Sunday, August 17, 2008

Preparation Pays Off

5:15 AM is early - probably too early to get in line to buy tickets to the opera, or anything else for that matter. I was # 5 in line (# 1 arrived at 3:00 AM). But I'm glad I did it. The time flew by as I alternated between listening to to my iPod and the stories from the hardcore opera goers. They told tales of the old days when fist fights would break out on the Plaza and it was nearly impossible to get the tickets that were never available more than a week in advance at a time and Caruso, Callas, Tebaldi, and later Pavrotti were in the house. There was a bit of complaining about new policies, but overall the love of opera prevailed. You can imagine that most of the hardcore on the line were well past the age that Gelb is hoping to draw into the opera. I suggest that if he really wants anybody under the age of 30 to get this excited about single tickets in advance, he needs to have the box office open for first day sales around 11:00 PM. Anyway, Met Opera staff opened the Founders Hall door in the concourse doors at 10:30 AM and we wound our way up to the box office, which was open by 11:00 AM, an hour earlier than advertised. Our carefully constructed ticket plan worked, and Sally and I left with a fistfull of tickets and smiles on our faces.







3 comments:

Esther said...

I'm in awe of your preparation and dedication to your goal. Truly an impressively organized mission. Congratulations on getting your tickets!

Bob said...

I never knew what an event this all was! How amazing.

Anonymous said...

All in the love of music :) way to go staying cool and getting your tickets! Yay!!