Kelli O'Hara on Vacation

[chinchillamagic]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:07pm

I've held 2 center orchestra tickets for the July 19 matinee of The King & I since 5 minutes after the reviews started to come out in April. Last night I happened to look at the official website to find out the length of the show so I could make dinner reservations, only to find out Kelli O'Hara is away on vacation for a week starting, you guessed it, July 19...Now I suppose she deserves a break like anyone else, but she was my primary reason for going. I saw the 1996 version, and I have no desire to see it again without Kelli.

I know there's never a guarantee of seeing a specific performer, given the chance of illness and injury, but a Tony-award winning star voluntarily taking off three months into the run seems particularly unfair to long-time ticket holders. I feel like we should have been given the opportunity to exchange our tickets, or at least been notified of her vacation so we could decide to sell. If I hadn't happened to visit the website, I wouldn't have even known she was absent til I arrived at the theater (I live in CT), and I think I would have flipped out. So I've posted my tickets on Stubhub and will only attend if I can't get rid of them at a small profit.

Just venting, I guess. I don't suppose I have any other recourse, do I?

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:10pm

You can try calling to box office, and ask for a refund or maybe they will let you exchange them for another night when she's on

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:13pm

If you can get face value, consider yourself lucky. As you said, you were going to see her. Mostly all of those attending are doing the same. She is the draw so why would anyone pay over face value to see it without her?

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:19pm

I agree with both of the responses above. Contact the box office and politely explain your situation.  Since you purchased the tickets so far in advance, I'm sure there must be some plan in place to accommodate patrons in your position.

It's highly unlikely you'll sell the tickets and make "a small profit" for a performance Kelli won't be appearing in.

 

 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:21pm

Yup, call LCT. I think they'll likely switch. They refunded my ticket for City of Conversation last year, and Jan Maxwell wasn't even above the title.

[chinchillamagic]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:36pm

Thanks all. I hadn't even considered asking for an exchange, since the tix say no exchanges or refunds for any reason. Anyone know how to access the box office directly? Lincoln Center just directs you to Telecharge, and I wonder how sympathetic they would be, to say nothing of the wait times.

I asked for a small premium on Stubhub because everyone else was asking for huge ones, even for the Kelli-less performances, though that may just be due to ignorance of her absence.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:37pm

You can call Telecharge. Tell them her vacation wasn't listed when you bought your tickets.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:42pm

Information lie this gets on the internet & spreads like wildfire

Strike while the iron is hot . Call Lincoln Center. Concoct a story re sickness & it may help you.  Good luck

 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:44pm

No, you don't need to concoct a story. Just tell them the truth.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 3:45pm

"Call Lincoln Center. Concoct a story re sickness & it may help you."

"Hi Lincoln Center, I have tickets to KING & I but unfortunately I'm going to be sick in 3 weeks so could I exchange them for a time I'm not sick? Great, thanks!"

Wonderful idea as usual, Roxy.

[chinchillamagic]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 4:00pm

You are all geniuses! I called Telecharge (told the truth), didn't even have a wait, and exchanged for this Sat. evening, just one row back from where I was. Had to pay a bit more for a Sat., but that's okay. Alternative was to wait til August, but I wasn't about to take any chance that she'd be gone by then. Now let us all pray for a healthy star for the next few days!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

Updated On: 6/25/15 at 04:00 PM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 4:04pm

Great! Glad to help.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 4:26pm

Glad you got it figured out! Enjoy the show. Kelli O'Hara is simply stunning.

[loliveve]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 4:30pm

Glad Telecharge was able to help you!

I thought the customer service was great when I found out I was going to miss "Cinderella" due to flight delays.  It took all of 5 minutes to get the ticket changed to another day.

[Actriz2]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 5:10pm

Telecharge is actually pretty great about exchanges. I've exchanged tickets for five different shows with them in the past, and every single time it was a pleasant and painless experience. Their policy is to have you buy the new ticket before they refund you for the old one (I'm guessing this is to make sure that you do actually buy a new seat, which is fair) and they're usually pretty quick about processing the refund, all of mine have been issued within 3 days. I've also always found their phone operators to be respectful and polite as well.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 5:14pm

So I've posted my tickets on Stubhub and will only attend if I can't get rid of them at a small profit.

I think that's illegal.

[mc1227]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 5:32pm

Glad it all worked out!  She and the show are worth a little anxiety!!

Updated On: 6/25/15 at 05:32 PM

[atuomala]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 6:18pm

You don't need some elaborate excuse to exchange your tickets or receive a refund. Even though most of them say that they offer no exchanges or refunds, 9 times out of 10 you will get just that. I think they say that because they don't want people to get comfortable with the idea of calling in for exchanges or refunds, otherwise they would be dolling those out all day long rather than every so often when someone decides to call in and try despite the 'rules'. Roundabout gives me what they call a 'one-time-only' exchange or refund (when their website says that they don't offer exchanges or refunds), but I've asked for a refund or a exchange on three separate occasions for three different shows and they've awarded me the refund or exchange without any problem every time.

[chinchillamagic]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 6:50pm

@gothampe,

Not illegal to sell tickets at a premium in my state. Always best not to offer advice online if you just "think" something, especially when it's easy enough to look it up and be sure. In any case, my tix are off Stubhub now.

I still think the ticketholders for her vacation period should have been notified of the change and offered the opportunity to switch. Not everyone is monitoring this stuff (me, for instance). If I hadn't happened to check the website for an unrelated reason, I'd never have known and would just have shown up at the theater after spending 90 minutes and trainfare to get there. At that point even an exchange offer on the spot wouldn't have been enough to make things right. I understand that the risk to the theater is that they'd have a lot of empty seats for the performances Kelli is missing, but that's a financial issue for the Beaumont to work out with her, rather than a problem to dump on the patrons. A one-week hiatus by the star that is announced long after tickets have been purchased really needs special treatment, don't you think?

 

[Jay94]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 7:45pm

So she's starting on the 19th? I'm seeing it on the 18th (Saturday evening), does that mean she'll still be on?

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 8:20pm

Anyone know if Ann Sanders might be going on during Kelli's vacation? 

[ElphabaGoodman]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 8:26pm

"Anyone know if Ann Sanders might be going on during Kelli's vacation? "

 Betsy Morgan is Kelli's standby - she will be going on.

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 6/25/15 at 8:33pm

Sometimes understudies go on once or twice during vacations with the standby doing most. 

[ajh]

Posted: 6/26/15 at 7:29am

""Anyone know if Ann Sanders might be going on during Kelli's vacation? "
 Betsy Morgan is Kelli's standby - she will be going on."

 ......and completely wonderful she is too I saw her at Kelli's second sick day earlier in the month and she's flawless.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 6/26/15 at 7:33am

A one-week hiatus by the star that is announced long after tickets have been purchased really needs special treatment, don't you think?

 

No. When you buy your tickets, you're told that cast is subject to change. It is not the theater's responsibility to keep you updated. If the theater were to do that, it would be out of courtesy, not obligation. Actors are entitled to vacations, just as you're probably entitled to a vacation at your job.