Mean Girls or Dear Evan Hansen? Recommendations for INK?

[TinyDancer421]

Hi friends! My roommate and I are planning our first(!!!) trip to New York to see a few shows. Right now, we have tickets to Waitress (Shoshana Bean and Jeremy Jordan are our reason for traveling, because we've seen Shoshana live before and they're both AMAZING) and to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We know we want to see Ink, and we'd love to see one more musical while we're in town. We were thinking about Dear Evan Hansen or Mean Girls, given the rave reviews from friends who live in NYC. (We thought about Hadestown as well, because of Anais Mitchell.)

Since everyone on this board knows way more about this than we do, I wanted to reach out and ask:

1. Has anyone done stage door for Ink, Waitress, or Harry Potter? Any advice?

2. Has anyone seen Ink? What's the best time to go on a weekend? Saturday or Sunday? Has anyone seen the understudy for Jonny Lee Miller and/or Bertie Carvel, or are the leads doing all of the shows? (We're both big JLM fans from his days in Frankenstein and don't want to miss him in this.)

3. For two out-of-town musical fanatics, would you recommend Hadestown, Mean Girls, or Dear Evan Hansen? Are there any seating issues of which we should be aware?

4. Do the Broadway Box ticket discounts actually work? (I've seen positive reviews regarding Broadway Box discounts and Telecharge on here, but wanted to check.)

SO GRATEFUL for any and all advice anyone has to offer! We're so excited to come to NYC. :)

[bmgills]

The Waitress stage door was a little chaotic when I saw the show, but both Jeremy and Shoshana came out, as well as several other cast members. Both appeared to be signing playbills that people from the back would pass up. Shoshana was taking pictures, but Jeremy was not and I believe he never does.

[dramamama611]

Hadestow, far above the other musicals, imho.

Yes, bwaybox works...but often the discounts dont cover weekends, or, more soecificall, Saturday nights. You just need to look at the restrictions.

[quizking101]

I was at the matinee for INK yesterday. They had a talkback which may have impacted who came out, but Jonny Lee Miller and Andrew Durand both came out after the matinee.

Considering the show is a very limited run, I would assume no star has any vacation or like that and would only be out if they are sick. Both were in when I saw it yesterday

[victoriafr]

1. I have stage-doored for Waitress, and it wasn't that crowded, but I expect that's changed because of Jeremy Jordan. Brace yourself.

2. I have seen Ink. I really don't think there's a best time to go on a weekend, but I have a personal preference of going to evening shows, so that's what I'd suggest. I would assume all the leads are doing all the shows unless someone happens to be out sick.

3. 100% Hadestown. It's just a different caliber of show than the other two in my opinion. Not to mention, Dear Evan Hansen is currently touring and Mean Girls will very soon. Even when Hadestown does tour over a year from now, you will miss the incredible original cast (which you can see now) and the impressive elements of the stage they won't be able to bring everywhere.

[AlexxGee]

I stage-doored for both Harry Potter and Waitress (4/27/19 and 4/29/19 so pretty recent). Harry Potter was amazing. Really friendly cast, almost everybody except some ensemble members and the actors who played Ron and Hermione came out and chatted for quite a bit. All of them take selfies, take the time to chat with you, and the crowd isn't bad at all. Everybody had a spot right in front of the barricade. It was probably the best stage-door experience I ever had. 

Waitress: It was Noah's Waitress Debut and Caitlin's return, so the crowd was hectic. I managed to get a spot right in front of the barricade (I was sitting in ORCH Row O so I bolted right after curtain call-gotta stay for that!) and surprisingly, nobody pushed me. But the crowd. So many people. But yes, Jeremy and Shoshana did come out, as did most of the cast except a few ensemble members and Charity (Becky). Everybody took photos except Jeremy and they were all friendly. Noah and Caitlin in particular were really warm and friendly.

I guess my advice would be go to the stage-door right after curtain call. Especially after Waitress. If you're in the back, don't worry. Everybody passed up each person's playbill. It's always fun going with a friend! Enjoy your trip!!