ilana25841

I have tickets for a few shows, so I am just curious for some 'bonus' opportunities. Can anyone give me some experiences doing this or tips? Is standing room a better bet than rush? (not a student to the extent rush are limited to students) Thanks

bethke14

You can generally only get standing room only tickets if the show is completely sold out for the night. Also, not all shows have SRO. Off the top of my head, I'm pretty sure that Hair, God of Carnage, Jersey Boys, West Side Story, and Waiting for Godot all have standing room tickets and are often sold out. I know that Wicked and Billy Elliot do NOT have SRO. You can get SRO tickets the day of the show when the box office opens if it is sold out. If it is not completely sold out when you arrive, you would have to wait until it is (though, depending on the person in the box office, this may vary.) How early you would have to arrive differs from show to show (for example, people that lose the lotto often immediate seek SRO tickets, and I'm not sure if its a separate line.)

For some shows (In the Heights, Wicked), rush is a lotto. For other shows (Next to Normal) rush is first come, first served. The location of the seats is also different. Some are front row, some rear mezz, some are the boxes.

A few things most shows generally have in common:
1. You must pay cash
2. Each person may only get a max of 2 tickets

nnancy

Years ago, my daughter and I stood in line to get SRO tickets for Nine. It was sold out and we stood in line outside the box office an hour before it opened in the morning. I was amazed how many people got tickets. We stood in the back row (can't remember the theater, directly across the street from where Chicago is playing)for the first half. Then at intermission the usher came and seated almost all of us in seats where there were no shows. I ended up in the 10th row orchestra and it happened to be Antonio Banderas's birthday so Chita Rivera had the entire audience sing happy birthday to him during curtain calls. Then waited at stage door and got his autograph. He was so kind and generous with all the fans (then Melanie Griffith pulled him away into the limo - she wasn't so patient).

So find out what theater the show is playing at and go to the website for the play and they usually have rules for SRO or rush tickets posted. Otherwise, go to the box office of the theater and it will be posted. Not all theaters do SRO but they do have a number of tickets that go on sale that morning, some of which may have a partial obstruction.

HowardR

bethke14 gave you some solid information. For more details log onto www.playbill.com. Scroll down the right side until you get to the listings for "Insider Info" and click on the one for standing room and rush seats.

ilana25841

Thank you all for your suggestions. We have tix for Hair and Next to Normal, and have seen a few of the biggies, so this will just be for fun, and sounds feasible.

Clarification question: box offices open in the morning? I was thinking an hour before the show, but I gather not. I will check the playbill link.

HowardR

Box offices usually open at 10 a.m. Monday thru Saturday and at noon on Sunday.