31 replies to this topic

[cobweb]

Still no word about Society NYCB!! Not knowing if it will be continued, I don't know whether to buy single tickets or not... ?? I guess it's looking like it's NOT going to be renewed, but I really wish they would announce either way.

[abatt]

I wouldn't assume that it won't be renewed.  It's a way to sell tickets for unpopular programs. Right now they are still trying to fill/mail regular subscription orders. When did they send out the Society info last year?  I think it was in August. Why not call and ask?

[tutu]

Slick on a computer, but not mobile-friendly. I usually decide to get tickets on the day or night of, so the difficulty navigating the site from a phone is pretty frustrating.

That,

SCchck, on 31 July 2012 - 10:15 AM, said:

~ and Sam Greenburg

...is one of three dancers picture on the front page for "Meet Our Dancers."

[Stage Right]

abatt, on 31 July 2012 - 10:18 AM, said:

The new website does look great.  I feel so sorry about Morgan.  I hope she is able to continue her ballet career somewhere else in the future.  She was wonderful.  

Do you mean Morgan Fairchild? What happened to her?

[abatt]

There is nobody at NYCB named Morgan Fairchild.  The reference is to Kathryn Morgan.  See separate thread herein under NYCB titled Kathryn Morgan, started by Ivanov several days ago, for Ms. Morgan's explanation, via her facebook page, as to why she left NYCB.

[cobweb]

abatt, on 02 August 2012 - 09:36 AM, said:

I wouldn't assume that it won't be renewed.  It's a way to sell tickets for unpopular programs. Right now they are still trying to fill/mail regular subscription orders. When did they send out the Society info last year?  I think it was in August. Why not call and ask?

I did call and ask -- they said no decision had been made, couldn't say whether it would be renewed or not. I wondered if they might just let it die, with no announcement at all, but I'm still hoping for the best! Maybe you're right that renewal was in August. Hope so!

[Stage Right]

Oops! thinking of Megan Fairchild! In my mind, she morphed into Morgan Fairchild.

[California]

abatt, on 31 July 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

Does anyone know if the new website will have a Select Your Own Seats option, showing all available seats in each section and allowing a ticket purchaser to select particular seats (the way City Center, the Met Opera and Ticketmaster do)?

I just bought some single tickets for the winter season, which went on sale today about an hour ago. They do now have "select your own seats" and the price pops up when you hover over each seat. So that's the same as CC, Met, and others. Big improvement!

Another advantage: they give you 30 minutes to complete your purchase. Good thing, too, because it's a little cumbersome buying multiple tickets. For one thing, you pick the month/date you want. Once you've selected a ticket and put it into your cart, if you want to go back to that week, you discover you've been popped back to August and have to start over again getting to the right month/week (somewhat cumbersome and time-consuming).

Second problem: when you click on the seat and think it's gone into your cart, it really hasn't. You then need another step to say "reserve seat" or "remove." If you forgot to click "reserve seat" you can't get to check-out.

Third, I had a problem just figuring out how to get to the on-line ordering for single tickets. There's no link off the homepage or elsewhere that I could find. I finally tried going to the 2012-13 repertory list, clicking on a work I wanted, getting to the list of individual dates when it would be performed and clicked "buy tickets." Once into that system, I could click "cart" in the lower left to get back to the purchasing section. (I had started by logging in first to my account, which probably helped a little.)

Fourth, some of the seat numbering seems to have changed. I couldn't find a seating chart on the new web site, but had saved the PDF files from last  year. Some of the numbers have changed, so look carefully at the chart they show you. (If anybody finds the new seating chart, please let us know where it is.)

The facility fee I paid is $10, but I don't know if that's a flat fee or $2 per ticket. The Service charge I paid is $35, so I'm guessing that's $7 per ticket, as I bought five.

For delivery, you can choose only pick up at the box office or U.S. Mail. No print-at-home feature - maybe next year.

All in all, you need to be a very determined purchaser to navigate through all of this. I hope they have some staff try this out for themselves and find out how user-unfriendly the whole system is for purchasing on-line tickets. Still, being able to see which tickets are available and choose your own is a gigantic improvement.

I'll be interested in hearing from others on your experiences using the site.

[California]

The NYCB home page was just updated to add "box office is now open" and "buy now" which clicks you over to the area where you can purchase single tickets. It's about half way down the page. I guess with a new system, it's not surprising that it took a few hours on the first day to get the site revised. Now, if they will add print-at-home tickets, as the Met and many others do, it should be great.

[melange]

California, I found a link to a hopefully current pdf seating chart on the new website.  When you go to the "Buy tickets" feature on a particular date, instead of clicking "Choose seats," click "Give me the best available seat."  Once there, you will see at the top right, it says - faintly - "View Seating Chart."  This opens the pdf seating chart.  The reason I discovered this, you see, is that the "Choose seats" feature simply refused to load, so I was forced to go for the best available seats.

I note that the repertory list is missing a number of works, including Prodigal Son, Opus 19 The Dreamer, The Four Temperaments and La Sonnambula (though Night Shadow is listed) and I presume that NYCB is working on more elaborate entries for some of the major pieces.  The pronunciation guide on the old site is gone and should be put back in the education section.

I like the look of the new site, though, and I think once NYCB works out the bugs and gets more information uploaded, it should be great.

[California]

melange, on 06 August 2012 - 10:59 AM, said:

California, I found a link to a hopefully current pdf seating chart on the new website.  When you go to the "Buy tickets" feature on a particular date, instead of clicking "Choose seats," click "Give me the best available seat."  Once there, you will see at the top right, it says - faintly - "View Seating Chart."  This opens the pdf seating chart.  The reason I discovered this, you see, is that the "Choose seats" feature simply refused to load, so I was forced to go for the best available seats.

Thanks - I found it. It's the same as the one I saved in PDF last year.

WARNING: The seats on the new select-your-own-seat chart don't match the numbering on the "view seating chart". E.g., on select-your-own, in the first ring, AA7 and 11 are showing closest to the stage, but on the "view seating chart" they're the ones away from the stage. BIG problem. Which is correct???

[nysusan]

California, on 06 August 2012 - 11:33 AM, said:

melange, on 06 August 2012 - 10:59 AM, said:

California, I found a link to a hopefully current pdf seating chart on the new website.  When you go to the "Buy tickets" feature on a particular date, instead of clicking "Choose seats," click "Give me the best available seat."  Once there, you will see at the top right, it says - faintly - "View Seating Chart."  This opens the pdf seating chart.  The reason I discovered this, you see, is that the "Choose seats" feature simply refused to load, so I was forced to go for the best available seats.

Thanks - I found it. It's the same as the one I saved in PDF last year.

WARNING: The seats on the new select-your-own-seat chart don't match the numbering on the "view seating chart". E.g., on select-your-own, in the first ring, AA7 and 11 are showing closest to the stage, but on the "view seating chart" they're the ones away from the stage. BIG problem. Which is correct???

AA1,3,5 etc are farthest from the stage. The numbers get higher as you get closer to the stage.

[nysusan]

cobweb, on 02 August 2012 - 09:16 AM, said:

Still no word about Society NYCB!! Not knowing if it will be continued, I don't know whether to buy single tickets or not... ?? I guess it's looking like it's NOT going to be renewed, but I really wish they would announce either way.

I received a renewal letter in the mail yesterday. Same pricing but you must renew by a certain date (sometime in Oct) to maintain your membership. It doesn't sound like they're planning to open it up to new members.

[California]

nysusan, on 08 August 2012 - 09:13 AM, said:

California, on 06 August 2012 - 11:33 AM, said:

The seats on the new select-your-own-seat chart don't match the numbering on the "view seating chart". E.g., on select-your-own, in the first ring, AA7 and 11 are showing closest to the stage, but on the "view seating chart" they're the ones away from the stage. BIG problem. Which is correct???

AA1,3,5 etc are farthest from the stage. The numbers get higher as you get closer to the stage.

Thanks, but here's the numbering issue (and they still don't match as of just now when I checked again). In the first tier side, you have pairs of seats. The ones right by the railing have completely unobstructed views. The paired seat is an interior seat with assorted heads in front of you. On the PDF chart, seats 2-6-10-14, etc. are on the railing. The pairs for those seats (4-8-12-16, etc.) are the inside seats with heads in front. But when you look at the "select-your-own-seat chart, they're reversed. So 4-8-12-16, etc. are on the railing and 2-6-10-14, etc. are interior seats with heads in front. Big difference in price ($29 vs. $135) and big difference in sightlines.  I'm amazed that this is the third full day when the select-your-own-seat charts have been selling single tickets and it's not yet fixed.

[ivanov]

Quote

I received a renewal letter in the mail yesterday. Same pricing but you must renew by a certain date (sometime in Oct) to maintain your membership. It doesn't sound like they're planning to open it up to new members.

I'm glad to hear this, but I don't understand why the discount program isn't available to everyone, as it was in the past.  Is there a better way to confirm the image of ballet as elitist, exclusive, only accessible to a chosen few, etc?