Fantastic Show, but an Unwelcome Welcome

We saw Sweeney Todd at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York City this afternoon. An old friend I worked with is starring in it alongside Patti LuPone. Fantastically staged, amazingly conceived, it was wonderful. One of the finest Broadway shows I’ve ever seen.

The show’s ushers were a true New York experience. Outside, the ticket taker yelled at us to keep moving, so we moved, about a foot forward before having to wait for the people inside to move further in before we could enter. So I turned to the ticket taker, now standing beside us, and yelled at her for yelling at us.

Next, just inside, we couldn’t find an usher, so we asked the first usher-like looking person we could find, and she was less than thrilled at having to help us.

Finally in the correct aisle, a third usher approached barking, “Come on, your tickets, come on!” She was chastising me because I didn’t have our tickets in hand, ready to be looked over. That’s because they were in my wife’s hand, which had been outstretched toward the woman ever since she’d headed toward us. I was actually kind of nasty back, which I’m not very proud of, and told the woman to take it easy, that our tickets were right there in front of her, and we didn’t appreciate be treated like that.

We spent $202 to see a Wednesday matinee, (that’s right, $202), and while the show was incredible, I can’t get over the treatment we received just to get to our seats. Imagine buying a plane ticket, only to be browbeaten by the flight staff right up until you took your seat. Would you ever fly that airline again? I guess the ushers assume they don’t have to worry about whether you’ll ever come back and see the same show again.