Regarding the smoking. Yes the guy did say that. I am a smoker and I really had no problem with it. The time flew by so fast.
Also, after seeing the show I would say that there really isn't a bad seat in the house. If I had to choose where not to sit I would say in the first few rows far left. We were up in Section H Row R and it was perfect.
Usually (don't know why, for such a lengthy show) they always start 10 minutes late at 8:10pm. What was the excuse why they couldn't seat you at 8:07pm? Did your ticket have a big "standby" stamped on it ?
I really genuinely don't understand why anything in this world could warrant three exclamation points. Maybe if Aaron Sorkin wrote another play. That's all though.
I would like to make a comment about the scalpers because I actually got the chance to see the entire thing play out.
There were people in front of me in line that were clearly not interested in the show (i.e. homeless or close to it). I happened to be leaving the park at the same time as two of them were going over to a sketchy looking man at a computer who they gave the tickets to and he gave them $50 total. He was feverishly working to, I assume, post the listing on CL. I think it's interesting that these people waited more than 9 hours for $25 and that sketchball is going to make way more than that selling 4 tickets.
I don't know what I expect to come from telling this story but I feel like there should be rules put in place to keep this from happening when there are people willing to wait that long and actually want to see the show.
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot the Public can do. The shows in the park actually do have regular attendees that appear to be homeless, who come every summer and genuinely enjoy the productions.
The Public does request that Craigslist remove the listings whenever they see them and Craigslist generally complies. Beyond that, the only way to really police it is to catch someone in the act. As Kad wrote, it's unfair and inaccurate to assume that someone who is or appears to be homeless is not going to be seeing the show. The show is free, don't forget. People with extremely limited means definitely could enjoy getting free entertainment.
Clyde, with all of the rules we have to follow while waiting in line and with them monitoring the line, it surprises me that they don't have some of those monitors or someone working for them not in a work tee follow these people and possibly have a policeman ready to nab them. Seems it would be so easy to do. Just my thought.
^Can the police nab them? Not sure it's actually a crime...someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Most likely, their best recourse would be just to invalidate the tickets.
Sadly, scalping is NOT illegal in NYC, provided it's not over 5% of the ticket price.
Since these tickets are free, people are, instead, paying for the "service" of someone standing in line for them.
FANtom- unfortunately, checking IDs at the Delacorte gates would be too time consuming. And then there are instances of someone suddenly being unable to attend and passing their ticket off to a friend.
"Can the police nab them? Not sure it's actually a crime...someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Most likely, their best recourse would be just to invalidate the tickets."
No, not a crimes -- and due to recent legislation, it is ok to jack up the price as you will -- but all theater tickets are voidable licenses that can be revoked, essentially, at any time. In the case of a show you pay for, a ticket holder would be entitled to receive their money back. In this case, the tickets are free (whether you are waiting in line or donating) so they can be revoked without the need to compensate their holder.
That said, I think Public-peoplez could follow out suspected scalpers and revoke there entrance on the spot. Logistically though, this could be *very* difficult.
The Public does try its hardest to nab scalpers, but as you said,it's very difficult. Seat locations are already randomized and the tickets are as state of the art as they can be.
For those who were asking, apparently the Museo del Barrio had handed out all their vouchers by 1:30PM. The line was much more bearable than the park according to a friend who was there.
Got there a little before 8, didn't even get a voucher (before the Rock of Despair or whatever it's called). I guess there were fewer seats available to average Joes today (or at least to the people in line) because it was Manhattan's day and there were a lot of friends of the production who'd reserved tickets in advance.
Stuck around for the standby line, ended up being around 20th for that (behind the 38 vouchers who showed up and could claim 76 tickets). The cutoff for the standby line was a few people behind me, but I ended up making it in after the opening number—and to great seats, too!
Public staff were recommending people arrive around 6 if they really want a ticket. Also, no surprise here, but they're expecting this weekend, and all weekends, to be particularly insane.
ETA: There is wifi if you're close enough to the Delacorte—but unless you're SUPER early, you probably won't be close enough to get it.
Random, but I've read in other threads about Shakespeare in the Park in the past that some places will actually do food delivery to you in line. Does anyone remember what some of them were?
@IdinaBellFoster, I don't know if they're ALL legit, but some definitely are. I've used line sitters before. And I don't really feel bad about it. I wish I had time to sit in like from 5:00am to 1:00pm, but alas I don't.
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joined:5/13/04
Posted: 7/25/12 at 12:39pm