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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 13:28:13 GMT
Didn't get even a single! Well, at least next May, I've got 2 decent tickets from pre-sale, but just really wanted something in the previews. I was clearly on a hiding to nothing there today. Oh well, I suddenly have some money to spend on other shows for my pre-Xmas trip to London. I'll do the lottery, but won't expect anything. BTW, in a development that will surprise precisely no one, Viagogo now has tickets for every day of the 1st month of the show - priced between £5000 and £7500!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 12:32:41 GMT
Still nothing and I've tried about 20 dates now! I'm only looking for a single seat! It's horrifically slow, wish I'd bought more in presale now! Same - nothing we can do, and those that got through, it certainly sounds like it's just complete luck!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 12:18:19 GMT
STILL no ticket allocations! Is anyone getting through?! Wonder if the touts have unleashed the bots, even if the resales will be an issue?
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 12:12:03 GMT
Damn, I didn't realise just how painless the first go-around was - this is awful. Still not got any ticket selections from my seat searches! 10 minutes now!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 12:05:51 GMT
I'm currently in my date, at the "searching....sit tight" phase Me too - it didn't even allow the 'pick your own seats' option, so I'm going to have to see what I get!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 11:57:37 GMT
dizzieblonde, I'm sure a new booking period will commence sooner than later. I'm sure it will too - it will just remain to be seen if any announcements are made about the cast going forward. I guess it's especially worth keeping an eye on the development of the B'way show. The recent discussions talked about 'next season' for an opening, so it'll be interesting to see where all of that goes. Nothing's certain, even with announcements!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 10:58:54 GMT
This is a crass question but I'm going to pose it anyway. How much must AR be getting paid to make it worth her while to be away from home in London for an entire year (if that's what happens). And if it's not the money, what is it? Establishing a UK recording career? Nah. Cementing a place in MT because the tv work dried up? Possibly. Or is this a precursor to playing Effie on Broadway which could raise her profile beyond and achieve all f the above?. Got to be the last one hasn't it? Without question, it's the Broadway option. Whilst Amber is recognisable from her time in Glee and, as such, has brought in the publicity needed for this show to survive it's initial run, I don't think she was in the 'big star' leagues of the people who deign to grace London for limited engagements for massive sums, and then disappear back to their megastar lives. As such, I think she's on a pretty decent wage, but not the budget-busters that some American actors get for appearing over here. Mind you, the show is selling out and will likely justify whatever they are paying her, at least for this initial run! I think she strongly wanted a stage career post-Glee. Her recording career never took of in any meaningful way - and I suspect she's canny enough to know her limitations in that area of the music world. She's a good actress, and I also think she'd not have problems getting TV roles - they're likely just not of the profile of her Glee part, and I feel she was smart not taking some small roles, just for the sake of keeping working. I don't think she took the role of Effie because the TV work dried up - I think this was a deliberate choice to pick theatre over TV work. Glee gave pretty much everyone who was on that show for an extended period of time a few things - a higher profile, and enough money (not a vast sum, but enough) to sustain them whilst they found their new places post-show. Amber has translated that, with success, into a starring role launching a major West End show. Her next move ought to be onto Broadway - BW producers don't like taking risks on the unknown - even when the face is a known one. Amber has proved, on several levels, that she could be trusted to deliver this role. That's not to say it's in the bag, but she's at the front of the queue for what is a massively desired role. As a fan of Amber, I'd love to see her being incredibly successful in live theatre - and Broadway is the ultimate goal, for someone with that ambition. I think she's enough of a multi-hyphenate to find a place where she can translate her theatre success into a pretty wide variety of other projects. As many of the Glee cast found during their run on that show, being on a TV show, that filmed 18 hour days for 9 months of the year, significantly limited their abilities to take on other work. Amber has taken advantage of her higher profile, now she's free to choose, whilst people still remember Glee, and I think she's easily smart enough to know when the iron's hot. Right now, she should be thinking about her long term goals - DG in the West End has certainly made several options into real likelihoods.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 10:33:17 GMT
She's contracted until November, but unknown when. I would think it's around the 25th of November or 2nd of December. Thanks - bit of a moot point anyway, as the website will only book up until 21 Oct. I'll have to take my chances or book earlier in the run. BTW, does anyone know whether the tickets sold as 'packages' (red, blue etc) are worth paying for? There's one that has an 'ATG Theatre Gift', and I have no clue what that would be, and one that has access to the Ambassador's Lounge! Again, is it worth an extra £10 on top of the base price?
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 30, 2017 9:20:31 GMT
Does anyone know when Amber's contract runs out? I want to book some tickets for end Nov/beginning Dec, but am wondering if she'll already be out of the show by then.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 26, 2017 16:10:19 GMT
Does anyone know the dates and times of the performances over the Christmas period? I know that it's likely to be very popular, but I'm going to try and score even just a single ticket for the week between Christmas and New Year, but I don't know what the changes are. Presumably, no performance on Christmas Day (a Monday), but are they putting on extra in the days around Christmas and New Year to keep the 8 performances a week schedule?
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 20, 2017 15:11:57 GMT
One of Obama's last tweets, regarding his pardons and commutations: "Proud to make this one of my final actions as President. America is a nation of second chances, and 1,715 people deserved that shot." Did he just make a Hamilton reference?!!!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 19, 2017 21:24:09 GMT
Wicked on Saturday, possibly School of Rock on Sunday.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 19, 2017 10:52:57 GMT
I've not been a member of this board for very long, but my history with Wicked goes way (waaaay) back! I saw the original cast (minus Kristen Chenoweth and Joel Grey, who had already left the show ) on Broadway in December 2004, just before Idina left the production. We went into the show completely blind, having just heard it had won Tonys and the good reviews, and we scored great priced tickets at the Times Square TKTS booth. It was amazing, and started my love affair with the show. I loved Idina - obviously - and the rest of the cast were phenomenal. When the show transferred to the West End, me and my friend (who had seen it with me in NYC) booked tickets, and we saw the show in December 2006 - this time with the original London cast. For me, that was the best version I've seen, even though Idina's voice seemed to have suffered in the 2 years since we saw the first performance. Helen Dallimore was just really great as Glinda, and Adam Garcia was pretty dreamy! I then saw the show again (I think in around July 2007, I can't remember the exact date) - having scored an unexpected cheap tickets once more - with Kerry Ellis in the lead role. Another amazing version that I really loved - interestingly, the audience for that particular performance was the loudest I've ever experienced. They were completely nuts! I suspect I accidentally saw the show on a weekend when a major cast member was about to leave. Then, I saw the UK tour in Manchester in 2013, as my mum and SIL had never seen the show. I enjoyed it, but couldn't help but compare to the productions I'd seen before, which were much stronger. However, I'm going to the show in London this Saturday (yay!!!) - with my two nephews (aged 4 and 7). They might seem a little young, but the 4 year old is OBSESSED with Wicked. He's spent the week basically hyperventilating whenever anyone mentions our London trip! He's a true theatre and musical devotee, and has already declared that he want to 'live on the stage' when he's older! He knows the full score, can sing pretty much all the words, and will probably cry when he sees his beloved Elphaba fly whilst singing Defying Gravity! Both boys go to theatre, dance and singing classes every week, and have seen multiple musicals and shows on tours, in the West End and (last year) took in a few Broadway shows during their summer holiday to America! I feel like I've trained them up adequately for them to be theatre obsessives for the rest of their lives - I even took them to see the West End Live last year, and we ended up at Stomp that weekend, on the back of them seeing that performance in Trafalgar Square. I don't know if anyone else has younger Wicked fans than that?! So, 5 times in over 12 years - obviously not anywhere near the league of others here, but I feel like I've seen the important parts of the show's development. I'm looking forward to this time, as I've never seen Rachel Tucker in the role, and always wanted to. Really looking forward to it!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 18, 2017 21:16:51 GMT
How annoying is the bar in front of row A (I can't imagine they will have removed it in the refit) in the grand circle and also how is the view in general? Any comments much appreciated. You say you can't agine they'd've moved the bar, but considering all the comments about total internal demolition, I think all bets are very much off until the place actually reopens. It does seem that the auditorium will be largely untouched structurally - they're rejigging the seating, in terms of shifting rows, curving the stalls round a bit to imporve sightlines, and building the new boxes and slips. Unfortunately, I think almost any grand circle/balcony level that's in this theatre is subject to a safety rail of some description, because of the height from the ground, and the steepness of the rake at that level. It's really hard to make a judgement before seeing the finished article. However, for a very rough idea, seatplan has some useful reviewer photos of the old theatre layout - click on the seat, or seats very close to where you are to sit, and there are pictures that really give you a strong sense of what your view will be, as well as peoples' opinions on the seat legroom, view etc. seatplan Victoria Palace Most people seem to acknowledge that the rail is a slight issue, that can be overcome by leaning forward, and they mostly accept the price of the tickets reflected that. It's really a personal choice whether the rail is a serious problem. I remember sitting in one of the loges at the Prince Edward, with a rail in front of me, and it was an ongoing minor annoyance through the performance that part of my view was blocked, but it didn't ruin the show.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 18, 2017 13:54:52 GMT
I suspect the stage for this will be higher than Billy as this has a big revolve, which thickens up the depth of the stage. I think if you book to sit in any of the first 3/4 rows for a musical you are asking for trouble (if missing feet is an issue for you) Don't forget, the refurbishment of the theatre includes a complete rebuild of the stage and everything around and behind it. It will result in a much larger stage, that will bear almost no resemblance to the previous one. The auditorium area will remain (i.e. the shell) - given that, I think, is part of the listed status - with a more basic fit of new seating, and curved rows etc. Also they're widening the proscenium arch, which will result in better sight lines for the sides of the auditorium. I suspect all of this may mean a slightly shallower stage, given they're increasing the size quite a bit. The best sight lines will still always be centre stalls and front dress, but I'd pick Row C if that was what was on offer, and if my funds stretched to £89 seats! I think you'll have a great view! The thing with a complete rebuild is that they can dig down, and avoid the high stage because they're not adding the revolving stage onto an existing stage structure - as is the case with so many of the old theatres that have to adapt within the confines of their current space. The revolve can essentially fit into whatever dimensions they want it to. They have what is currently an empty space, where they have demolished the entire stage house, and are rebuilding from the ground up. If they end up with a high stage edge, it will be down to bad design. The revolve should be incorporated into the core design of the stage floor, so as not to impede badly on those front rows. Of course, that close to the stage, it's inevitable that you'll not see part of the stage floor, or some footwork, but there's a reason the premium seats sell for the higher price. There's a sweet spot in the theatre where everything is perfectly visible, and the seats are priced accordingly. Of course, no one will really know until the first people are allowed into the completed theatre, and we can see what the results of the refurb are. I've liked all of DMT's theatre builds - I think they've got it bang on most of the time - so I'm holding out hope for this one. The scope of possibilities with this theatre are wider than most, because they've been allowed to demolish so much.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 17, 2017 23:41:12 GMT
Ps I will paranoidly keep old cc when it expires and stick it to the confirmation email. I will make sure my hair is same colour and style as on driving licence and I won't divorce current husband , remarry and change my name. I will try to stay exactly the same as I was on Monday at 12.15 when I bought the tickets. Well, they ARE Hamilton tickets - isn't a little self-sacrifice worth it, in the end?!!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 17, 2017 22:26:28 GMT
I'm already getting concerned that my £89 Row C Stalls seats are going to be obstructed by a high stage. Reading reviews from Billy Elliott which said the stage was high. Don't forget, the refurbishment of the theatre includes a complete rebuild of the stage and everything around and behind it. It will result in a much larger stage, that will bear almost no resemblance to the previous one. The auditorium area will remain (i.e. the shell) - given that, I think, is part of the listed status - with a more basic fit of new seating, and curved rows etc. Also they're widening the proscenium arch, which will result in better sight lines for the sides of the auditorium. I suspect all of this may mean a slightly shallower stage, given they're increasing the size quite a bit. The best sight lines will still always be centre stalls and front dress, but I'd pick Row C if that was what was on offer, and if my funds stretched to £89 seats! I think you'll have a great view!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 17, 2017 16:20:41 GMT
Thanks dizzie. I do get all that but I am still wondering how they can demand a cc which may not be the one you used to buy the card with on attendance at the theatre. The cc you use as you say will prob be in little pieces in landfill. So if someone rolls along having bought all the tix kosher but has totally new cc s maybe even different banks, will they let him / her in? And what if you are a bankrupt then but have bought the tix now ( doom, people, doom) what if the banks fail? What it, what if? I know unlikely...well, till after Friday at 5pm our time, but the whole process is flawed imo. Well, I personally think we've all shown a truly remarkable faith in the future of humanity, by buying tickets for a show that doesn't even open for 11 months!! So, trying to predict possible future bankruptcies and the fall of entire financial systems really does feel very pessimistic, in light of our acts of faith! if the worst happens, I suspect that an early appeal to DMT and Ticketmaster will enable the purchaser to overcome almost any major disaster - you just shouldn't show up on opening night, with tales of woe, and expect to get in to see the show!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 17, 2017 16:04:23 GMT
Ok, so a key but still my point is that cc not necessary for purchase confirmation. Honestly I'm not sure of this but I can't see how they can demand the cc you use to pay after it has expired anyway..maybe..when the purchase is done and dusted. If they don't let you in the cc company will have to give you the money back, no? So if they want a key, they should find a better way of doing this. I foresee loads of trouble. They don't! The credit card you paid with yesterday (or whenever) will eventually be replaced - as all cards are - with a new card. Ticketmaster have put in place a scheme whereby their system will flag these expired cards, and you'll get an email asking you to register your replacement card to your TM account. They will then, it appears, send an email that you keep with the original purchase confirmation, and take both to the theatre. DMT should have front-of-house staff swiping cards, and that card will register against the tickets issued (they don't take money, it's just an ID thing). When you register that new card onto your a/c, that new card will then perform as your ticket ID - and that's the card you'll use to enter the theatre, not your expired one.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 17, 2017 15:56:14 GMT
The cc thing is annoying. The transaction is done, no doubt the money already in the back pocket of somebody. The cc company is responsible if a transaction doesn't provide the service you paid for. You can get your money back for example when a product is faulty and the seller won't recompense. So...if we have used cc now the transaction is secure regardless of what cc we have at the time of the show we attend. Am I wrong? The website does say that the original card is the only one that the money will be taken from - the new card details are a security feature to link the person accessing the theatre with the original booking (given old credit cards are chopped up upon expiry usually). I actually wondered about keeping hold of the original card, so that I could present both when I went to the theatre, as well as all the documentation that will show the transfer of my new card onto my Ticketmaster account - but that seemed like overkill! The purchase itself is secured against your card account - not just the specific card used to pay for it, so the insurance attached to the purchase doesn't disappear when your card expires and the company issues you with a replacement. I don't think that is an issue here. Plus, you can get refund on these tickets up to 48 hours before the performance (less about £3 for admin charges), which I think is more than fair. There's plenty of other theatre and event tickets that have no refund capabilities from the second you buy them, no matter how far in advance you buy them.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 17, 2017 11:09:05 GMT
Booked for March 2018 (saw last January in NYC with all the original cast- so my expectations are lower and I am in no rush!). Main complaint- ticketmaster will not let someone book for 2 people if it leaves one seat vacant. This is ridiculous, as I saw on a lot of other rows one seat vacant all over the place. I find that paying £89 (which is SUPER CHEAP by Broadway standards) for a show that is 14 months away and not being able to choose the seats I want is just terrible! Also, I had to pay with a credit card that didn't expire before March 2018! Glad I caught that before booking- ludicrous! I had similar issues - the 2 £57.50 tickets I wanted on row G of Dress didn't actually leave a vacant seat, but they left the last seat at that price before the seats changed to the £89 bracket. It wouldn't let me buy them, and I didn't want to buy an extra seat. Luckily, on the row immediately behind, there were 2 end of aisle seats in the price bracket I could afford, isolated from any other available seats. I honestly don't know if this was a weird bug just affecting me when I selected seats, or if others found this issue, but it was definitely annoying, whilst sweating through seat selection as fast as I could! Unfortunately, as for the card thing, I was stuck buying my tickets with a card that will expire in just a few weeks' time. I know there are workarounds built into Ticketmaster's system, and they should contact me to prompt an amendment of my booking, with my new card details, so I'm not overly concerned about that - and I'll definitely make sure that the additional email confirmations are all printed off, as well as the original ticket confirmations. Hopefully, with photo ID on top of everything else, it should all work out. The tricky bit is that I'm about to move house in a couple of weeks - and I've not received my new card! Let's try coordinating THAT with my bank and Royal Mail redirection services! Thank god Hamilton doesn't need an address - don't know what I'd do then!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 16, 2017 21:13:23 GMT
Meanwhile - law of unintended consequences had led to quite a few unhappy people on twitter who have booked tickets via their parent's credit cards (presumably with permission!) and now realise they may not be able to collect them. This happened to me with Kate Bush but honestly I think in this case it's their own fault. The email with the code (aka an email they must have seen) did state the rules clearly. I suspect someone must have found a workaround - for £2000, I don't expect anyone to be paying that blind, and then getting a rejection at the door. It appears foolproof but there are caveats about the cards used to pay. For example, for me, I will have to notify Ticketmaster about my card's expiry (expires very soon, but haven't received my new one yet, so had to pay on the current one). Hence I will have my original email, plus (according to the website), a secondary one transferring those tickets to my new card details, so that I can safely collect them. You better believe I will be calling TM customer services to double and triple check that nothing will go wrong, but I do have well over a year to make sure everything is in order. I hope there's not ways around the paperless system, because it seems like such a secure way to prevent resales, and it hopefully will be the way forward to eliminate all of those sh*te secondary sales sites. However, I wonder about people who may have tickets bought for them as gifts (I've seen vids already today of teary teens who've been surprised with news about Hamilton tickets). I've frequently received theatre tickets as birthday or Xmas gifts, and this seems like a particularly harsh penalisation, if people who perhaps could never have afforded to go to the musical, and have generous friends, relatives or loved ones who want to gift them tickets, aren't able to do so. I considered buying my SIL a ticket as she has a big birthday coming up this year, but knowing she'd want to take my brother, I'd held off, due to the card restrictions. My only alternative is to give my brother my code, and transfer him the money, and he buys the tickets out of my allocation, but I expect that won't be an option for others. I actually only discovered this was an option to me from this board, when helpful people let me know my code wasn't a 'one-use only' thing, and I could continue to buy a second pair of tickets, up to my ticket allocation limit, during the sale period.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 16, 2017 15:50:45 GMT
You can book up to 2 more now, I assume at any time up until the pre-sale sells out. Then you would be able to book 2 more in the general sale. Thanks, that's really helpful to know.
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 16, 2017 15:44:42 GMT
Nope! Have got tickets for various in-demand concerts in the past though (Kate Bush, Take That, front row One Direction etc.) all far easier than I did this! I usually just sail through a booking process. Haha, that's good going, I can imagine Kate Bush especially was a similar situation. The Glastonbury gods have certainly been kind to me and continue to be this year but it's such a stressful ticket day!! I closed out my booking at 12.15pm, but I suspect that the dates I was picking made the booking process just a bit easier. I did spend a nerve-wracking 5 minutes waiting for the seats to confirm though! BTW, does anyone know if I can book another set of tickets, as I've only booked 2 so far? The email said 'one use only' for the code, so I presumed I wouldn't be able to book any others (if I wanted to) until the general sale date. I've just seen a few people talking about additional bookings that they're making - were they all done in a single transaction, or are those codes valid for the next 2 weeks at any time, up to the ticket number limit?
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 16, 2017 13:16:18 GMT
My view is you should manage your expectations. I don't think LMM will play the role at all. Interesting! I actually don't mind who plays the role, as I suspect the cast (whoever is in any role) will be spectacular. it really was just a vague wondering that my booking date might coincide with any run he chooses to do!
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Post by dizzieblonde on Jan 16, 2017 12:56:17 GMT
Long time lurker, just signed on to boards given I've booked my Hamilton tickets!
Just booked for May 2018, as a birthday treat - so long away! Decided I couldn't stretch to the £89.50 seats, and went for end of H row in the Grand Circle which, given the fairly steep rake, looks reasonable in terms of eye-line etc. The current layout doesn't show any significant obstructions (just slight cut off of the extreme side of stage), and I can't imagine that the refurb will actively make sightlines worse than they are right now - at least for existing seat positions.
Now the problems begin! I've booked with a card that expires in 6 weeks time (bank haven't sent the replacement yet), and will have to contact TM to ensure that my card details are updated against these tickets. Fingers crossed the ticketless system works for this kind of situation (the website seems to indicate it will)!
I've also gambled on LMM being in the role by that time - anyone know if he's said anything more about when he'll join the cast, and how long people think he'll stay there for? All indications are that he won't join for previews, and I can't see him opening the show in December, if he's not there for previews, but who knows! Anyone?!
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