Swing Joined: 5/28/14
First time poster. Have just read that tickets for "The River" with Hugh Jackman go on American Express presale in a few hours. I live in Australia but happen to be coming to NY in January for one week. Am desperate to get tickets - world's biggest HJ fan! Can anybody confirm that the presale is happening? Did anyone receive anything from Amex? I would really appreciate help on this.
Swing Joined: 5/28/14
Thanks. I have been on to the Ticketmaster website and looked at American Express presales but I can't see it listed. Other shows but not that one. Am I missing something? It's the first time I've tried to get tickets for a Broadway show so I'm really not sure how to go about it. And I know this one will be in demand.
Row F equates to row 8....that's actually pretty good isn't it? I'm a bit confused with this theatre. So the show basically takes place in the middle? How does one know which section is best? Or do they always seem to do a good job of playing to all sides of the theatre? I would imagine they would have to do a good job, or one side of the theatre would be empty! (Well, maybe not empty with HJ, but you know what I mean!)
But that is a hell of a lot of premium seats for such a small theater, almost 2/3 of the house.
They aren't using the full theater, as there are no seats in what is seemingly behind the stage. Godspell actually didn't close off that side of it, they performed to the whole house, all the way around.
It would be a silly theater to play if they weren't staging it to be performed nearly in the round, so all seats should be fine.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
Acccording to the press release --
>>>
The producers are pleased to announce that a limited number of $35 day-of seats will be available for every performance of THE RIVER. When performances are sold out, $30 standing room tickets will also be available. Further details will be announced shortly. <<<
Swing Joined: 5/28/14
Were it a "money grab," wouldn't a producer have booked a 1000, 1200 or 1400 seat theatre, knowing Jackman could fill it? In London, the show played the 90 seat upstairs theatre at the Royal Court, rather than the main stage space. As Jez Butterworth's first play in London after Jerusalem, it could have commanded a larger space, but the intimacy of the play is absolutely a requirement.
And some plays are worth top dollar. Certainly any of the titles in the 2013-2014 play revival category were better than anything else on Broadway this season. And with The River and Curious Incident, the 2014-2015 season is off to a better start on the new play front.
No, because then they couldn't charge premium prices to almost HALF the house in those huge theaters. Some plays are worth top dollar, and in my view, this isn't one of them.
"Certainly any of the titles in the 2013-2014 play revival category were better than anything else on Broadway this season."
Really? Anything else?
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
A huge (and consistently rising) actor and a brilliant and acclaimed return for the playwright/director to Broadway and this doesn't seem to fit your bill as a top-dollar worth play? Not to mention a 13-week run! Those prices don't surprise me the least bit - not even if this WERE a "money pit." It's not. People will pay those prices without a doubt… and I'd call almost every seat in the CITS Theatre near-premium, experience-wise. Have you ever even been there? Clearly not enough. I've sat first and last row in this wonderful theatre and had an equally incredible experience. It's an intimate play that will fit this theatre perfectly with a stellar team… this will be a smash.
Updated On: 5/29/14 at 12:29 AM
Broadway Star Joined: 9/13/09
I've been to CITS for several shows, if I am remembering correctly all the shows charged lower prices for the seats in row J and K. It is not the $175 ticket price that surprises me, but that they do not have any lower price option in advance. Only lower price option is day of @ $35 for either lottery or rush and $30 standing room.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/06
Well - when Godspell first went on sale at the same theatre, every single seat was going for $125... and that barely had a name IN it (I say that being a huge fan of Hunter Parrish) and a not-so-well-known team behind it other than Schwartz himself. You put, as I mentioned above, a stellar team together (actor + playwright + director) in the same theatre and charge $50 more per ticket? Makes perfect sense to me. Regardless if it is a play or not, it's still only the pre-sale if I'm not mistake. And even if it is general on sale at this point, and they don't sell at these top ticket prices… they'll go down. Previews don't even start until Halloween for heckssake. We're way too early in the game to be criticizing the ticket prices for this one.
Regardless - they'll sell. And they'll sell fast.
Updated On: 5/29/14 at 08:23 PM
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
At the heart of all of this is the play itself. It is a one-act play ( maybe because an intermission would interrupt the flow of the story) and from accounts of the London reviews, it is dark material and engages the audience fully well, hence the need for an intimate setting. I have read the play itself and look forward to seeing how the staging makes it all alive and challenging to the audience.
Here's a review by noted London critic Matt Wolf ( formerly of Variety and the International Herald Tribune) --
http://www.theartsdesk.com/theatre/river-royal-court-theatre
>>>Jez Butterworth's latest is small in scale but poignantly and cunningly formed <<<<
Updated On: 5/29/14 at 08:48 PM
So tickets are on sale to the general public now. Has anyone tried to get them? I keep getting the same exact seats that have been on sale since the "pre-sale" started. Anyone have any luck with seats better then row F or G? I called telecharge and they claim all the seats have been released. Hmmm.....
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