NY Hairspray Screening Disaster- Page 2

[LoringsGuy]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:11pm

Oh, lord....DRAMA.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on in these other cities. I used a pass printed out from online for the Minneapolis screening and had absolutely no issues. In fact, the New Line reps and theatre staff were delightful, giving us "swag bags" with several HAIRSPRAY-related goodies and they did a curtain speech before the movie thanking us for coming.

Sounds like an unfortunate situation in Pittsburgh and New York---I'm sorry to hear you had such bad experiences!

Did someone really die at the Dallas screening, or was that a joke?

Updated On: 7/16/07 at 10:11 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:15pm

I left right away as the rumors were spreading about nobody getting let in...about 6:20.

I had better things to do with my night (Big Love!), even if the rumors weren't true.

Friday's only 4 days away.

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:28pm

In Dallas, 400 people were turned away who had eVite passes! I was supposed to go but thank God I didn't!

[Nagrom5280]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:28pm

I just returned tonight from the screening in Cincinnati. I had the evite print out and there was alot of back and forth about if they were going to accept it or not. The staff at the AMC at the Newport on the Levee were supurb and very upfront. They informed me that there were talks that the printed out copies were not valid and they would not be accepted. Then the manager made a few phone calls nad came back and told me to go ahead and get in line, that he thinks there would be no problem. So we waited about an hour and got in and saw a fun, exciting, fast-paced, wonderful movie :)

marketing mix-up perhaps, perfect example of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing, but enjoyable movie none the less.

[matty159]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:32pm

OK, seriously...I thought I was the only one who witnessed pandemonium at a screening this evening. Evidently New Line and the sponsors gave out too many passes and when they cut off people entering the auditorium (oh, at the screening in Richmond, VA), chaos erupted, loud words were had with the sponsors, and security was brought in. Plus, I had never been to screening where they were so vigilant about checking for cell phones...I was expecting a full patdown!

In the end, they gave the folks who couldn't get in tickets to anything else they wanted to see. On the other hand, I saw a terrific film, albeit from the second row (can't wait to see it again this weekend on a break from reading the new Potter) and got a can of Ultra Clutch by screaming like a deranged teenager at the radio sponsor discriminately tossing out the swag.

Again though...odd experience...who knew a screening of Hairspray would be a chaotic experience!

[sondhead]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:33pm

I was in line for several hours at Dallas and didn't get in. No evite ticket holders were admitted. Pretty bad job by New Line.

Not sure if she died, but a woman right in front of us collapsed in line. They were doing full-out CPR and defibrillators and such.. 20 minutes later when they FINALLY got a stretcher they were still pumping her pretty hard, so I'm not thinking it looked too good.

[daspazoo]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:37pm

Anyone know what it was like in Chicago?

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:43pm

Was everyone from the Boston area sent to Framingham? There was no trouble getting in, but it was so far away and in bumper to bumper traffic no less! Anyways, it appeared the whole screening was a promotion for employees of Proctor and Gamble, promoting the new hairspray. I also saw black "official" admit two tickets with an ad for Sephora on it. Hmm

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:49pm

The same thing happened in DC. Ironically, it was the E-vite people who were in the front of the line, too (including me). At about 6:00 the theater manager said that the hair salon people were going to be allowed in first. He definitely got an earful from those of us who had been waiting. I got there two and a half hours before the screening, and I'll be damned that I wasn't going to get a good seat. I almost left, but I'm glad I stayed around. The manager relented and let people with E-vites in a little at a time.

The theater was full. I enjoyed the movie emmensely. But I will never, ever attend a free screening again. The audience was very well behaved, enthusiastic and applauded throughout the movie.

[matty159]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:49pm

Tonight must have been a marketing blitz. I have a friend who is in Philly for a conference, and they had a screening for them. New Line must really be looking to get the word-of-mouth out there!

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:50pm

Are these the passes that say "seating not guaranteed?" on them? Is that why people were so pissed?

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:51pm

I think what happened was that ANY passes printed from the internet were invalid. While it would be expected that some wouldn't get in, not everyone who had a pass.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:52pm

The passes said, "first come, first serve". No where was there any indication that this event was also sponsored and that the select majority had preferential treatment, although their passes also stated, "first come, first serve".

Updated On: 7/16/07 at 10:52 PM

[matty159]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:54pm

That is what I think all the passes said. Important to remember though -- free stuff brings out the crazy in everyone! Honestly, I might have lost my mind a little had I not been let in...and it was looking like that exit off the Crazytown highway was quickly approaching, but disaster was averted!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:58pm

If this was the case, why was Evite allowed to issue passes?

[cubanpab]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 10:59pm

i was at the dc screening too and it was beyond disaster! as soon as they said "evite" passes would go last i was pissed! i was in line for 2 hours almost. people at one point just started to walk in off the street and they were being let in before us just because they had "paper tickets". i was so angry. finally the attendant let some of us in from our line, he gets to me and says "sorry thats it. all full" we were the next two in line!

i was ready to start a riot. i got so angry with him he let me go in to see if i could find 2 spare seats that were separated. luckily we found the last 2 seats in the first row. not the best way to see the movie, but we saw it.

all in all it was a huge mess... but the movie saved the night. A+! loved it.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:01pm

Boston people sent to Framingham? The evite tickets SAID Framingham on them...so not sure where there was to go to in Boston...?

[dylanjackson]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:02pm

I was also at the DC screening. I got there around 5:20 and was pretty far up at the front of the line. They announced very politely that those with black cards (Sebastian salon company) and black and white cards (CW tv network) would be let in first and all those with email printouts would be let in if there was space after the carded patrons were let in and seated. Chaos erupted when the first half of the 5 mile line were in fact email patrons. (including me) They made us make a line on the left wall while the others (including people who had just gotten there at 650) into the theatre. It was seriously mass chaos and they let about 15 of the email patrons inside, includin me thank god.

There was a curtain speech by Sebastianm, the owner of the company, and the movie was AMAZING. The audience loved it and the entire cast was stellar. I went in already against John Travolta, but was honestly blown away. He is definitely no Harvey, but his take on the role is honest and true and his accent was spot on. My grandmother is from Baltimore and had the exact same accent as Travolta. Great movie!!!!

[fxy2003cmu]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:04pm

I go to advance screenings of things near my university all the time and I don't think I've ever witnessed anything like this. In the past I've attended advance screenings of Knocked Up (most recently) and National Treasure. No one was rude to me or anyone else at those events and there was never a problem.

I don't know about everyone else but my problem wasn't with getting into the screening, it was more how we were treated, like it was our fault that we didn't know what was going on and fully expected to be let in because we had passes. I guess I just don't have tolerance for rude people. I do know how it can be sometimes as I work in retail and have worked in food service in the past, but there's a way to handle people and what I saw wasn't it.

[Cages or Wings]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:04pm

Not all evites were invalid. I attended a screening with one tonight in Cleveland, but yes it was primarily for hair salons,and was not New Line run, but rather the company that made the hairspray for the movie had been "allowed" to have them.

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:06pm

Not sure what you mean, CapnHook, but I expected the screening for the Boston area to be in Boston, or at least somewhere closer than Framingham. It was a pain in the neck to get to.

[WhatDoINeedWithLove?]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:08pm

chicago was a disaster as well. a small amount of people that had evites were let in after the hair stylists.

somehow passes to "chuck and larry" do not make up for waiting for two hours. lame.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:10pm

I, too, go to advanced screenings all the time. As for movie musicals, I attended adv. screenings of Rent, The Producers, The Phantom of the Opera, and Dreamgirls. Sometimes there is swag that you'll receive from the regional sponsors (radio stations, tv stations, or local companies). Never ever ever have I not gotten in with my passes. Never have I seen people get rejected...even if the screening was at capacity. Never have I seen fights over swag.

Generally, the people running the screenings (in terms of who gets seats and swag) know what they are doing. The actual theatre that hosts the event just do what they are instructed to do. Sounds like to me that there was an overbooking and the e-vites didn't have a "cap" limit. It does sound right that the "hair salon" folks got to go in first.

[Just_John]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:10pm

How many hairdressers worked for the movie??

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/16/07 at 11:12pm

ElFantasma14, even though in the drop-down menu it said "Boston," if you looked at the e-ticket that you print out it gave an address to a theatre in Framingham.

Just_John - they weren't the hairdressers that specifically worked on the movie. They are the salon companies that sell the tie-in "Ultra Clutch" hairspray products that are in promotion for the film. They gave their employees passes for the screenings. (And that makes perfect marketing sense - this way the hairdressers can talk up the movie to their clients).

Updated On: 7/16/07 at 11:12 PM