The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[NJlauren]

Yep app or card. Though they did accept my parents picture of their card at juniors last month, and the excelsior app only works if you got it in NY. My best friend was finishing college in PA when she got hers and she could not get the excelsior even tho she lives in NY

My husband said most places take the picture of his card as well, and I know they take the docket app (I’m vaccinated in NJ, that’s what I have)

 

[ashley0139]

I went to the first show back of Come From Away on 9/21. I'm from out of state so just had the card and id ready to go and that's all they needed.

That was the most electric audience I have ever been a part of. Definitely a memory I am so happy to have.

 

[Imzadi]

I didn't post this before as I wasn't sure how to make this info useful. But, I think people here should know, so they can be prepared when it happens again, as it likely will happen with other shows at some point.

Last week, Tuesday, Aladdin reopened on Broadway. The very next night, Wed, as the results of new PCR tests came in and showed that several cast & theatre staff tested positive, the show was cancelled. On Thurs, they tested everyone again, no new positive cases, so the show went on again.

However, when one is exposed to COVID, it may take up to 4 or more days for symptoms to appear. On Friday, not surprisingly, more of the cast & staff tested positive so the show was officially closed for 2 weeks to finally let the cast & staff heal and stop accidentally spreading it amongst each other, as well as protect the audience.

When the show was canceled the first night, the PCR test results came in so late, it was close to show time. Local news reported it was cancelled around 7:30 pm. Of course, Aladdin said every ticket will be 100% refunded at the venues people bought tickets.

As though that's the end of the situation.

As with the rest of COVID, these are new situations and mistakes will be made and some tweaking needs to be done.
Hopefully, the Broadway shows have now found labs that can give results earlier in the day. Because, aside from the show being cancelled, it caused a ripple effect of other problems for many people.

Cancelling at 7:30 meant people couldn't just run to another show and possibly get tickets in time. First, they'd have to know what shows still have tickets available and then decide if they want to see it. They run over to one box office a couple blocks down, find out there are no good seats available. Meanwhile other people ran directly to another theatre and got in. By the time the first people ran to their second choice, all the tickets are gone.

For the many tourists coming into the city mainly to see a Broadway show, they picked that day because they were able to get tickets. They may add on shopping, a dinner at a fancy restaurant, and parking close by in a lot, as part of the whole day. Some also booked hotels and travel.

And people budgeted accordingly. So, if one spent money on a hotel and ate in a fancy restaurant and paid for parking or other transportation in, then are told sorry, the show has been cancelled. Here's a refund for the show. Choose another day to come back, isn't going to work. The budget has already been spent and people don't have the money to simply plan another trip - or change plans very late in the day.

While we have no control over the time a show may get cancelled, and how close to a show it happens, I thought, maybe we can dedicate a couple posts here to help plan for the possibility of it happening, and maybe minimize the financial damage, when/if it happens.

Some of you are well-seasoned travelers. So you may already have tips, or know of other threads/posts here on the DIS travel boards you can direct us to.

The couple tips I have came from heading down to the Jersey shore a couple weeks ago. It's hurricane season and we wanted to be able to cancel right away if a hurricane suddenly came up the coast. Hotel .com had a 5PM cancellation policy on the day of the reservation. (Pre-Covid, it used to be a 24 hour, day before cancellation.)

Had Aladdin been able to cancel earlier in the day, those people who hadn't checked in yet and were able to cancel their hotel reservation could have hit the cancel button. (Make sure you take a screenshot of the time you canceled. And check to make sure you got a confirmation email.)

Quite by accident, online, I had only reserved our rental car for one day, instead of all the days needed. We also didn't pay attention to what day the sales rep said she was expecting the car back. Luckily Hertz charges the same rates for any additional days beyond the contract, without added penalties or fees. This actually might be a prudent thing to do on purpose in case of sudden cancellations.

If we were driving down and find we need to cancel our trip, we could turn around and only pay for one day. (I don't know if Hertz would have allowed us to return a car early or made us pay for the additional days as that was stated in the rental cntract. That should something to check on before filling out the contract.)

Also, I made sure to make a car rental reservation with a company that did not require a credit card at time of reservation. This way they couldn't charge us. (Be careful about doing this with Enterprise. Google them, they are notorious for overbooking reservations and not having enough cars available. ) We've always had good experiences with Hertz having cars available when reserved. But, your mileage may vary where you are.

Also, the day before the show you want to see, do a quick search of available tickets for a few other shows, just in case. Many venues pull their online ticket sales on the day of the show, as the box office handles sales for the day in person. So you may only be able to see what's available online the day before.


Anyone else have some good tips to share?

 

[mouschievous]

I went to the first show back of Come From Away on 9/21. I'm from out of state so just had the card and id ready to go and that's all they needed.

That was the most electric audience I have ever been a part of. Definitely a memory I am so happy to have.

I LOVED the things Joel Hatch said at the end of that show. So much so that I shared it with my students and posted it on social media!

 

[merlib]

I went to the first show back of Come From Away on 9/21. I'm from out of state so just had the card and id ready to go and that's all they needed.

That was the most electric audience I have ever been a part of. Definitely a memory I am so happy to have.

I love Come From Away! Would you be willing to tell us a little about your experience? I bet it was wonderful.

 

[johnsontrio]

Imzadi, I think that's a great idea to have your back up plan in place as far as getting other theater tickets. I guess we would just decide if anything TKTS has is of interest to us. I know we are using points for airfare and hotel but fly in the day before our first show, so no cancelling if the show cancels at the last minute. I'm going to be really heartbroken if we miss either show. I feel like a touring version of Moulin Rouge won't pack the same punch and of course Jennifer Nettles won't tour in Waitress. I am reading my 1000 things to do in New York book to decide what to do with our time there.

My back up shows would be Girl From the North Country and we'd be open to others.

 

[ashley0139]

I love Come From Away! Would you be willing to tell us a little about your experience? I bet it was wonderful.

It was incredible! I have now seen the show 4 times (OBC, national tour, Toronto, and this most recent time).

Usually during the show there are three spots for applause - after the opening, after screech in right in the middle of the show, and at the end. You do not applaud after each number. There was countless applause that night. Each cast member got "entrance applause" (ie applause after their first line), and the audience forced applause after many songs that usually do not have it because there are no breaks. There was also clapping along to "we are all freaking the f**k out" and during Me and The Sky which was fun. Long long applause at the top of the show when they walked out with the audience and cast just giving love back to each other. They eventually had to start the show but the applause would have kept going. Also applause after the opening number, and obviously at the end. Some cast members were definitely emotional. Standing ovations for the opening number and for the entirety of the finale. Joel Hatch gave a really nice speech at the end of the show too. Just such a memorable night.

Funniest part was there was a standing ovation when they do the three chimes that mean to head to your seat five minutes before the show even started.

Irene Sankoff and David Hein were there, along with director Christopher Ashley. They gave a really nice speech at the beginning. I ran into Irene and David briefly before the show and talked to them for a few minutes. Irene just kept saying that the whole night felt surreal, which was cute. I mentioned I'd seen the show a few times and they both almost started crying. They are so lovely.

 

[WDWJDS]

Saw Hadestown last night…..OMG!!!!! Amazing!! Eurydice…Persephone…And of course Hermes....I DIE!!!!

Checked our vac cards in the line outside, everybody masked up… Wonderful experience. Next up….TINA!!

 

[Imzadi]

Imzadi, I think that's a great idea to have your back up plan in place as far as getting other theater tickets. I guess we would just decide if anything TKTS has is of interest to us.

I thought about the TKTS booth. But, remember, suddenly a thousand other people will be descending on that booth at the same time. Depending on when you get there, you may be #587 in line. Whereas, going right to a theatre box office might you might be #92 in line and are able to get tickets.

 

[kboo]

Not sure if this is the place to ask, but are there any Disney discounts for Lion King or Aladdin on Broadway? (Disney Rewards Visa, DVC, anything?)

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Not sure if this is the place to ask, but are there any Disney discounts for Lion King or Aladdin on Broadway? (Disney Rewards Visa, DVC, anything?)

Not that I know of. If anything the Disney rewards visa.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm booking Plaza Suite this weekend for April 2022! So excited. We had tickets for 2020 that were refunded. So glad it's going on and I can be there to see it.

 

[ImprovGal]

If anyone's looking for a very different Broadway experience, I highly recommend seeing Freestyle Love Supreme! It's an improvised hip hop comedy show based on audience suggestions. I caught it twice during previews (once with Wayne Brady as a guest performer, once with Christopher Jackson) and will be seeing a couple more shows this weekend (already announced that Josh Groban will be in on Thursday and Friday).

 

[mefordis]

I was surprised to find out the theaters do accept a negative covid test instead of vaccination proof for people who want to take a religious exemption. I didn't realize that was allowed.

 

[Imzadi]

I was surprised to find out the theaters do accept a negative covid test instead of vaccination proof for people who want to take a religious exemption. I didn't realize that was allowed.

A negative COVID test is actually more definitive proof that one is not currently infectious with COVID than vaccination proof. As one can be vaccinated and still get COVID and be infectious. Even if one runs right out of the test site and into a group of infectious people, it takes approximately 72 hours or more for the virus to incubate and develop to infectious levels. That is why COVID PCR tests are generally only valid for 72 hours.

The rapid antigen tests are valid for much less hours as it's not a thorough of a detection test as the PCR test.

The Broadway Theatre League, which is the governing organization for the collective 41 Broadway theatres, state the time difference of the tests and what they will accept as valid proof:

https://thisisbroadway.org/pages/safety?_ga=2.160578109.1435844338.1635302454-950165892.1635302454

 

[Imzadi]

The Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall reopened about a couple of weeks ago with schedules for their upcoming seasons, for those who are interested in those venues.

 

[mefordis]

A negative COVID test is actually more definitive proof that one is not currently infectious with COVID than vaccination proof. Even if one runs right out of the test site and into a group of infectious people, it takes approximately 72 hours or more for the virus to incubate and develop to infectious levels. That is why COVID PCR tests are generally only valid for 72 hours.

The rapid antigen tests are valid for much less hours as it's not a thorough of a detection test as the PCR test.

The Broadway Theatre League, which is the governing organization for the collective 41 Broadway theatres, state the time difference of the tests and what they will accept as valid proof:

https://thisisbroadway.org/pages/safety?_ga=2.160578109.1435844338.1635302454-950165892.1635302454

That page you linked to doesn't mention covid tests for religious exemptions, but the link to the requirements of the theater did mention it. We have a child with us so they'll need to be tested. That's how I noticed it.

Here it is:
VACCINATIONS REQUIRED:
All guests must be fully vaccinated to enter the theatre and must present digital or physical proof at the door – Children under 12 and people with a medical condition or closely held religious belief that prevents vaccination may show proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

https://us.thephantomoftheopera.com/tickets/

 

[Imzadi]

Ain’t Too Proud has reopened. Here is the Tony-winning Broadway cast on GMA performing a medley by The Temptations: “Get Ready,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “I Can’t Get Next to You.”

 

[mefordis]

Can anyone recommend a covid test to take 72 hours before the show?

It also says bring a picture of the test or the actual test proof. Pic will do? I'll bring both just in case.

 

[Imzadi]

The Tina Turner musical is back too. Performance on GMA.