Why Stand in Line if You Have a Ticket?

I know some people that do it so they can use the restroom BEFORE the show.

Me? I like to come in at about 10 minutes beforehand.

---

I like to cut in "line" and have a tourist yell at me. It's my new favorite theatre tradition.

---

Doesn't address the theaters that actually make people wait in line.

^ I agree. I get there when I get there before curtain. But, I do perfer to not have to climb over people to get to my seat.

---

I don't see this as a big offense at all. There are many reasons to get to the theatre early. Personally, I like to get there when they open doors so I can use the bathroom, browse the merchandise leisurely if I want (not like the crazy rush at intermission), and peruse the Playbill prior to the show. I'm sure there are many who show up at half hour for similar reasons in addition to the ones addressed in that article. No big deal.

~Steven

God, I hate the lines. It makes me feel like I'm back in Junior High. They don't do it anywhere else - certainly not in London - and they never used to do it in New York. I don't recall ever being in a chaotic mad scramble in the pre-line era. I know a lot of Broadway houses have small lobbies but that's no excuse.

---

I look at where my seat is to determine how early I get there. If I know I am in the middle of a row, I will often line up to go ahead and be in my seat so I'm not bothering everyone else who's already sitting down when I come running in 5 minutes before curtain. I used to have a friend who was notorious for not keeping up with time and would come ambling in just before curtain when our seats would invariably be in the middle of the row or over against the wall. Primary reason my response was "I'll meet you there" when we'd be figuring times out.

Obviously last minute sales are going to be a horse of a different color, but when you've picked up your tickets early and know where they are (in the case of tdf) or ordered your tickets ahead of time and know where they are, imo it's just rude to be in the center of the row or in a wall seat and wait until just before the show to come in, thereby making everyone who got there not at the last minute move and shift and stand to let you in.

I love that as an example they use the lines for the NIGHT MUSIC signing - no idea why there are any people standing in line there!!

---

The article is utter nonsense. This is now an ISSUE, this is WHAT HAPPENS. And it's for a reason. As mentioned above, it's a GOOD THING that people arrive 60-30 minutes prior to curtain. It takes that long for all these elderly, slow-walking, disabled, blind patrons to find their seats. And that's not a knock at them, I'm not saying that it is their fault that they are not fully physically functional, it's just truth. You get old and you get brittle.

Plus, there are many benefits to getting there early:

- Mingle with others in line.
- Don't have to feel rushed to get to the theater.
- Insurance in case there is traffic or transportation issues.
- Time to use the restroom.
- Time for a pre-show cocktail in the lobby.
- Time to browse merchandise.
- Time to read over the Playbill.
- Time to complain to the House Manager that you were told that your seat is not partial view, when in fact it is.
- Time to glance over the audience to spot celebrities.

Mostly, this is not an issue because I WOULD RATHER HAVE PEOPLE SHOW UP EARLY THAN TO ARRIVE LATE!!!

And yes, a lot of theaters DO need to hire 1-2 more ticket-takers. But I have a solution to this. Why not have a Self-Checkin? Like at the grocery store, but instead of checking out, checking in. Take your ticket, scan the barcode, and go inside. If you don't have a barcode, it won't scan, or the ticket gives an error message, then go into the line where an usher will check you in.

---

The problem with a self scanner is that people do not know where their seats are. Or do you just mean for them to scan them, and then an usher can tell you where to go?

I actually like the set up at the Gershwin theater. I got there super early once for some reason, and I thought I was going to have to wait out in the undercover between there and Circle in the Square. However, I went inside and the usher scanned my ticket and let me right up the stairs. Yes, the theater was not physically open for seating yet, but there things to look at while waiting in the lobby area.

---

As for reading the Playbill before, I am at the point where if the play can't tell me everything I need to know as I need to know it, then the playwright has not done their job.

Most people reading the Playbill are doing so to find out about the cast- reading the bios, etc. Very, very few shows print any kind of synopsis in the Playbill anymore.

I was seeing In the Heights a few summers ago and some tourist woman with unresolved line leader issues from childhood went off on me over this. I was coming from 7th, the line was forming towards 8th. I was by myself, there was a large gap at the front, so I walked towards the doors. This one woman (who was causing the gap by not moving forward) started ranting that they had waited an hour in line and basically thought she and family deserved special treatment and consideration for wasting an hour of their lives for assigned seating. She tried to get a theatre employee involved, but he rolled his eyes and told us to move along. The daughter was clearly embarassed and told her to drop it. The expression "mountain out of a molehill" comes to mind.

When people are lined up outside a theatre an hour before the doors even open, it basically says they can't find anything better to do in Midtown Manhattan than stand around staring at the back of the person's head in front of them. What was the point of shutting down Times Square traffic if everyone is just going to unnecessarily clog up the side streets sidewalks for hours on end anyway?

---