LAST OF THE STUDENT RUSHERS?
Comments(12) After last night’s, show I had the pleasure of speaking with an exceptional group of young fans of JB, who have weathered storms, late night/early mornings, sleepless nights, bouts of hunger, lack of toilets,and precious funds to gain a ticket to our show. Some have seen it over 13 times! Unfortunately, this is the only ticket price they can afford as they are still in school. And their enthusiasm and joy and eye for detail whenever someone on stage differentiates their performance, etc. is exceptional.
Anyhow, the Student Rush policy will be extinct after tomorrow, June 24th. I’m not exactly sure of the details why…But I saw first hand last night what happened to one sweet, young college boy. We all actually noticed him in the front row last night, as he had a huge white bandage under his nose…and after the show another covering a gash on his head. As he and others, including solid JB fans Elle and Hilary, waited for the tickets, beginning at 1am..these thugs came along and threatened them, and harassed them and tried to get them to leave their place so they could get the tickets, and even tried to convince the box office man that they were there before the early risers. Well, someone in that threatening group punched this young man, who was defending this young group, (from what I understand) and the police were called, but they ran away…and this young man’s father and mother witnessed their son being beaten up.
I was shocked and horrified. I had no idea what you all really went through to see our show. I am humbled and so very thankful for all of you, especially the ones who struggle to make ends meet, and somehow choose to spend your hard earned money to see us!!!!!????????? perform…THANK YOU. I hope we will see you again, and they can come up with some way so all can afford to go to the theatre. I know I wouldn’t be able to see shows at this price…and to that young man, who had this sweet, swollen smile on his beat up face and said “It was worth it, because the show was really good tonight.” God bless you…..
Hey Jennifer!
Its horrible what happened in line. We’ve experienced some problems waiting in line for rush tickets but nothing that bad has ever happened. We among other people cant afford regular tickets so we pray that they can come up with a way so we all can afford to go. We will try for standing room soon. Hopefully we will see you there, we will let you know when we are coming.
From your biggest fans :0)
Alicia and Christina
Hi Jennifer,
OH MY!!!!!!!!! I hope that the young man wasn’t too badly hurt. I would assume that this attack may be part of the reason the rushers will stop. There may have been other times this has happened too, to stop the policy.
I also agree that there should be some other way & lower costs for theater fans to see the shows. Even if it is done for certain performances & days…such as some matinees or once a week evening performance type of discount ticket if purchased buy a certain time & or day. Well, keeping my fingers crossed that we can arrange getting out next tickets to see all of you.
Keep up the great work & give our hello’s to everyone.
Love,
Stacey
Jennifer,
Its Brian, the guy who got attacked yesterday, I just want to thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Yesterday was certainly a tough day to get through. However the performance last night was one of the greatest I’ve seen and for a few hours I forgot about the pain that I had. I was not going to let a bunch of cowardly punks break my spirit and prevent me from seeing the greatest cast on Broadway. God Bless and I hope to see you again soon.
Hey, Jenn! It’s great that you posted it – more and more people are so shocked at what happened to Brian. I hope they didn’t come back today, and that everyone on the rush line was okay.
Perhaps they’ll sell these tickets at some kind of discounted price, and make them available on Telecharge or something, or maybe even implement a rush (I know John Lloyd said he was going to ask the producers for a lottery).
It was nice to see you again, and I hope to see you soon!
Elle
This is for Brian,
How are you doing? I read about what happened to you yesterday. I hope you are not too badly hurt & doing better today. Please know that those that attacked you are from a minority group of people here. Please don’t let them represent ALL New Yorkers in your mind.
It is an awful thing that they did & as they say…things that go around, come around. I am sure they will get their punishment in due time.
I am glad that you were able to enjoy the show. Were you able to meet the cast at the stage door afterwards? They are the most wonderful group of people I have ever gotten the pleasure to meet.
I hope you will get to see the show again under more pleasant conditions.
Take care,
Stacey
I am so glad that Brian is okay. I know that it stinks that the scalpers are ruining everything for the students, but it is better to be safe.
When I went in April, I was in the student rush line for over 4 hours and the people in front of me were scalpers. They were 4 guys, and they were incredibly rude and obnoxious. They did not bother my mother and I, but we were definitely uncomfortable around them until we started seeing the theatre workers come in.
I am very happy that Brian still got to see the show. As a dedicated fan, I can understand how excited he was to see the show despite the incident. Also, as a student, it is very difficult to pay for $100 seats to this show. Student rush was a great alternative but if things like this happens, it is not very good. Standing room is good but I wish that us dedicated fans would get a chance to have seats to this show. I think my parents and I have put a lot of money in this show (as others have too!), we should own stock in it!
Jen, I heart you!
Hey Jen,
I am absolutely horrified and saddened by this whole thing. Jim will feel the same way too when I tell him what happened to those young people! After the wonderful happy day we had yesterday, the great people we met, talking with the guys after the show and spending time with you, it is so hard to believe that there are such nasty people in this world. We certainly need to pray for people like that. To Brian: I wish I could buy you a ticket to see the show again, I cannot believe what you went thru. My prayers are with you and I hope that you’re feeling better. It’s so wonderful that you have such spirit and didn’t let something like that crush it. What Stacy said is true, what goes around, comes around…sad but true. To you and all your friends and anyone else who cannot afford to experience the thrill of seeing a Broadway show, I pray that the theatres come up with a way to make it affordable for everyone. I think that theatre is something everyone should be able to experience and enjoy. Even though I work fulltime, it is difficult to come up with money for a ticket, but I scrape & save because it’s what I love. I understand how difficult it is for students who don’t have fulltime jobs……..Jen, thanks so much for posting about the incident, everyone should be made aware!! You’re a doll! See you soon!
xo Wanda
Ok… now that I can make a more coherent post, I am going to do so.
Yesterday was a tough day for all involved. Brian, I must commend you for how well you handled the entire incident. Those of us who just witnessed the tragic event took it worse than you did. You’re such a trooper! And you did get them off the line
Here is to a speedy recovery!
I hope there is a way for my fellow students to get tickets in the future. Rush was wonderful once upon a time but to be honest, after first-hand witnessing the event yesterday, I wouldn’t want them to reinstate rush. With such a successful show it just is too risky. Lotto would be nice but it’ll be just as hard to win as the real lottery! It’s a tough situation but all the early mornings that I have spent in front of the August Wilson have been worth it. You guys do a great job! All of us fans feel the same way and love dedicating our time to the show. Hopefully there will be a solution in the future!
That is quite a story. I’m really glad that he still went to the show.
[...] The craziest Broadway fan story of the week: Someone in line for the student rush for Jersey Boys (he got in line at 1AM for student tickets that go on sale at 10AM) got punched out by sketchy students hired by ticket scalpers who showed up at the line at 5:30AM (Ticket scalpers have figured out that if they hire high school students to grab student rush tickets, those tickets can be sold to rich people for $300 each). The victim ended up going to the emergency room, filing a police report, suffered a concussion and bloodied lip. Later that evening, he shows up at the show (amazing…but I guess you’d have to show up if you’ve waited 9 hours for tickets) and thoroughly enjoys it. Even I think that is a little too extreme…who would wait 9 hours to grab a student rush ticket!!! Just do standing room, so much easier and safer, apparently. I know no one believes me, but trust me, I am not the craziest Broadway fan out there. But I do sorta understand that guy’s spirit…that show is truly truly worth watching. But not enough for me to suffer a concussion. That’s just craziness. [...]
Hi Jennifer,
That is just awful about what happened to Brian, and all the other students involved in that incident. People are crazy and can be cruel. Brian sounds very brave. Hopefully, he will make a full recovery, and was able to enjoy the show regardless.
I saw Jersey Boys last Tuesday for the 6th time, and it was fabulous as always. You continue to shine. My friend and I were waiting backstage for John, and said hello to you as you walked out. It was nice to see you again!
Pamela