people paying for SRO but then sit in orch seats.- Page 2

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 4:30pm

If you're bugged about someone in SRO taking that primo seat, maybe it's time you scoped out the good seats and scooted up yourself.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 6:02pm

No i dont like it. For one reason. Who's to say WHO gets those seats. If they did a general lottery of EVERYONE in the theatre who would want different seats. Then its fine. But to single out SROs no i dont think its fine. Why should they get it as opposed to someone in the last row of Orch who paid but those seats werent avaialable at the time.

Nobody is "singling out" SRO people and making sure they have priority. As a general rule, any empty seat that hasn't been used is fair game to *anyone*--including people who have paid to sit farther back for the first act. If you see an empty seat and get to it first, by all means take it. Some ushers just decide, and rightly so, to first inform the people who have been on their feet of an opportunity to sit.

And even that kindness is not at every house...while doing SRO I have been told by a number of ushers that I can absolutely not move, even if I see a seat no one is using. Standing room is not exactly a charmed existence.

[teka21]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 6:30pm

Calvin-
I'm ROTFLMAO! Some of us out here are appreciating your humor!!

[defyingravity11]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 7:50pm

I attempted to move to an empty seat when I did standing room for Spelling Bee and Les Miz (Revival), but the ushers wouldn't let me...

[ReNtHeAd04]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 7:54pm

i agree with SDav 10495.. who's to say the people in the 10th row can't move up to 2nd row if the seat is open? do you people that have problems with this also get annoyed when certain shows do lotteries and the winners pay 20-25 bucks to sit in the first row when you're a couple rows back and paid more? .. this is just getting stupid..

[ILoveWicked330]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 8:00pm

I did SRO for Three Days of Rain and after 10 minutes of standing, the usher came up to us & told us that we could all sit in the empty seats in the last row.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 9:51pm

Calvin - you're the best!

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 1/8/07 at 10:10pm

>> seanmartin why do u need to make dumb and asshole comments?

Pookey, why do "u" need to exist?

[ErikInTheCity]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 2:06am

Renthead, you hit the nail on the head. I remember watching DRS from the original front row lottery seats and thought the view was great, but feeling terrible about blocking the view for the people who paid $100 for the seats directly behind me.

I always keep my eyes open for seat when doing SRO, but the truth of the matter is that in SRO spots, you usually have a completely unobstructed letter-box view, whereas in most seats, you have heads to contend with. I'd rather keep my SRO spot on most occasions.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 2:29am

millie_dillmount, I did the same thing at Spamalot. I got a SRO ticke and noticed 2 empty seats in the orchestra in front of me. I moved up at intermission. This is when the OBC was around and the show was selling out; it definitely wasn't that the seats were unsold. Better to benefit someone that actually bothered to show up for the performance as opposed to letting the opportunity go to waste.

[MaronaDavies]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 2:54am

I think people should wait until intermission to move. If the real owners of the seats come in, it's very disruptive to everyone to have to move the standing room back to their real places.

Once when we were stuck in the subway (literally, as in, in the tunnel between stations), we arrived to a show about 15 minutes late. Our seats were on the aisle. Some people were in them already. We had to wait while the ushers checked their tickets...sure enough, they came sheepishly back up the aisle to the standing room area.

IMHO if you buy a standing room ticket, you should expect to stand. You shouldn't expect to come in and scam a seat. If the ushers move you that's one thing, but if the rest of the house is completely sold out, you should wait.
Updated On: 1/9/07 at 02:54 AM

[avab802]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 9:30am

I think Marona is right. I've only moved to a seat from standing room either after intermission or if an usher told me I could. There are a few shows (RENT comes to mind) that sell standing room even if the show is not sold out. In that situation I stand unless an usher tells me I can sit in an empty seat. To me the seat is not worth interrupting my own viewing of the show for, either because someone comes in with a ticket for that seat or an usher just comes to tell me I can't sit there. I'd rather stand and enjoy the whole show.

[AnaGFan]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 11:20am

I agree that SRO ticket holders should not move into seats until intermission, a reasonable enough time to assume that the holders are not gonna show up. SRO sometimes you get to sit, sometimes you don't get to sit at all. It's all a game of chance, just like the lottery.

[D2]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 11:29am

Has anyone ever seen the I LOVE LUCY episode where they go to see THE MOST HAPPY FELLA? Similar situation, and hilarity ensues. Especially AFTER intermission.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 12:16pm

I love that episode! It was on tv around midnight in my area just a month or two ago.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 12:44pm

Granted they weren't SRO seats but my favorite experience of moving down to more desirable empty seats to the dismay of others was seeing a performance of "Evita" with Patti when I was young and financially strapped. We were sitting way upstairs in the balcony and before and after the first act we saw two still wonderful unused center orchestra seats ROW E near the aisle. We moved right before the lights went down and this woman sitting behind us who didn't like having people now sitting in front of her went running to the usher to turn us in. She disrupted the show and was adamant in having us removed. The usher of course asked to see our ticket stubs at which point the woman seated to my right pulled out the two unused tickets for the seats and handed them to me (apparantly her friends never showed). I thanked her, pulled a lighter out of my pocket, highlighted my third finger and gleefully shot the woman behind me the bird.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 12:53pm

When I saw See What I Wanna See, I was sitting in the worst possible seat. All the way stage right, in the very last row in the very last seat. During the first act, I had my eye on a single seat in the center of the middle section. I talked to the usher, who said it was fine as long as no one came.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 2:00pm

A thread like this that encourages people to change their seats or move from standing room to a seat during the performance just enables the bad behavior that far too many audience members have...cell phones, talking, eating, coming in late. Let's just play by the rules of common sense and try not to be disruptive...whether or not you have money.

[GYPSY1527]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 3:15pm

I have no problem with people who buy standing room tickets and move to a seat during intermission. I always wait until intermission to avoid any confusion and then try to find a seat! There is nothing wrong with it and like many have said before, if its empty, its up for grabs!

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 3:21pm

Well just think about it. You are gtting to sit during the show and they are not. Would you want to stand through all of Les Miz?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/9/07 at 3:57pm

I can't afford all the groceries I want.
I go to the supermarket and buy a couple of things.
I see a shopping cart full of groceries outside the front door (the owner has gone to get his car...but how would I know).
I wheel the full cart of groceries to my car. Hey, they were paid for. Why not take advantage?