BroadwayGirlNYC: Luck of the Lotto

 

 

 

 

Like many Broadway show, Wicked offers a limited number of excellent seats at a greatly reduced price, which are given away via "lotto" drawing on the day of every performance.

Lately, I've had a craving to see the show again; it's been more than two years since I last ventured into Oz, and it feels like time to go back.

So, over the last two weeks, I've entered the Wicked lotto seven times.  Out of those seven, my name has been picked exactly zero times.

Recently I tweeted a stat to that effect, and immediately the @ replies started pouring in.  A tweeter named @n2nfans said she's lost the Next to Normal lottery 18 out of 18 times.  @masb1987 has lost all 21 times she has entered lottos.  And @EllenDoesCali says, "I lost the wicked lottery 27 times in 4 different cities before I finally won." 

So clearly, I'm not alone in my frustration over losing the lotto over and over and over.  That much is clear just by the crowds that show up to lotto Wicked every day -- over 100 entrants is normal, and usually only 13 names are chosen!  Repeat customers seem to be the norm, not the exception.

It seems like showing up again and again would increase one's chances to get picked, but the truth is that someone could enter the Wicked lotto every day for a year and not get chosen.  Frankly, I'm afraid that person is going to be me.

The good news is that tweeter Ellen did finally have her name drawn after 27 times, which gives hopes to those of us who continue to show up.  And because I'm an optimist, every time I write my name on that little slip of paper, I tell myself "Surely THIS will be my lucky day!"

Wicked may be holding out on me, but I've won a few lotteries in my day.  Like many fellow theatre dorks (a most affectionate compliment, my lovelies!), it was Rent that kick-started my habit of gambling for affordable theatre tickets.  I actually won the Rent lottery the first three times I entered -- but subsequently lost eight times in a row before finally having my name chosen again!  

In more recent years, I won Next to Normal the first day Brian D'Arcy James returned; I won American Idiot the day Green Day performed during the encore, and I won HAIR their final weekend.  So I've certainly had some luck.

But the Big Green Show hasn't shown me any!

Isn't it the most excruciating tension, waiting to hear the news from that suddenly oh-so-important theatre employee?  Hundreds of eyes are upon him, and when his hand pulls that piece of paper out, the crowd holds its collective breath!  "Who will it be?  Is it finally my turn?"  Fingers cross and hands get squeezed, prayers are said and wishes cast.  And then, he speaks.

And he says YOUR name.  And it feels like you've won, well, the lottery!  Like Abuela Claudia in In the Heights, just after she picks up her $96,000.

Except that most of the time -- especially at Wicked, where so many people show up, day after day after day -- it isn't your name.  Even the lucky ones lose more often than they win.  

I'm hardly alone when I pout about having entered and lost multiple times.  

HOWEVER.  

All of the commiserating got me thinking.

If only there was a way to reward those fans who have stayed loyal, who keep coming back to support their favorite show, and who might just be victims of a string of really bad luck.  We return and return out of love!  Do they really have to send us away, every time, empty handed?

Today, it dawned on me.  There is a way for a Broadway show to hold a lottery and still let the losers feel rewarded!!

Ladies and gentlemen of BroadwayWorld and Twitter... I've envisioned the Broadway Lottery Rewards Card.  

Imagine it!  You show up at Wicked, you put your name in the drawing, and you get your card stamped. Or punched, or digitally scanned -- whatever clever way the box office deems scam-proof.  You might get picked for tickets, and you might not -- but either way, if you show up at for the same show's lottery on enough repeat occasions, you get some kind of reward.

Maybe it's a t-shirt; maybe it's a mug.  But in MY vision, it's a new kind of discount ticket, which allows you to finally see the show you've been trying so hard to attend.

I'm not saying this should be easy.  Losing the lotto is just part of the Broadway game.  But I'm talking about rewards for people who show up ten,  twenty or fifty times! That's loyalty, people.  And if companies like Duane Reed and Borders Books can offer benefits for their most loyal customers, I say Broadway should too.  

I propose that the reward be a discount ticket -- say 50% off of a ticket to a future performance -- when the Lotto Rewards Card is full.  Each production, of course, gets to create its own rules (much like the student rush and lotto rules currently vary from show to show).  

A Rewards Card makes sense: everyone wins.  The fans are happy, since they get an extra chance to see a popular show at  discount, even if their name doesn't often get pulled.  This will reduce frustration (not to mention sadness), and will remind the fans that they're appreciated, respected, and acknowledged by the shows they love so much.

The show itself will benefit, since a loyalty program will encourage bigger turnouts at their box-office lottos; a crowd in front of a theatre makes the tourist walking by think, "Wow, that show sure is popular.  I better see it before I leave town!"  And even though the production will end up selling some tickets at half-price, it will require such a commitment by the buyer that it probably won't happen all that often.  When it does -- well, the trade-off will work in the show's favor, in the loyalty it creates alone.

So who's going to bite?  With it's consistently overflowing lotto, Wicked is the obvious choice.  But other popular shows could benefit too -- Next to Normal, I'm looking at you! -- not to mention that this could be a great way for a newer show to inspire a loyal fanbase.

Marketers of Broadway shows, you may have my idea free of charge.

Just make sure you save me your very first Broadway Lotto Rewards Card!