franco

Friends of mine are traveling to New York City, as some of you New Yorkers already know, and I'm doing the internet part of the research for them. (http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...estaurants.cfm, for those who don't know yet.)

Here comes the newest problem. They have a distant relative in New York, who has been a Met habitué since about 1940. Go figure! He promised to get them tickets for the opening night on September 27th, Rheingold. Given the crush when the ticket office opened (you may have heard media reports), he failed to get those tickets, but they still absolutely want to see the performance (the few remaining tickets are way too expensive to consider). They know about the transmission outside and on Times Square, but would still rather be in the theater.
This is where the standing room comes into consideration; it's obvious that their relative, given his age, doesn't know much on standing room matters. I found out on the Met's website that the standing room tickets will be sold at 10 a.m. on the day of the performance. My friend called the Met to ask what the habits of the NY audience are, and at which hour they would typically have to show up to get their tickets. The response, he reports, was very friendly but totally meaningless. The lady on the other side of the line had no idea whatsoever at which time it would be reasonable to line up. I said I'm sure that on Fodor's, somebody will...

yk

You can buy standing room tickets online & by phone these days... it starts at 10am. You should be able to get tix that way if you go online or call right at 10am.

yk

P.S. Between now and Sept 27, I suggest you (or your friend) to keep checking Met's website for returned tickets. There will be some returned tickets as the date draws closer, and you may be able to find some that is more affordable.

travelbuff

I have done standing room and it is quite honestly not much fun, you STAND, hence the term standing room. There is a "bar in front of you for the kyron "text", and it is crowded. We got to see one of the last Pavarotti performances that way, because it was totally sold out.

I'd suggest going to one of the theatres that is showing it on the screen, it is more enjoyable than standing, ok, so it's not exactly "live" but it is alot more comfortable and the screen is large enough that you can see more than from the standing room seats.

franco

Thank you, yk. I should have mentioned that the Met lady told my friend on the phone that there will be contingents allocated to the phone sale, the internet sale and the ticket office sale, respectively, but she had no idea how large each contingent would be; she said she THINKS that the one for the ticket office will be the largest since many people will presumably line up there. Any thoughts on that?

yk

Sorry, I can't tell you how the box office line would be like for opening night gala tickets. How about have one person go online and another one call right at 10am? Obviously, these 2 people should be at the same place so you won't get duplicate tickets.

franco

travelbuff, sorry, but I don't get the part on "kyron text"... are you saying there's a bar (rail?) in front of you where to rest/lean on, or is it "standing" like in "free-standing"? (Which might be more important for their elderly relative than for my friends.)

dbdurand

I hope your friends are aware that Das Rheingold is a one act opera that typically lasts 2 hrs and 45 minutes. If the Met does as most opera houses do, they will not insert an artificial intermission, so your friends will not only have to exercise heroic bladder control, they will be very foot weary by the end.

I saw it at the LA Opera and at the end , all the elderly men (I'm one of them) and women were literally sprinting to the restrooms. If they had been standing, probably a significant number would have developed blood clots in their legs.

franco

Very good idea, yk, thank you. Which leaves us with the question how their standing room is built - rails or free standing?

ekscrunchy

From 2006, but perhaps interesting and possibly, helpful:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/22/ar...pagewanted=all

franco

dbdurand, thank you for the consideration, but they are true opera experts and will know large parts of Rheingold by heart. They know what to expect! (And they'd certainly be very indignant over an artificial intermission in Rheingold!)

franco

Excellent, ek - as always, you're wonderful, thank you! So they have rails, and my friends will certainly go standing. With the rails, nothing can frighten them (or me, for that matter). Just some Wagner operas can be long for the feet, admittedly - Meistersinger, Parsifal, Götterdämmerung, Tristan und Isolde... ok, but those operas are too long anyway, standing or sitting, isn't it? But Rheingold? Just a bladder problem, dbdurand is right about that. But then again, that's the same problem standing or sitting...

yk

The rail is built in, and is about 4 ft in height (approx), with a velvet covering. It's for you to lean on, and the LCD screens are built into the rail which transmits Met Titles.

I think the rail is fairly comfortable for most; but for me at 5'2", it's a bit high but I survived.

dbdurand - good point. There wasn't one when we saw Flying Dutchman at the Met earlier this year.

yk

In case you didn't see it, the photo in the NYT article shows the rail: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20...a.3.ready.html

yk

BTW, your friends probably know this already, but there are 2 standing room tickets for sale- family circle vs orchestra.

From the Met's website:
Standing Room Gala Events tickets are available in the Orchestra for $40 per ticket and in the Family Circle for $28 per ticket.

SueNYC

I would seriously talk them into the HD transmissions. If you want to get a sense of what they feel like, the FREE HD Met repeats will be playing for 10 nights before and during Labor Day weekend. You can find the schedule here.

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...ms-met-hd.html

franco

Yes, the two standing rooms have been noticed, thank you. Would you say, price aside, that there's one preferable over the other? I mean as far as sight, but above all, as far as acoustics.

franco

Sorry, my last post was meant to yk, of course (cross-posting with Sue). Sue, thank you, I will pass the information on to them, but honestly, I doubt they will want to miss the live theater experience.

yk

I much prefer the family circus circle for acoustics. I did the orchestra standing room once, and it was terrible. I also sat in rear orchestra once, and it was just as bad. Of course for FC, you'll be far, far away, so make sure they bring opera glasses.

OTOH, I've read anecdotal reports that sometimes the rich patrons in the orchestra seats will leave half-way in the opera, and give their tickets to the standing room people. But of course, that depends on one's luck; and it's UNlikely to happen on opening night (esp w/no intermission).

franco

Thank you, yk. Their habitué relative, too, is always buying family circle tickets (seats, of course).