Hi guys, i'm planning on doing the line on the first week of october, so two questions:
1) I can only go on night show, my best shot is on going in a two show day afternoon or a single show day?
2) And what is a safe time to go to the line? i heard 12PM is good for a night show, but many people share stories of a short line by 3PM or even later.
I'm going on my vacation and the less time i spent on line the better. Thanks for all the good advice, this is a wonderful thread with wonderful people.
I did the cancellation line last Saturday, September 23.. We watched the matinee for Dear Evan Hansen, so right after the show, we raced to the Hamilton cancellation line. That was around 4:30pm. The line was relatively short when we got there (less than 15 people). A few minutes after lining up, one person bought tickets from a scalper. At this point we were lined up on the left side of the theatre. After Hamilton matinee, they moved us so we can sit on the steps in front of the theatre. Three people ahead of us bought tickets from a scalper. I guess it was around 6pm when they gave the 2 guys in front of the line tickets, which made us #7&8 in line. Then when it was around 6:30pm, they moved us to the right side of the theatre (in preparation for the evening show lineup). At 7:10pm, 3 more people got tickets, so we were #4&5. At 7:44pm, they released 3 more tickets, so we became #1&2. Got our tickets at around 7:54pm. Centre orchestra, we were seated next to the couple just ahead of us in the line. Super great seats and the 3.5hour wait went by really fast. The couple behind us got one centre orchestra seat and a SRO ticket. The 2 people after them I believe got SRO as well. Didn't see the lady after them but saw the couple after that got centre orchestra tickets as well. The cancellation line was well worth it!
Does any one know if Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally a busier time than the rest of the month? We are hoping for the Friday matinee on November 24, but may just go ahead an buy tickets ahead of time since we are traveling from the West coast. TIA for any info!
Hello all!! I'm in New York for a week (5 days left) Last night we went to pass by the Ham line at night and it wasn't that bad. So today we're going to go in the SRO line before and after we see Waitress. Ik we dont have big chance but it's worth it. So here's my question. We want to stay in line all day on Tuesday. Are we more likely to get SRO for matinee or evening? What time should we get there for each of those?
I did the cancellation line this past Saturday on a whim after our flight. We actually had a plan to go super early on Sunday and just wait all day for matinee. We got in and decided to walk by the Hamilton line around 3pm just to check it out and get some idea for Sunday and there was NO ONE in line. It was shocking. We actually asked people around to make sure they werent in line too. So we got in line and an hour later we got two Orchestra tickets!!! $229 and It was AMAZING. I could not believe it. and of course Hamilton blew my mind. So good.
Faith 2 said: "We want to stay in line all day on Tuesday. Are we more likely to get SRO for matinee or evening? What time should we get there for each of those?"
12:45 - Arrived on site. There were two lines forming. I didn't have a ticket so I jumped behind the shorter of the two lines. The people in front of me also did not have tickets. Employees would inform people with tickets that they could go into either line and would be admitted at 1:30, 30 minutes prior to showtime.
1:15 - I realized that I was in the wrong line. The cancellation line is against the wall, just below a large white camera. Facing the entrance it is on your right. I jumped in the cancellation line. I was person #12 in line. The two people in front of me had only jumped in line seconds if not minutes before I did as they were still asking the general cancellation type questions.
1:30 - They start letting people with tickets into the theatre.
1:45 - A man with a single ticket offers to sell it to one of us in line. The lady behind me hesitantly goes with him across the street and into a building. A few minutes later she walks through the Hamilton doors. I do not see her return. It seems she was sold a legit ticket. The man claimed he would walk her through the doors. I didn't see him do that but again she did get in.
1:55 - They moved our entire line up 15 feet so that we were just outside the door. Our line slowly trickles into the doors to buy tickets. They call each group up one party at a time. There was a group of 5 people that all got in.
2:05 - They tell us that the show is sold out. I ended at spot #3, the nine people in front of me all made it into the show. I do not know how much each of the people in front of me paid nor to where they sat.
Notes: I am a new yorker so I only wanted to spend the $40 for a SRO (Standing room only) ticket. One staff member told me that those are usually only for cast member's friends but there is a chance they would have some (1:15). Another told me that they only have SRO tickets on average twice a week and they don't know until just minutes before the show. The line is the same for both of them so it's definitely a risk trying to get SRO tickets.
A little late, but as this thread was so helpful for me I thought I’d share my experience with the cancellation line on Friday October 13, 2017. My girlfriend and I wanted to guarantee we’d get tickets, so we got there around 8am and were the first people there. A very nice usher chatted with us and told us we were guaranteed to get tickets, and that they usually start selling any unclaimed lottery tickets around 1pm. He also said that usually the first 10-15 people get in.
Around 11ish someone from the box office came out and said they had two individual premium tickets for $850 each, predictably we all declined, lol. Around 1:30 they came out and said they had two individual premium tickets for $229 if my girlfriend and I wanted them. We of course said yes, and went in to pay. The seats were B3 (3rd row, orchestra left, one seat in from the aisle) and K104 (orchestra centre, one seat off from dead centre). After we got our tickets we chatted with the super nice usher again, and he told us that unclaimed lottery tickets get sold first, that if you’re off to the side the left side of the theatre is better than the right (not sure why), and that row J is the best row in the house, that’s what they reserve for the big celebrities. By this time there were probably around 8-10 people in line.
When we came back in the evening for the show, we stopped to chat with everyone still in the cancellation line. We got there around 7:30 and at that point only the two people behind has had gotten tickets yet. As we filed in two other people from the cancellation line got in, and by the time the show started as far as we could tell everyone else in line got in too! They were all sitting in the same area, around rows H-J centre, and they all got to sit with their partners. So happy that everyone got in!
SUMMARY AND MUSINGS
1. There’s a Pret A Manger just down the street, we got coffee there in the morning and used their washroom for the rest of the day, made bathroom breaks really easy!
2. If you don’t want to stand around all day, get there early. It seems likely that they sell lottery tickets first (around 1pm according to the usher), probably followed by unsold seats in house (quite possibly singles, as it was in our case).
3. Row J, orchestra centre is the best view in the house (as per the usher), although my girlfriend will contend that row K was pretty awesome too!
4. If you don’t mind standing all day, from reading over all the threads and our guesses, it seems you are more likely to get “better” seats (ie. centre orchestra), if you come a little later, and plan to be roughly fourth/fifth in line (would have been arriving about 10:30/11 the day we went (no matinee), although we walked by previous days and there was still no one there at that time middle of the week). Our guess (and this is 100% A GUESS), is that they reserve a certain number of good orchestra centre seats in case any celebrities/people who are willing to pay $850/ticket want to get in last minute. Hence why they wait until the very last minute to sell them, and why most of the cancellation tickets are in the same vicinity (except for lotto tickets from the very front, or actual cancellations). On our day no one else got tickets early in the day except for us, although it seems likely if they have cancellations called in, they would sell them as they became available. Although maybe this is just the case on Fridays?
5. All the tickets from our group were $229 each, no one got obstructed view on our day that I saw (although where I was sitting (B3), actors often had their backs to me so I missed some facial expressions, but it was pretty cool being that close)!
6. According to the usher orchestra left is better than orchestra right (not sure why).
7. The first 10-15 people usually get in (also re: usher).
8. The usher told us flat out that there weren’t any SRO tickets that day when we first got there, so not sure if they always know that first thing or not, or if he was just guessing. Definitely confirmed that they are rare though!
9. All in all it was actually pretty fun, and I would definitely do it again!
I’m coming in on a trip from Toronto this weekend and am wondering if there’s any better day to try cancellation line? Are Sundays “easier” than Fridays?
AlexandraCoombs said: "I’m coming in on a trip from Toronto this weekend and am wondering if there’s any better day to try cancellation line? Are Sundays “easier” than Fridays?"
My preference, as a tourist trying to pack everything in, is the second show of a two show day. I was able to get up early, have a lot of fun around NYC, and go to the cancellation line for 1:30. If I had ended up in the right place (Be sure to ask someone who works there), I'd have been 4&5. I ended up 7&8 after a little kerfuffle. The trick is to get there before the matinee starts, where most people are still trying for matinee tickets, and get into the evening line before they give up and switch over.
That way, you get some great hours (we were up at 8) to see the city and do things, and still get to see Hamilton. WHen I did a matinee my partner was in line at 6:30, we saw the show at 2, got out at 5, did the stagedoor... there wasn't a lot of time left to do things, unless you like nightlife.
Getting tickets to you early prevents the staff from having to monitor and jockey the line around. I hear ticket sales are falling off which would explain the amount of availability. Used to be you couldn't buy more than 2 unless your entire party was there. Not surprised. It's the 3rd string of cast and many folks who have seen the show multiple times have not been very kind towards the current performers. Besides, $850/seat??? Enough with that already.
Molly1776 said: "I’m trying to get standing room soon and wondering if anyone has any tips!"
Get to the line early, inform theater workers that you only want SRO ... stay until past curtain and HOPE that there are any SRO's given out that performance.
Possibly do it on a 2-show day to give you double the chances.
On Tuesday November 7, got really lucky and got on line at 6:40pm and got Standing Room easily. But last night Friday, November 10 my friends got there around 1pm and waited until 8:05pm with no luck. You just never know
We are coming up the first weekend of December. Anyone know if December will be harder to get tickets through the cancellation line since it's the holiday season? Has anyone used a line sitting service?
joined:2/15/17
joined:
2/15/17
Posted: 9/19/17 at 8:52pm