Wicked Cancellation Line

[Wickedfan18]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:55pm

Hello.. I am knew to the fanboard.. I have seen Wicked 6 times.. I am a big wicked fan but I have only done the Cancellation line once.. and I really did not do it my friends dad did it.. so anyway my cuz wants to go see it for her birthday.. and I called up the guy I know in the show but he could not get any tickets there all sold out.. so I wanted to try the lotto but it is very hard cuz 39483 people show up... so I wanted to know when I do the lotto I will have my cuz or sis or me stand on the Cancellation line well i wait for the lotto...but will i get tickets for mezz do you think.. sorry it is so long i just really want to knew.. thanks a bunch!

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 8:59pm

You're tickets could be anywhere.
Providing you get them.

If Joe Schmoe in row C of the orchestra cancels, you get his seats. If Sally Jones in the last row of the mezz cancels you get hers.

If noone cancels, you're outta luck.

[Wickedfan18]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 9:00pm

so if they are in row c you have to pay 110 right and if mezz you pay what ever the face price is right?

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 9:09pm

Yes. No discounts because they already offer a lottery.

[Popular]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 9:25pm

My experience with cancellation lines is that you almost always get amazing house seats. I have never once heard of someone getting anything less but I suppose anything is possible.
You do have to pay face value, so no discount. I hope it works out for you and your cousin.

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 9:47pm

When I was at the lotto once, there was a woman who waited for the lotto while her boyfriend stood inside on the cancellation line. They had both given their names for the lotto and the boyfriend ended up having his name picked in the lotto, only because he was inside he wasn't allowed to accept the tickets. Ouch.

[admanrich]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 10:29pm

Yeah you have to do it secretly if you want to do both cancellation and lotto. One person has to stay in line or else they can take away lotto seats if one of you wins.


Cancellation is 99% house seats for $110.00. I have never heard of anyone getting cancellations for less rear mezzanine or partial view. It could happen, but cancellation is great if you are willing to spend full price.

[bwaydoc]

Posted: 1/22/07 at 11:13pm

What everyone else is saying is true, I've done the cancellation line 3 or 4 times and have always gotten house seats for $110 (which is actually a deal since the house seats are twice as much as this normally). I haven't heard of anyone getting mezzanine seats through cancellation, but I'm sure it can happen. The lottery is definitely tricky. If you and anyone you are going with look similar you can take each other's IDs so that someone stays in the cancellation line and whoever is outside waiting for the lottery has the ID matching you if your name is called. This can be tricky, and I'm not exactly sure how closely they look at your photo ID (it also helps that I have a twin sister so it wasn't such a big deal when I did this.)

[AnaGFan]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 1:19pm

My understanding is that they give out the best seats first in the cancellation line. The lotto is definitely crazy, there are tons of people who show up and they want you to wait OUTSIDE in the COLD feezing weather. They threaten to forfeit your entry if you want to wait in the lobby. And it is only is only two tickets per entry if you get picked.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 1:20pm

I did cancelation line for Wicked and I couldn't have gotten better seats. We were right smack dab in the middle of the orchestra.

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 1:22pm

ive never tried CL; but have seen people and there are usually anywhere between 8-15 people.

yes the lotto is crazy- ive tried 4 times and havent won once!

also its front row so if you DO get the lotto then your neck will kill you!

good luck though!

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 1:55pm

I've heard the front row at Wicked doesn't hurt your neck... makes sense, the stage is farther away from the front row than most theatres.

[Anakela]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 2:20pm

When I was at the lotto once, there was a woman who waited for the lotto while her boyfriend stood inside on the cancellation line. They had both given their names for the lotto and the boyfriend ended up having his name picked in the lotto, only because he was inside he wasn't allowed to accept the tickets. Ouch.

Oh can I just say that I *love* when the folks running the lotto do this? The guy whose name I can't remember who used to run the DRS lotto would totally disqualify you if you were across the street at the Avenue Q lotto when he pulled your name out of the DRS hat. If the rule is you have to be present to win, 'present' != being at the lotto across the street. If the rule is you can't be in both the lotto and the cancellation line, well then you can't be in both. Schadenfreude? maybe.

back to topic: the only times I've ever done the Wicked cancellation line I have received orch seats- I didn't think the box office even took back any mezz/other seats to sell to the cancellation line.

[mirramar]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 2:35pm

I always thought that this is what cancellation tickets are:
The theater has a certain amount of house seats that are reserved for members of the cast, if they are not used, then they are sold to the general public, thus, the cancellation line.

The cancellation line seats are ALWAYS prime seats, what are the chances that a cancelled ticket will always be so good? Furthermore, can you even cancel your ticket the day of a performance?

[bwaydoc]

Posted: 1/23/07 at 6:34pm

You can return tickets to the box office the day of a show and they will sell them to other people if there are people in a cancellation line. I did this myself when I had an extra ticket for Avenue Q because someone who was supposed to go couldn't make it. The box office took my ticket and sold it to someone who had been waiting in the cancellation line and then returned the money to me.

[coolkid11776]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 10:42am

How can you sell them back the tickets say on the "No Refund's No exchanges". My friend couldn't use A RENT ticket and the B.O. guy just gave her a pass to come back for 1 ticket free. He didn't give her back the money.
Does just Wicked give back the money if you can't use the tickets?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 11:04am

Box offices will only take back tickets if it's a completely sold-out performance. If tickets are still available, like RENT always has, they won't take back your tickets.

That "All Sales are Final/No Refunds/Exchanges/Cancellations" is disregarded IF it's a completely sold-out show.

[mirramar]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 11:47am

Logically, it just doesn't make sense that ALL the tickets that people return the day of the performance are prime seats. The cancellation seats are ALWAYS prime orchestra seats. What, nobody with a mezz seat ever cancels?

Cancellation tickets are house seats which are available to the cast (they aren't free, but can be purchased by members of the cast), when they aren't sold, they're available to the general public.

[froggy2]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 12:18pm

I actually have a friend that got a mezz seat from doing the Wicked cancellation line, so it's definitely possible. Although I will say that I've gotten my tickets that way many times and that was the first I'd ever heard of that happening. Every time I've gone I've gotten amazing orch seats.

The second time I ever saw the show, I was sold a third row premium seat with a value of $250, and I only had to pay $100... ahh, good times.

[noplacelikehome212]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 1:12pm

What time should I show up for the cancellation line if I am interested in obtaining tickets this way? Thank you.

[broadway_show_fan]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 1:34pm

My friend who works for the show (merch counter) was going to buy me a ticket one time for a discount they had. Turns out that they didn't have any more tickets available - completely and totally sold out, even though when she'd been to the box office earlier that day (maybe 4 hours earlier) they still had a handful of tickets.

I couldn't get there in time to lotto but when I got there the guy had already had cancellation tickets. He offered to sell me one in the orchestra already. I hadn't been planning on a $110 ticket (more like $50-something ish with that discount) but I bought it anyway. Orchestra row E only three seats away from the aisle - and only about an hour to an hour and a half before curtain!

[bwaydoc]

Posted: 1/24/07 at 5:18pm

The time for cancellation line totally varies. I was there last President's Day weekend when it was freezing, didn't expect anyone to be there so I got there for the line at about 11 for the matinee and it was very long and there was no way I would get a ticket. Then I went back to try for the evening, got there at about 3 and there were only four people in front of me. When I went in July I got there at about 9, had several people in front of me but got a ticket. In September there was absolutely no one in line at 9 so I was first and got a ticket. It also depends on how many tickets people are purchasing because there's no limit to how many tickets people can purchase from the cancellation line. It's all pretty much a toss-up. Plus, once people get to the theater and realize that you can line up for cancellation lines and there are already people in line, they tend to gravitate toward the line as well.