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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 1:09:04 GMT
I am one of those people who turned up for the wrong performance.
It was for The Habit of Art at the National.
We got settled in our seats for the matinee only to be asked to leave by the people who had booked for that performance.
We were booked for the following week.
There being no seats available, we scurried away and returned the following week.
I think it came down to scanning the tickets and misreading the seat number for the date. Something along those lines.
But the usher didn't spot the mistake either...
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Post by lynette on Nov 13, 2022 12:12:35 GMT
I’m amazed it doesn’t happen more often now we don't have the actual tic in our paws. I’m continuously looking at the phone messages making sure I’ve got the day and time right.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 12:21:25 GMT
This was years ago with physical tickets. We just got it wrong. Embarrassing and expensive!
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Post by harrietcraig on Nov 13, 2022 15:51:00 GMT
This discussion reminds me of the episode of I Love Lucy in which Lucy, Ricky, Ethel, and Fred have tickets to see The Most Happy Fella on Broadway. Over what they think is a pre-show dinner, they discover that their tickets were for the matinee. They try to get tickets to the evening performance, but the show is almost completely sold out and they can only get the last two tickets. Hijinks (involving trying to squeeze all four of them into a sold-out theatre when they have only two tickets) ensue. You can see still photos of the consequences at: papermoonloveslucy.tumblr.com/post/118875070488/embed(There is probably way more information on the above site than could possibly be of interest to all but the most diehard Lucy fan, but some of the photos are interesting.) |
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Post by marob on Nov 13, 2022 16:19:20 GMT
I once turned up at Southwark Playhouse’s box office to collect my ticket and was told that I wasn’t booked in until the following week. Thankfully they swapped the ticket to fit me in, but I felt like such an idiot. Mortifying.
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Post by Jon on Nov 13, 2022 16:22:01 GMT
Wrong date I can understand but wrong theatre is just idiocy at its finest.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Nov 13, 2022 17:48:15 GMT
Actually it has happened to me on a second occasion.
I turned up to the evening performance of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to collect free tickets that I had been promised.
Turns out the freebies were for the matinee not the evening. Thankfully they still let me see the show.
Well maybe not thankfully as it was completely unmemorable. Couldn't recall a single song by the time we left the theatre!
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Post by bimse on Nov 13, 2022 18:08:42 GMT
Wrong seats, wrong performance, wrong day, wrong theatre, but how about trying to find a theatre that doesn’t exist?
I’ve posted this elsewhere , but a few years ago I was walking near the Piccadilly Theatre and was asked for directions by an American couple who said they were looking for the Dress Circle Theatre. They showed me a ticket, for the Piccadilly Theatre, admittedly the theatre name was in small type at the top of the ticket , with Dress Circle written in large type across the centre of the ticket. I tried to tell them that they needed to be at the Piccadilly Theatre, and I pointed them towards the nearby theatre, and advised that the dress circle is where they would sit. They gave me a bewildered look , and wandered off in the opposite direction. I often wondered if they got there . I’m sure they had paid to see Judi Dench in Filumena.
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Post by Jon on Nov 13, 2022 18:13:46 GMT
Wrong seats, wrong performance, wrong day, wrong theatre, but how about trying to find a theatre that doesn’t exist? I’ve posted this elsewhere , but a few years ago I was walking near the Piccadilly Theatre and was asked for directions by an American couple who said they were looking for the Dress Circle Theatre. They showed me a ticket, for the Piccadilly Theatre, admittedly the theatre name was in small type at the top of the ticket , with Dress Circle written in large type across the centre of the ticket. I tried to tell them that they needed to be at the Piccadilly Theatre, and I pointed them towards the nearby theatre, and advised that the dress circle is where they would sit. They gave me a bewildered look , and wandered off in the opposite direction. I often wondered if they got there . I’m sure they had paid to see Judi Dench in Filumena. Surely the massive sign that said Judi Dench in Filumena would have give them a clue. |
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Post by sph on Nov 13, 2022 18:30:35 GMT
Years ago a man arrived almost an hour late to The Book of Mormon with his girlfriend. He insisted that he was late as he was looking all over the West End for the "Delfont Mackintosh Theatre". I explained to him that that was the name of the company who owns the theatre, and not the theatre itself. He told us that it was our fault he was late as at no point in the booking transaction was he told the name of the theatre he was going to. This went back and forth for a while before I asked him to show me his booking confirmation email which he was using to collect his tickets. The subject line of the email read: "Your Visit to The Prince of Wales Theatre".
I don't know what his poor girlfriend thought but she was very quiet, no doubt thinking what an idiot he was being.
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Post by Jon on Nov 13, 2022 18:37:54 GMT
Years ago a man arrived almost an hour late to The Book of Mormon with his girlfriend. He insisted that he was late as he was looking all over the West End for the "Delfont Mackintosh Theatre". I explained to him that that was the name of the company who owns the theatre, and not the theatre itself. He told us that it was our fault he was late as at no point in the booking transaction was he told the name of the theatre he was going to. This went back and forth for a while before I asked him to show me his booking confirmation email which he was using to collect his tickets. The subject line of the email read: "Your Visit to The Prince of Wales Theatre". I don't know what his poor girlfriend thought but she was very quiet, no doubt thinking what an idiot he was being. People are really stupid aren't they? I must be a bit anal but I always check when I'm going and where I'm going when it comes to shows and even things like cinema. I have seen people when at the cinema come to get their ticket checked only to discover they booked for the wrong cinema, |
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Post by sph on Nov 13, 2022 19:19:19 GMT
I do appreciate when people accept that they have made a mistake though. It really used to irritate me when audience members would arrive looking for a completely different show and become angry with us for not being the theatre they were looking for!
The man at The Book of Mormon was so unwavering in his insistence that he was right and we were wrong it was almost admirable. Only when he produced the email he had been using to find us did his stupidity finally eclipse his tenacity.
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Post by alece10 on Nov 13, 2022 20:09:00 GMT
Several times when I was ushering at the Menier people would turn up thinking we were the Southwark Playhouse and had to leg it as their shows start at 7.30 and ours were 8pm.
Also someone once turned up to see Funny Girl but the ticket was for the Savoy as the show had transferred some time before.
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Post by Jon on Nov 13, 2022 20:28:33 GMT
Several times when I was ushering at the Menier people would turn up thinking we were the Southwark Playhouse and had to leg it as their shows start at 7.30 and ours were 8pm. Also someone once turned up to see Funny Girl but the ticket was for the Savoy as the show had transferred some time before. I assume this was when they were based in London Bridge and not Newington Causeway! |
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Post by alece10 on Nov 13, 2022 20:36:29 GMT
Several times when I was ushering at the Menier people would turn up thinking we were the Southwark Playhouse and had to leg it as their shows start at 7.30 and ours were 8pm. Also someone once turned up to see Funny Girl but the ticket was for the Savoy as the show had transferred some time before. I assume this was when they were based in London Bridge and not Newington Causeway! No it was where they currently are now. |
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Post by Jon on Nov 13, 2022 23:00:18 GMT
I assume this was when they were based in London Bridge and not Newington Causeway! No it was where they currently are now. That's quite a trek to get from London Bridge to Elephant and Castle from the Menier! |
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Post by richey on Nov 14, 2022 12:39:14 GMT
Several people in the row behind me at the Royal Exchange last night were very vocal about their seats.
For those who aren't familiar with it, the last few rows are high seats, similar to bar stools and this is clearly indicated on the booking system. Woman behind me last night made a real performance of trying to get up on her seat, loudly muttering several times "you'd think they'd warn you about these seats when you book"... I had to hold myself back from saying actually they do, if you'd bothered to look properly when you booked!
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Post by mkb on Nov 14, 2022 13:20:09 GMT
Several people in the row behind me at the Royal Exchange last night were very vocal about their seats. For those who aren't familiar with it, the last few rows are high seats, similar to bar stools and this is clearly indicated on the booking system. Woman behind me last night made a real performance of trying to get up on her seat, loudly muttering several times "you'd think they'd warn you about these seats when you book"... I had to hold myself back from saying actually they do, if you'd bothered to look properly when you booked! How is that bad behaviour? Personally I'd feel bad for someone who discovered only at the performance that they were in a substandard seat. Bookings can be made via a variety of channels including offline, and some online ones require you to hover a cursor over a seat before you see the information pop up. The very best websites display the information very clearly and require you to check a box to say you've read it, but they are a minority. Not everyone is a dab had with technology, especially if they are on a mouseless device such as a tablet or smartphone. |
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Post by yokollama on Nov 14, 2022 18:03:13 GMT
Several people in the row behind me at the Royal Exchange last night were very vocal about their seats. For those who aren't familiar with it, the last few rows are high seats, similar to bar stools and this is clearly indicated on the booking system. Woman behind me last night made a real performance of trying to get up on her seat, loudly muttering several times "you'd think they'd warn you about these seats when you book"... I had to hold myself back from saying actually they do, if you'd bothered to look properly when you booked! How is that bad behaviour? Personally I'd feel bad for someone who discovered only at the performance that they were in a substandard seat. Bookings can be made via a variety of channels including offline, and some online ones require you to hover a cursor over a seat before you see the information pop up. The very best websites display the information very clearly and require you to check a box to say you've read it, but they are a minority. Not everyone is a dab had with technology, especially if they are on a mouseless device such as a tablet or smartphone. Tbf, there is also a fair share of people who conveniently ignore this information - even in their confirmation email - or assume the restriction won't be too bad. More websites should take a leaf from Nimax and have the customer agree to the restrictions/differences before proceeding any further with checkout. Not quite the same but I sat up in the balcony at the Noel Coward when a show had sold out. The seats are fixed in the final few rows (i.e. no fold down) and are slightly higher. As an average height woman, the seats were a tad high for me and my feet were struggling to touch the floor - made for an uncomfortable 7 hours throughout The Inheritance. Would've highly appreciated some warning  Edit: please, no average or ~165cm person come at me. I don't want to break the illusion and learn that I've just got abnormally short legs! |
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Post by nick on Nov 14, 2022 18:33:58 GMT
I do appreciate when people accept that they have made a mistake though. As I get older I've found it saves my heart rate and my anxiety levels to embrace my mistakes with humour. I've never got a theatre trip wrong but I've more than made up for it in other areas. Obviously makes life easier for the people I'm talking to as well which is a pleasant bonus. And I would assume that a pleasant demeanour is more likely to get a positive result? |
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Post by nick on Nov 14, 2022 18:38:27 GMT
Edit: please, no average or ~165cm person come at me. I don't want to break the illusion and learn that I've just got abnormally short legs! Abnormal the other way, due to a genetic condition my wife and children are average height but have long legs and short bodies. An absolute pain in a theatre as they tend to vanish sitting down. Mind you they all look very elegant - also having big eyes and defined cheekbones. While I look like I have stubby legs when walking with them. |
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Post by marob on Nov 14, 2022 19:00:10 GMT
Several people in the row behind me at the Royal Exchange last night were very vocal about their seats. For those who aren't familiar with it, the last few rows are high seats, similar to bar stools and this is clearly indicated on the booking system. Woman behind me last night made a real performance of trying to get up on her seat, loudly muttering several times "you'd think they'd warn you about these seats when you book"... I had to hold myself back from saying actually they do, if you'd bothered to look properly when you booked! I’ve only sat in them a couple of times but they are pretty poor seats. First time wasn’t so bad, just a bit uncomfortable, but the second was awful. Biggest issue with them for me is how near they are to the row in front. Was in the middle of the row, and everyone else was there before me, so it made it very awkward as they had to dismount them. And then because of the lack of room there was no way to get to the seat without actually pressing against all these strangers. Not good. ☹️ |
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Post by shady23 on Nov 14, 2022 23:46:22 GMT
Show stop at Les Mis tour tonight just as the students come on. Announcement "stay in your seats we will be restarting in a moment" cue half of the stalls getting up and going to the bar/loo.
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Post by lucyoffstage on Nov 15, 2022 18:51:12 GMT
First post on this site, but it seems appropriate.
Was at a friend's choir performance last weekend. During a duet, a baby started crying. That's not the problem, though. The problem was that the father was sitting in the middle of the row, and no one stood up to let the poor man out. I really wish people would learn theater etiquette before attending any kind of show. They were just sitting there like rocks! Really fustrated me, what I did hear sounded beautiful.
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Post by TallPaul on Nov 16, 2022 9:05:09 GMT
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