Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
thismyshow
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/11
#1Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 12:52amSaw Priscilla tonight, was excited to see Will Swenson, wasnt until 6 minutes before the show started that I discovered via alittle piece of paper that Gavin Lodge (who was still very good) would be playing the part, there replacement board is not visible when you buy tickets at the box office as it is in the lobby with the bar & merchandise , hidden behind doors until an hour before curtain, due to nick tony and will not being over the title had someone come to see it for nick, tony or will they can not get a refund, does anyone else find this a bit deceptive, has anyone else had an experience like this elsewhere?
#2Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:13amI don't understand how you would've missed the piece of paper for that long.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
thismyshow
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/11
#2Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:17ambecause i didnt open the playbill til that point due to talk to people next to me.
#3Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:18amThose little pieces of paper always fall out of the Playbill as soon as the usher hands it to me. The floor of theatre is always covered in those slips so I never miss it.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#4Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:27amI fail to see the issue & it's not like the names aren't put up right before the doors open anyway so WHERE they are is pointless really.
thismyshow
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/11
#5Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:32amthey apparently knew at 2pm he wasnt coming in tonight, i bought my ticket at 6 had i know before i would have bought my ticket another night.
Tarzan
Swing Joined: 9/17/06
#6Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:39am
This simply points up an issue which many theatre-goers are unaware of. (I speak as a industry insider.) What you are paying to see is a SHOW, not a PERFORMER. While it is nice to want to go see performers you admire, or perhaps know, you have bought a ticket to a show, not their personal performance. An analogy is buying an airline ticket - you are entitled to be taken to your destination, but not by a specific pilot of your choice.
The only exception is when the star performer's name is ABOVE the title on the marquee. If they are out, you can legally go to the box office and insist on a refund, because in that case, you ARE paying to see a performer, since their name is more prominent than the title.
#7Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 1:43amThe replacement board is always the first thing I notice when I walk into The Palace. Did they move the merch booth to the other side? The bar has always been next to the board if I remember correctly.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
#8Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 2:20am
Tarzan, that pilot analogy is laughable. Airlines don't use their pilots 'celebrity' etc.. to sell tickets.
If you go to the Priscilla website and click "Who's in it", the first name is Will Swenson. Now, if his understudy is on he isn't in the show, is he? A bit misleading...
Also look at the marquee, it says Priscilla, STARRING, Will Swenson. They are marketing the names of the cast. If we were buying tickets to the show only why would they advertise the cast along side the advertisement for the show?
Clearly, these shows are advertising the cast members in order to attract ticket sales.
Now, I'm not suggesting that people should get refunds because an obscure Wicked ensemble member isn't featured in the show, but I think he should be able to get a refund if a star was out of the show.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 6/7/11 at 02:20 AM
#9Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 2:45am
Also look at the marquee, it says Priscilla, STARRING, Will Swenson.
No it doesn't.
The replacement board is always the first thing I notice when I walk into The Palace. Did they move the merch booth to the other side? The bar has always been next to the board if I remember correctly.
Nope, same spot.
they apparently knew at 2pm he wasnt coming in tonight, i bought my ticket at 6 had i know before i would have bought my ticket another night.
Then why didn't you bother asking if they knew if anyone would be out?
#10Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 2:51am
I should have clarified I meant the home page image on
http://www.priscillaonbroadway.com/
Not the 'marquee'
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 6/7/11 at 02:51 AM
#11Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 2:57amI still don't think that's trying to get tourists to see the show. I mean C. David Johnson is listed as well and all he's got is a few guest roles on mostly Canadian TV shows.
bwayguy22089
Broadway Star Joined: 12/16/06
#12Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 8:07amI think everyone is basically trying to be an asshole/argumentative in this thread. I agree. The board should be where everyone can see it (out near the box office). People buy tickets to shows based on who's in it, star or not. It is somewhat misleading. I doubt they do it purposely, but it should be visible.
#13Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 8:20am
"Now, I'm not suggesting that people should get refunds because an obscure Wicked ensemble member isn't featured in the show, but I think he should be able to get a refund if a star was out of the show."
Really? What if that "obscure" cast member happened to be your star drama student you taught and got into drama in the first place, or maybe he's your son and the reason you flew to New York to see the show, or perhaps your former roommate in college. I can think of many reasons for people to be even more disappointed by a single cast member being out than by the fact that he's "famous".
Meanwhile I'm always a bit amused when someone says "I saw Jude Law on Broadway" and not "I saw Jude Law play Hamlet", for example. But clearly to many people it is the person and not the play that they go to see.
Broadway Joe
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/15/10
#14Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 8:31am
"Really? What if that "obscure" cast member happened to be your star drama student you taught and got into drama in the first place, or maybe he's your son and the reason you flew to New York to see the show, or perhaps your former roommate in college. I can think of many reasons for people to be even more disappointed by a single cast member being out than by the fact that he's "famous"."
In all of those situations you mentioned I think those people are getting free tickets in the first place from the person they know.
#15Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 8:40am^ That's not true.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
ghostlight2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
#16Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 8:53am^ Exactly. What planet do you live on that obscure cast members get free tickets for their friends and family?
#17Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 9:04amThe worst understudy board on Broadway is at the Foxwoods. At least at the Palace, you can see the board when you are buying the ticket, if you know where to look and the doors are open. At the Foxwoods, you can't even see it until you've already scanned your ticket.
"What was the name of that cheese that I like?"
"you can't run away forever...but there's nothing wrong with getting a good head start"
"well I hope and I pray, that maybe someday, you'll walk in the room with my heart"
#18Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 9:17am
Really? What if that "obscure" cast member happened to be your star drama student you taught and got into drama in the first place, or maybe he's your son and the reason you flew to New York to see the show, or perhaps your former roommate in college. I can think of many reasons for people to be even more disappointed by a single cast member being out than by the fact that he's "famous".
Then you probably have their contact info and should be able to double check that they'll actually be on for the show you're going to.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#19Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 10:06am
The only exception is when the star performer's name is ABOVE the title on the marquee. If they are out, you can legally go to the box office and insist on a refund, because in that case, you ARE paying to see a performer, since their name is more prominent than the title.
Legally? No. The theatres are under no obligation to give a refund for a ticket, but in the case of above-the-title names, they almost all make the exception as a goodwill gesture. Alas, the fact they do commonly make this exception means people think they've found a legal loophole that will definitely get them refunds, but what can you do?
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#20Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 10:08amSorry.. but actually. it is legal. If the name is above the title they HAVE TO honor your request for a refund in any equity production.
HUSSY POWER!
------ HUSSY POWER!
spike3
Leading Actor Joined: 5/17/11
#21Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 10:18amI believe Equity rules are such that a replacement can be announced in 1 of 3 ways. Either on the board, with an insert, or with an announcement before the show begins. Also, if you notice, alot of times printed alerts will usually say the role of...... will be played by....... Not giving any indication a star or featured player is out. So unless you know who should be playing the role.
DAME
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/15/04
#22Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 10:22amYou are right.. but it also applies to a above the title name.
HUSSY POWER!
------ HUSSY POWER!
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#23Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 10:24am
I'm still trying to figure out what the OP was trying to say. The message is such a mess of grammatical errors and incomplete thoughts that it's a veritable jumble of words.
Clarity, dear friends, clarity!
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
spike3
Leading Actor Joined: 5/17/11
#24Anyone feel hiding replacement boards is deceptive?
Posted: 6/7/11 at 10:24amYes, that rule for refunds applies to only above the title names. You are correct.
