Anyone Been Berated In Rush Ticket Line By Al Hirschfield Ticket Personnel?- Page 2

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 2:17pm

somethingwicked - Ok, the parents made a mistake but that is no excuse to have somebody pointing their finger in your face which obviously got the father upset. Can you tell us if that happened because that to me is another issue?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 2:34pm

somethingwicked stated in his post that he didn't feel the monitor had crossed any line as far as his behavior goes. I can only assume that means the finger wagging didn't happen.

(I only respond because I had noticed that upon reading.)

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 4:04pm

The people in question's backs were to me during the exchange, but I never saw the line monitor put his finger in anyone's face. In fact, at one point, the original poster's father put his hand on the monitor in order to move him back some and the monitor made a point to stop and say, "You can't put a hand on me, sir."

Needless to say it was an uncomfortable situation for everyone in the vicinity.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 5:10pm

"He talked to the Theatre manager so that when my Dad got to the ticket window he was told all the Rush tickets were gone!!"

That's the other piece of information that sounds very shady. Supposedly the box office person stopped selling rush tickets right when dear old dad got to the window even if there were some left? Bullsh!t.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 5:14pm

somethingwicked - Thanks for clarification. Like you said, it must have been very uncomfortable situation. Would be interesting to see if OP responds to your post.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 5:20pm

No one took to their cell to film?

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 5:21pm

i will bet he/she won't. As with the movie Rashomon there are always three sides to and event, Yours, Mine and the Truth.

[MaddieBB12]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 5:55pm

Just a quick question: (I'm not going to do this or anything.) How would you guys feel if people 'traded off'? If there were 4 people who need tickets(1 each)but since it is two tickets per person, only 2 people would need to stand in line at a time. So what if 2 people in the group waited, and then switched with the other two?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 6:06pm

I've never been in a line that wasn't okay with trading off. I just always mention to the person behind me (and a few after them) that that's what we're doing.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 6:06pm

I think that's perfectly fair, since the number of tickets being claimed remains constant and no people in the line are being deprived of tickets by people coming or going at any given time.

[Citygirl.grace]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:04pm

And THIS is why I prefer Lottery! Haha! I guess lottery is not as convent for out of town-ers/tourists with limited time though. It's easy for me as a New Yorker because I can come back as many times as I want until I win. But I agree, It sounds like the employee could have handled the situation better, but your parents probably could have as well. This is funny to me because I walked up to Kinky Boots (Given it was before the Tonys, and it was a Wednesday...but there still was crazy hype about the show) about 3pm one day, and bought a Rush ticket no problem! So crazy. Guess I lucked out. But I just think Rush is too much. I prefer lottery. I wish Pippin would switch to lottery.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:09pm

CityGirl, did you read the thread? According to another poster that was there, the OPs version of the story is WAAY off. He claims the monitor didn't do anything wrong.

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:18pm

I've also never met anyone who has a problem trading off, since (as previously stated) it has no effect on the ticket status behind the people switching. Just make sure the people behind are aware long beforehand of the plan so nobody starts any drama for nothing.

[Citygirl.grace]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:28pm

I know, I did read the whole thread. I'm just saying there is obviously 2 sides to every story. They are probably all at fault.

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:37pm

It is the rush system that is at fault. When there is no one to monitor when the people got there, how they organize themselves, etc. they will always run into these kind of situations.

And it is cruel and unsafe to have people wait from 1, 2, 3am just to be first in line.

I can't believe nobody has imposed a lottery system on all theaters.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:46pm

No, the parents are at fault. There was a non-involved party with first hand experience exonerating the monitor. Sheesh.


Blaxx, until something bad actually happens, there will be no system in place. And even then, I'm not sure they can impose laws saying when you can get in line for something. How many rush lines actually have folks lining up at 1 am? (except for extreme causes, closing nights, etc>)

[Citygirl.grace]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:46pm

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 07:46 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:53pm

Blaxx, until something bad actually happens, there will be no system in place. And even then, I'm not sure they can impose laws saying when you can get in line for something. How many rush lines actually have folks lining up at 1 am? (except for extreme causes, closing nights, etc>

That's my point, do we need to wait for something bad to happen to stop this cruel practice? Any theater can adopt the lottery system.

Perhaps 1am is extreme, but even then, I think a system that has people waiting outside in the wee hours and exposing them to crime, weather, etc. is just brutal.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:57pm

Personally, I prefer a rush system. Even if it means getting in line in the wee hours of the morning, I like knowing that there's a guaranteed way of getting tickets as opposed to the uncontrollable fate of a lottery.

That being said, I do wish there was a way to cut the scalpers out of a rush system, but I guess the only way to do that would be to make it a student rush (and even that's not entirely un-exploitable).

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 07:57 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 7:58pm

I've done lots of rush shows in the past several years, in both San Francisco and NYC -- including two overnighters on Broadway (one in a 30-degree January) -- and I've never had anything remotely dangerous ever happen to me. I've witnessed cheating, but it was always further back in the line and I was never in a position to say anything (not my fault if people aren't speaking up).

The extremes are just that -- extremes. 1, 2, 3 a.m. rushes aren't typical at all. And I like the idea, because at least then I know I'm going to get in to see a show, and if I worked for it, it makes it a little more special.

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 07:58 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 8:00pm

Oh yeah, I know. I was stalking you back in January, that was cold. But hot.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 8:01pm

I've heard that the new rule for Shakespeare in the Park allowing people to rush only two times per show has helped curb scalping, not sure how true it is but a friend at The Public said the threat of it has helped, even though they aren't enforcing it unless they have suspicion of the policy being abused.

Maybe shows could implement this as well. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to limit people from being able to rush over and over and over again and scalp the tickets.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 8:01pm

Didn't someone get beat up at Jersey Boys a few years back by a scalper? Granted it wasn't in the middle of the night, but still, an unfortunate incident.

The fact that we need line monitors because people are so untrustworthy is sad.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 8:09pm

Didn't someone get beat up at Jersey Boys a few years back by a scalper? Granted it wasn't in the middle of the night, but still, an unfortunate incident.

Yeah. It was in the first year or two of its run.

I'm trying to find the story now to no avail... (I did find this thread, though. https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=937647&boardname=&page=1)

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 6/30/13 at 8:13pm

I've always thought that the best way to prevent scalping in a rush situation would be to give people a receipt at the time of purchase and then not release their actual tickets to them until fifteen minutes prior to curtain with a photo ID. Either that or just give the people who purchase the tickets a wrist band that they'd have to wear in conjunction with the ticket when they entered the theater later (one of those cheap paper ones with a logo on it that you couldn't take off and transfer to someone else).

Kelly2, before they eliminated it, didn't MATILDA try some system of limiting how many times a month people could rush?

Updated On: 6/30/13 at 08:13 PM