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The Public Theater has busted up a group of "professional line sitters" who've been queuing up for hours every day to get free tickets to Hair in Central Park, then selling them through Craigslist for $150 a pair. one ticket-ring mastermind, William Conklin, tells the Times he was shooed away a couple weeks ago, along with 30 other others (including several people he subcontracts to wait for tickets). Public Theater employees became suspicious after seeing the same people "over and over again" on line, and began checking to see if they actually attended the performances. Artistic Director Oskar Eustis defended the move, insisting that free theater “means that your time and presence — waiting in line — matters more than your money. In our commodity-obsessed money culture, that’s a vital civic touchstone. Some things shouldn’t be measured in dollars.” Tickets for Hair are available through the Public Theater website for $160 each.
Shakespeare in the Park Cracks Down on Line Profiteering
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Line sitters have been doing this for a while--I remember when there was the Mike Nichols-staged version of The Seagull, with Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman, and people were paying line sitters hundreds to get the tickets!
"Line sitters have been doing this for a while--I remember when there was the Mike Nichols-staged version of The Seagull, with Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman, and people were paying line sitters hundreds to get the tickets!"
Which is funny because that event was not even sold out. You didn't have to sleep in the Park overnight. If you didn't mind sitting in the crappy seats, tickets could be had for same night performances.
didn't I read somewhere where a person contracted out a line sitter from CL and didn't pay the guy for his/her services?
this was more than ONE line sitter, this was an enterprise that got busted and rightfully so.
It's about time that someone cracked down on people selling FREE tickets. Some of the free shows are organized by groups that are funded by public tax dollars and selling the free tickets for these shows is just wrong.
I like the hypocrisy of that last line
"Tickets for Hair are available through the Public Theater website for $160 each."
They should cut that out and they should implement some simple check like writing the persons name on the ticket - that should discourage scalping tickets
Is this a play version of that movie Warren Beatty made?
Meanwhile people are bitching about some scalpers that are selling tickets for $150 a pair meanwhile the Public Theater website is selling them for $160 each. HUH?
So selling the tickets is fine, provided that the Public gets a piece of the action.
it's $165 to be a summer supporter of the public theatre, a tax deductible donation that goes towards the summer series.
don't they do this for other stuff? same with summerstage?
Kind of glad they're cracking down. I have mixed feelings about the line sitter tix offered on Craigslist. I understand that lots of folks can't take the day off from work to sit the line from 8 or 9 until 1, and still want to see the play. But one of the luscious things that makes Shakespeare in the Park so special is that you have to go through hoops to attend.
Access in NYC is increasingly stratified by money, and only a few institutions remain where money doens't (for the most part) gain you access. The 4th of July fireworks, Macy's parade, and even New Year's Eve in Times Square. (Yes, all of these have privileged corporate access, but for the most part, you have to suffer along with everyone else to enjoy them.) The Delacorte is in that camp. So I've also been dismayed a bit by the Summer Supporter ticket system.
Last evening, I saw 'Hair' by getting on the standby ticket line at 4:30PM. I got my ticket at 8:07P, and rushed to me seat just as they were starting. I'm in that socio-economic group that could pretty easily buy one of the Summer Supporter tickets (I've been known to buy premium seats for Broadway shows I want to see), but it feels to me like 'cheating'. There's a democratic egalitarianism to Shakespeare in the Park that I like and support. The only thing you have to do to see the art is invest the line sitting time.
what they ought to do is link the ticket to your name using a code.. so that once you enter the same person who takes the ticket is the same person attending the show...
its been done in the past for paid shows so its time to do it for free shows!