigned based on alphabetical order half hour before the show? Also between tdf member tickets and TDK same day purchase, who gets better tickets? I am planning on typically going alone.
Thanks

[pennydreadful]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 12:11pm

I've never heard about the alphabetical thing, but I met one of my closest friends through TDF - we were seated next to each other at Mary Stuart, she's a "W" last name and I'm a "Z". Despite being a "Z" name, I've had excellent luck with TDF membership - I usually go alone, and get orchestra seats, though occasionally mezz and once balcony. The orchestra seats tend to be over to the side of the house, but occasionally I end up in a premium seat. When I went to see Jerusalem I was row D center, for instance. Most recently, I was side orchestra row G for Bullets Over Broadway, and side orchestra row V for a matinee of All the Way. I pay about $45 per ticket through TDF for Broadway shows. If you go to the TKTS booth same day, you can get a great orchestra or mezz seat, but you will pay 50% off the cost of a regular seat, so around $77. I did the TKTS booth for Glass Menagerie, because I wanted a really good seat for that one.

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 12:19pm

I'm not certain whether TDF determines this or the box office does. Either way, it would happen earlier than 30 minutes to showtime, since that is when they are opening the doors to the house and have better things to do.

I do recall one show just having a stack of tickets off to the side, and when they confirmed my name, they just took a ticket off the top of that pile and gave it to me. Most have had my ticket sorted by name in its own envelope, so perhaps it is up to the box office what to do?

[macnyc]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 12:34pm

I have had the opposite experience from penny dreadful. A friend and I bought TDF tickets to the same performance. I bought my ticket first, and she bought hers a couple of days later. We ended up being seated next to each other and we were so surprised! Then we realized that our last names are very close to each other alphabetically. That's just one anecdote, though.

The main difference between TDF and TKTS is the pricing. The TKTS booth tends to get the "better" tickets: orchestra or front mezzanine. So a TKTS ticket is usually at least $75. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) TDF tickets to Broadway musicals, for instance, are usually $45.

You definitely get a better seat as a single, from what I've observed.

Updated On: 3/30/14 at 12:34 PM

[sameckmann]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 12:42pm

It is entirely up to the box office. Most box offices will block off a section of seats for TDF. In that case, when TDF send the list of ticket buyers to the box office, it is often listed alphabetically by name (to easily find patrons if there is any problem since a TDF patron will not have a constituency or customer profile in the ticketing system at the box office). Therefore orders are usually sat alphabetically because the box office staff is just going down the list and inputting orders. Sometimes they will not assign tickets beforehand and just go through the "stack" as mentioned before. This usually happens when things get busy (two show days) or the list arrived late and they didnt have enough time to imput every order. So it is always better to arrive early if you have TDF tix in case they are going through a stack since it will be first come first serve so to speak. But regardless the tickets are usually decent seats in the second or mid price range.

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 12:47pm

"The main difference between TDF and TKTS is the pricing. The TKTS booth tends to get the "better" tickets"

Well, if they are going to give 40-50% off, they want to at least get that discount taken off of the higher ticket prices. Plus, they can toss tickets at TKTS day of show, and hold tickets longer with the hope they might sell first, whereas TDF you can decide to get a ticket two weeks in advance, etc.

[wexy]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 2:08pm

I usually go by myself on TDF and I'm a W. Most of the time I've gotten really good seats.

[tmbyru]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 6:17pm

I have "T" last name and I use TDF pretty much weekly and have always ended up with great seats. The worst seats were for Rocky, which in the WG the seats all the way over are not great. We got to move over when the seats further in were not filled.

I have never had to sit in the mezz unless the TDF page tells you it is so.

I stopped using TKTS because it just isn't convenient and the prices are better through TDF.

**I have a question for anyone who knows though... why is Chicago never on TDF?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:26pm

Here is the only thing you have to know: there are no rules. Not on how a box office assigns tickets, not on whether TDF tickets are better than TKTS, not anything.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/30/14 at 10:37pm

As someone who worked in the box office for an off-Broadway company, they used to block off a section for TDF - usually in the back or something. Then they take the orders and fulfill them. Usually it's alphabetically because I think that's how the orders come in on the spreadsheet. But doesn't mean you'll get good/bad seats if you're further down on the list. For instance if there are seats on the extreme sides at the front of the stage, they would fulfill those using the first names work their way back, so the Z name probably had a decent seat in the back of the orchestra, but the A name was maybe closer but off to the side.

[tmbyru]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 10:01am

any theories on why Chicago is never on TDF?

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 1:25pm

Ripped-that makes sense, but it should be underscored that different box offices do it differently. Some do as you describe, somesimply stack tickets and don't pre-assign and I am sure others have some screwy system that we could not even imagine. Bottom line-no rules and (as you say) even when a rule is applied at a given box office it tells you nothing.

tmb--Chicago is never on tdf because it is not a way the weisslers want to sell tickets. It is like asking why don't you ever see certain clothing brands at discount stores.

[tmbyru]

Posted: 4/1/14 at 3:22pm

Hogan, that doesn't make much sense to me. They are okay with TKTS but not okay with a membership service like TDF which is the same company? And they are also producing Violet and it's on TDF.

If TDF is a discount store, what does that make TKTS? I am trying to think of a members only discount store that a designer would not chose over a general/available to everyone discount store.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/1/14 at 4:19pm

None of us are producers on Chicago, so none of us will have an answer.

Plenty of shows aren't on TDF for whatever reasons. Maybe Chicago does better business with tourists who walk up to the box office at the last minute to buy a ticket. Who knows.