They offered two kinds of RUSH tickets -- the Monday morning RUSH for the week's performances and individual day RUSH.
Right from the beginning, Hugh and producer Sonia Friedman ( who co-produced many successful subsidized theatre shows in the UK) had agreed to the affordable pricing for some seats for The River. But there were also fairly expensive tickets offered at the beginning.
It was probably as the run approached into the winter that getting tickets was much easier ( late December - January) when the lean months start on Broadway and box office doldrums start setting in. That is why sometimes it may pay to wait...but of course there is the danger (LOL) of not being able to get tickets at all for sold-out shows. I am of the nervous kind when it comes to buying theatre tickets because I have to travel a long way to get to NYC and I would like to be assured that my tickets are well in hand ( not physically).
The funniest incident for me is when The Boy from Oz tickets were first sold. I could not get tickets during the AMEX presale because my international AMEX card was not deemed qualified for the promotion. So I had to wait 2 weeks before the regular box office opened. I immediately called for tickets ( I was using the telephone option because I needed to talk to the Telecharge customer rep) -- and I was told that all second row seats and all those behind them on the orchestra were pretty much sold out ( and those seats were priced expensively, as PREMIUM seats). All he said that were available ( I requested close to the front, as I always do for any theatre shows) and he said they had Row AA ( the very first row, within very short distance of the stage - except for the orchestra pit between the seat and the stage) -- when I asked him why they were not picked up ( when the pre-sale was an online nightmare) - he said it was because not many wanted front row. LOL - as it turned out they were the most wanted seats in the show eventually. For the closing show, the winning auctioned price for 2 seats was $ 15,000! Did I pick up the sets of tickets I wanted for different dates. LOL - no! I thought I did not want to take the risk of complaints from my co-theatregoers about being too close to the stage. I hedged and got only half of them from that row...The irony was that later on, I had to upgrade because I got the other tickets no closer than 10th row. Figure that one out! Quite a few stories about watching the show at very close range -- there was one instance when Hugh saw a fan using binocs while seated on the second row! He asked her if she wanted his xrays !
If I could not get front or second/third row, my strategy is to get aisle seats ( left or right Orhestra) so I can see it well. I took that strategy with Hamlet ( Jude Law) and it worked well - otherwise, if I cannot see it well, I would be afraid to concentrate on the language of the Bard. Getting tickets for THREE DAYS OF RAIN ( with Julia Roberts and the unknown Bradley Cooper and Paul Rudd then) was a true nightmare -- the system crashed! What I eventually did was to separate myself from my companions so I can get a 4th row seat on the side. I also had a hard time about HISTORY BOYS - again, I decided to sit by myself and let my co-theatre goers sit elsewhere.
Back to The River and Circle in the Square --
What was unknown to most unless you showed up at the box office were two new rows seating 3 and I think 2 on either side, which were right in front of the stage (between the entrance for the play). They were never offered online and were not offered early on. They were not priced at $ 35 but at the regular, or even PREMIUM, prices offered for most of the riverbank seats. I found out about them from a friend but I had to ask a relative who lived in NYC to get tickets for me because they could only be bought directly at the theatre. They were not exactly the most comfortable seats if you have long legs-- but it gave the best view of the performance ( I also saw it by the couch...and by the water spigot)
What I appreciated about the size of the theatre and the closeness of the audience to the stage and the actors was that it seemed like you were seeing the play in your mind ( because it was being acted so close to you) while you were reading the playscript. According to Hugh in that NYTimes session, he actually read the play ( presumably aloud) with his wife -- so, he can actualize what is happening in the literary material.
I have come to appreciate straight plays a lot more in recent years because they invite full concentration and understanding of the play's message. And if you are lucky to get excellent actors, then it is really theatre at its finest! This sounds like heresy for me - but sometimes even better than musical theatre because there you are often distracted by the singing and the dancing
I also had the most unusual encounters at the stagedoor, all because Hugh is such a normal person despite his fame and acting reputation!
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baj2
8 years ago
Sometimes, the box office staff at Broadway theatres are at the very least curt and not always very helpful if you get tickets directly at the theatre. But Circle in the Square was an exception. They were very helpful, especially if you did not have the correct info on your purchased seat and have to use the Pick-Up option.
So is the Schoenfeld staff - I lost my ticket in my bag on the way to my seat ( because I got distracted by the memorabilia stand inside the theatre) and the usher would not sit me when I told her where my seat was - understandably...so I went out ( the staff at the entrance said that if I had been able to get in then I probably had a ticket) and went to the box office. They said they could not reproduce them ( the system won't allow it) but said he could reproduce other info which proved I bought them). He did...and he even accompanied me to the entrance and right to the usher to prove that it was my seat.
I also remember very helpful assistance at the box office where I had tickets for How to Succeed $. I just got very hard-to-get tickets for Mormon that day (same date as How to Succeed $) and wanted to know if I could reschedule my tickets for that day - he did better than that -- he cancelled them without any restrictions ( after making a phone call)!. I had to say SORRY to the two guys to whom I promised to sell the tickets for that day if the box office did not cancel them... On the same day, I decided to look for tickets for another date and bought them.
Sometimes, it would be really my fault and I would occasionally buy tickets for what I thought were for other seats -- but they can be patient explaining where I really should be seated. I once bought box tickets for Back on Broadway ( at the Broadhurst) and thought I had the second/third box ( I read the numerical data on the ticket confirmation incorrectly) but a friend clarified that I had the most coveted box, without my realizing it. When I went to the box office, he was very patient explaining why I thought I had another box and confirmed that I had the front box after all. We did get a very welcome and unexpected visitor in the box for the performance ( Wolverine himself but all dressed in gold!).
LOL - sometimes you would think theatre-going is supposed to be all pleasure, with no self-imposed stress
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search_for_truth
8 years ago
There were so many tickets available that there was no risk to me at all in waiting to get them Monday at the theater instead of purchasing online. As I said, the lady even told us they had hundreds of $35 tickets, and there is not one person who showed up who didn't get one. Perhaps it's because of the time of year as you say, but I think more so they really did just have a lot of $35 tickets on hand. I was in line with about 40 people, but we were all taken care of and most of us got 2 tickets and were even told there were plenty where that came from.
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baj2
8 years ago
That is good to hear -- that it reached a lot of people because of their pricing policy. What I thought was significant in the demos for those audiences -- it was not a relatively young audience ( if you don't count Taylor Swift who was there before Christmas) -- maybe some students but a lot of middle-aged and more mature people! A lot of oouples, too! The right type of audience for theatre-going, if I may say so! You can spot the demos when the post-audience auction was held.
Yes, there was the added treat of Hugh doing the BC/EFA auctions until he completed the full six weeks. He started the campaign late because they usually do not do any selling during previews)...but as he did in Back on Broadway he extended his own campaign for the whole 6 weeks. BC/EFA usually ends it campaign in the second week of December culminating in the GYPSY Event, where theatre gypsies ( newcomers) prepare their own numbers to win the acclaim! LOL - I do remember the year when Hugh was an actual gypsy himself -- it was his first time on Broadway and he was part of the musical number for TBFO - the cast were mostly gypsies on Broadway and he could not find his placing on stage ( we all laughed aloud in the audience!). For that same year ( 2003), he was actually mimicked in a number by the AVENUE Q boys and girls, but as Hugh Jackman! AVENUE Q won the TONY over WICKED that year.
The River was enigmatic and thought-provoking but A STEADY RAIN is still the straight play that I enjoyed more with Hugh ( and Daniel Craig). It showed more acting range and was against his usual film and theatre characters. He was funny and exasperating but also introspective and very thoughtful at the end.
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