Waitress - Standing Room

[LisNyc]

Hi All!  Has anyone tried for/been successful with standing room tickets to Waitress ? Any experience/tips would be appreciated.  Thanks!!

[mamaleh]

My husband and I arrived at box office yesterday at about 1:15 p.m. and were directed to the standing room line.  I was told there were only seven available spots.  We were numbers 5 and 6 for the 2 p.m. matinee. 

The view is perfect; absolutely no obstructions and the railing makes for an easy lean.  Great value for $32.  The one drawback--and this also applies to those seated in the last few rows near the door-facing aisle, audience right--was the almost incessant noise made by staff behind the rear orchestra curtain who might have been watching TV or listening to recordings, talking at normal volume, laughing, and clattering items.  The very annoying noise was even more distracting during quiet moments in the show. 

[uncageg]

^^Did you complain to house management?

[stevenycguy]

Standing room is only offered if the show has ZERO (not one or two) seats remaining at this theater.  Per the friendly people at the box office, this is most likely to happen at Saturday afternoon/evening performances.  This is probably my favorite show of 2016, so it's worth it to try back a few times before you finally get it (like me!)

[Jordan Catalano]

The staff sounds better than the staff at the Lunt who make it a point to talk as loudly as possible as if they were at a Football game. 

[BroadwayLuv2]

When they say no SRO until all  remaining seats are sold, does also mean the partial view seats?  

[mamaleh]

Uncageg, I spoke to a young man who opened the doors to let the audience out. I don't think he was the house manager, but he was the only person in uniform I saw.  

[Cupid Boy2]

mamaleh, did they make you line up because all of the regular tickets had not been sold? Or because they don't release standing room until a particular time? 

[mamaleh]

It seemed like their policy is to not sell SR until shortly before curtain, even if the performance is sold out earlier.  At least, that's how it appeared yesterday.  

[JBroadway]

BUMPING to see if anyone has any more recent reports. 

[rjm516]

And the show has no rush or lotto right?

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

rjm516 said: "And the show has no rush or lotto right?"

None yet. I've seen Sara Bareilles reply to fan tweets asking about it saying she hopes they will have something soon. It's selling quite well so we'll see. I needed two tickets for a Sunday in May (open to several dates) and ultimately got two, not together, for 5/22. 

[Cupid Boy2]

rjm516 said: "And the show has no rush or lotto right?"

That's correct.

 

[ArielSara2]

I went on Wednesday evening. I got to the theatre around 4pm and was told there were only 12 seats left, and it was likely that they would have standing room for that night. I was told I could wait in the lobby (we were the only ones there) or come back later, and that they might not be available until right before the show. (I figured this was because they might not sell out until right before).

My friend and I took a walk and came back around 4:45, and were now number 2 and 3 in line. We decided to stay. The 2 men working in the box office were very nice and gave us updates on how many tickets were left, but after we thought the last 2 were sold, they told us there had been cancellations and we would have to wait more. They finally sold out I think around 6:30 for the 7:30 show, but then they had to get the okay from the production team since they sometimes need those spots during previews. (We were told earlier that there would probably be 8 available and someone else waiting said there are a total of 12 standing room spots). We finally got tickets at like 7:26 for the 7:30 show, and I think there were 8 spots as they said.

The view is great (My friend and I were spots 6 and 7, and we were house right just off the center aisle). As mamaleh said, the only negative was the slight occasional chatter behind us. It mostly happened when two audience members came to talk to one of the ushers. We could also hear toilets flushing from the bathroom just upstairs. BUT, for $32 and some tired feet, it was a great view and an even greater show. I just wish I had held off one day to wait for standing room, because I went to the show this Wednesday and then bought an opening night seat yesterday!

[JBroadway]

Has anyone tried on a Sunday? I was hoping to try for this coming Sunday.

On Ticketmaster, it looks like they have something like 20 tickets available, mostly premium. Do you think they are likely to sell those out by Sunday? I honestly have no gage for how quickly 20 tickets are usually sold. 

 

EDIT: Just-read the post above and see that 12 tickets were still available on that Wednesday before they finally sold out, which gives me a better idea. I wonder if the tickets being Premium makes a difference, though? Seems like those wouldn't sell as quickly since they are more expensive, but what do I know? 

[wickedfan11]

How early would you recommend arriving for standing room on a Sunday? How close to curtain have they typically been selling the SRO spots recently?

[JBroadway]

I ended up getting SRO last Sunday. At around noon, I checked online and saw there were only about 3 seats left, so I was pretty darn sure they were going to sell SR. I got in line around 1pm, and there were already several people ahead of me in line. Someone in line informed me that the box office would sell 7 SRO spots that day (she had asked the box office earlier). I was number 7 (in terms of tickets), but I wanted 2 tickets. I decided to wait anyway and get the 1 ticket, and lucky for me, they ended up selling 8 instead of 7. 

They sold the tickets a few minutes before 2:00, for a 3:00 curtain. 

[wickedfan11]

Thanks for the info, JBroadway!

[hugh2012]

Do they sell standing room for matinee? I went today for matinee but they weren't selling standing room. Is it better to try a night show? And is it better to go on the weekend?

[bwayandstuff]

They only sell standing room when the show is sold out. So I'm thinking it would be more likely to get SRO for a Friday or Sat. evening 

[hugh2012]

What time would you have to show up for standing room on a Friday or Saturday night?

[hannhannham]

I went last Friday after work just to check out the scene. When I got there at 5:15, there were already 4/5 people in line. I talked to the woman at the box office, and she told me they would at MOST give out 12 standing room tix, and not until an hour or half hour before curtain. I had to go meet a friend, so I couldn't stand in line then, but I stopped back by at 7 pm to see what was up. I was 13th in line (but this line is also merged with cancellation, so no telling who was there for what). Around 7:20 the line started moving towards the box office, when there was about 4 people left ahead of me, the girls in front of me said there were no standing room left. Not sure if the people up front took the last ones, or they had been out for a while and the news finally traveled to the back of the line. 


Worth noting** when I showed back up at 7 pm, I didn't see the original 4/5 girls that were there when I inquired at 5:15. Perhaps they released a few standing room earlier in the evening?

Either way, it seems had I been able to stay in line at 5:15 I definitely would have gotten a standing room ticket. Good luck! Hoping to try my luck next Friday. 


 **ETA: spelling mistake fixed above
 

[mailhandler777]

My friend got there at 8am last Sunday and was 2nd in line. The show was sold out before the box office opened but she had to wait until 2pm before they started selling them. 

[ekline1]

I didn't know they offered standing room! $32 you said? I might go try that this week, how early do you suggest getting there for a Thursday or Friday night show?

[starcatchers]

The show has been on TodayTix all week, so I would check how well sold it is before you go over there. 

[Notreallysilent 2]

I'm just wondering if anyone had any luck with a Wednesday matinee. It looks like the Wednesday matinee for next week is almost sold out, but of course I'm looking for the Wednesday after that, so the week of July 4th. I just want to know what is the likelihood of getting it based on other peoples experience.