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Hamilton Cancellation Line |
There were already 9 people in line when I arrived at 11:30 am for the 7pm show on Tuesday, October 18. There had been three "professional" line sitters who scooped up four premium tickets before I arrived. The woman in front of me left within the hour of waiting, meaning I was now 9th.
The first two women got in line at 12:30 am and waited all night. They had a sign announcing it was the 30th birthday of one of them; the line sitters I mentioned supposedly arrived at 4am (they are payed $20 an hour to wait in lines, so they did about 6 hours worth of "work" 
next there was a mother and daughter who got there around dawn, and behind them was a couple from Alaska who were in town all week and were actually looking forward to not walking for a day (they got in around 9:30). Behind them was a single woman from California, who got there about 10am, then a man from Nevada (who also reads these boards!!), who arrived about 30 minutes before me.
Right behind me in the line were two teenage sisters from Texas who flew in just for the show, and only for that day. They got there around 1pm, and were followed, about the same time, by a father and daughter, and quicky them by one additional couple, and finally a woman from Australia who was staying across the street at the Edison, who was letting people use the bathroom in her room (most everyone in line, btw, heeded the advice from here on the Marriott bathrooms - second floor!)
I can vouch that all 16 people (including myself) that I mentioned got in. All tickets were claimed by people in line - no one got any extras for friends not there, even though that had been discussed. I also saw at least two more in the theatre who appear (from their reactions) to be from standby got in too. So at least 18 for a Tuesday show.
The first seven got the first row from unclaimed lottery tickets. Those were given out maybe around 5:45 pm. Around 6:30 I got in with the person in front of me when two more freed up. By this time, btw, there was maybe 40+ people in the line.
Our tickets were in Row F in the orchestra (7th row). AMAZING tickets! A few minutes later the sisters from Texas came in (literaly in tears) and were sitting next to me, but only for a moment; the couple from Alaska swapped with them so they could be in the front row, right in the center. They loved it.
The next four tickets were right behind me, in Row G, and the woman from Australia wound up in the orchestra side. Finally, right before the show was to begin, two more front row seats were filled with a couple of excited women who appear to have been in the standby line.
Everyone agreed it was worth it; the show was spectacular - a mix of original and new cast with some impressive understudies. My first time seeing Hamilton, btw. I am glad i did my homework so i knew what to kind of expect. The experience in meeting such an eclectic and diverse group of people in line (we were fortunate the weather was so good) added to the charm of the day.
Just a warning about Saturday waiting. Not sure if it was because it was a Saturday, or a glimpse of what's to come, or just THIS Saturday (10/22), but I got to the line around 6:30am (despite box office says it opens at 10a), and there were already 10 PEOPLE in line (not sure if they were 20 total tix if buying for 2). Person at #1 said she'd been there since show got out the night before, and #2 got there around 2 am. I was totally bummed, and this was a completely different vibe than the preceding 2 days.
I stumbled onto the line around 11 am on Thurs 10/20 when I went to the box office about SRO tickets. (yes, you can get SRO tix for $40 dollars (different line) and rumor has it that the ushers try to find you seats). But anyway, I got in the tix line at #11 and #12 around 11am. Fun day, great weather, but only 8 people got in.
Friday, I had tix to 9/11 memorial but before leaving, stopped by the line around 11 to see #9 and #10 from the previous night, and #13 and #14 (ie the people right in front and right behind me in line on Thursday),--at positions #1---4. (yes, they got in on Friday). They'd gotten in the line at about 7:30am. Vibe was good, and there were about 8 others in line at that time.
So I was determined to get Sat tix, and got up early to get in line by 6:45am. This seemed like it should work to get me at #1 position or at worst, #2 I figured. WRONG. My heart sank as I turned the corner in the dark of the cold wet morning. I do hope this isn't an omen of what is to come. But it was a totally different vibe from the fun of waiting on Thursday-- to the seemingly fierce competition of Saturday morning. I think you might do better midweek. Could be that since people don't have to get up for work on Saturday, they go for broke and sleep on the sidewalk. I never expected this, based on the two previous days. I hope it doesn't get cut-throat like that and that this was just a fluke.
They came out and told us that if we didn't get cancellation seats "there were SRO tickets available for $40 each." It seemed like if we wanted them, we could have made that decision right then --around 5 pm when they said it--for the 7pm show. So we all thought "yay, great, we'll stay in this line and if we don't get cancellation seats, we'll be able to get the SRO seats." When I realized I wasn't getting in, (I was #11 and they stopped at #
, there didn't seem to be anyone talking about SRO seats anymore. So we just assumed it must have been another line, and they were all gone. I know the last people to get in from our line (#7 and # on Thurs 10/20 got single seats separate from each other. not standing.
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joined:5/18/16
joined:
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Posted: 10/20/16 at 11:12pm