Gershwin Theatre — Attraction in New York

I won the Broadway lottery and entered the night before the performance attended. The theater is very easy to get to, with what I would consider minimal walking from the subway. We showed up around 7pm, and there were very few people. Eventually they split us into 2 separate lines. If you're looking to get in early and get pictures/hit the bathroom or bar- you'll want to arrive around that time. By 7:15, the line was wrapped out to the sidewalk. If you're early, you'll be in a parking garage type area- which is covered from the sun and elements. Doors opened at 7:20, security lines move very fast, you'll walk through a scanner, and then if you have a bag, you have to go a bit out of the way to the corner of the blockade and get your bag checked. There are 3 lines for ticket scanning once you get in, and they all lead to the same place. Everything is accessible, everything is labeled clearly, and the space is easy to navigate. The bathrooms are small but clean, the one I was in had about 6 or so stalls, all of them with an easy to see sign with a green "vacant", or red "occupied". I found the bathrooms extremely clean and well equipped. The theater has been well maintained, and there are a lot of displays to see.

Inside the theater, accessible seating has a nice view. If you are going down the aisles, be mindful that the walkway down is steep. The walkways are very large, steps down into each area are wide and short. Seating was comfortable, wide and deep, and have a nice bit of space underneath. The seats are not all on the same level, so you won't have to fight to see over people directly in front of you.

All of the staff we encountered were so helpful, personable, and just wonderful in general. From the very start of our interactions to the tail end, we were pleased. I do wish they were stricter about the things I'm about to mention though, as it seemed like there was a lot of leeway.

This is the first time I've been in a space where other theatergoers were so disrespectful. There were several times people had their phones out, and were literally scrolling, faces illuminated, not paying attention to the show. People were running in and out through the entire performance, so doors were constantly being opened/closed- which is definitely a distraction. There seems to be no regard to late seating, as about 10 minutes after the performance started, a group of about 10 people were making their way into the theater and trying to find their seats, so people had to move out of the way, get up/etc., blocking the view. Then about 10 minutes after that a group of about 20 or so people entered from a side door to find seating. The same people from the first group were also late coming back from intermission and caused a big distraction again by coming in after the show picked back up.

The talent, the voices, acting, the costuming, props, staging, lighting.... all of the theater things were INCREDIBLE. There is absolutely no issue there. It's really beautiful, although not as detailed as some other shows.

(Sensory- there is a considerable amount of smoke, but it doesn't make its way into the audience at all, there are fans in the pit that pull it down. It wasn't overly flashy, there were no smells that I'm aware of.)

If you are a diehard fan of the book series, I cannot recommend this show to you. It was completely dumbed down; I feel like they just used the characters and took snippets of the story and even that is being generous. It's very family friendly, and if you've read the books- you know they very much aren't. It did touch on a few subjects which made me think "oh okay- here it is, finally" but then they'd throw something silly in to offset it. Fighting over a boy, slapstick comedy, and vanity abounded. Of course I had seen little bits here and there, but I wish I knew just how off brand it was going to be. That being said, if you're not aware of or have no interest in the books- I can see how it would be an...

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE: Today, I had the dire misfortune of experiencing the Gershin theater experience from the point of their staff. If what I went through is any indication of the Gershin Theater customer experience; I would think twice before paying to use this venue. Apparently today the staff was organizing an actor signing right outside of their 50th Street side entrance. As I was walking across the public sidewalk, I became curious and attracted to the congregation of people assembled outside. I approached the grouping at an approximate distance of 3 feet where the front metal barricade ended. I then learned from other bystanders that some of the actors for "An Enemy of the People" were doing a public program's signing and autographing. I was approached by a Caucasian employee who was directing traffic and asked me to step behind the barricade (I was standing about 2 feet way from the outer edge of the barricade and he admonished me by falsely stating that I was blocking street pedestestrians. There was a total of about 5 feet from the barricade to the outer edge of the sidewalk. I told him I was not going to move as this was a public sidewalk where I can stand and walk wherever I chose and reminded him that this still was a free country. He then called me a "jerk" for which I responded that so was he. He then went and approached a middle-eastern looking man on his team and whispered something to him. A Caucasian looking female on their team then approached me and asked me to move or to step behind the barricade as she claimed I was blocking a lady from crossing the sidewalk with a suitcase. The lady crossed with the suitcase without me moving for which I advised the Gershin employee that I did not follow what her problem was. She then stated she didnt understand why I "was being so difficult." The second middle-eastern appearing Gershin employee then approached me and asked me to me to move or leave....I declined and reminded him that this still was a free country. He then went on to lift his jacket to expose some sort of official-looking badge so as to intimidate me. I told him I didn't care about his badge and then threatened me to 'get the "police." I told him to go ahead. He approached a nearby uniformed NYC policeman after he whispered something to him. The officer then approached me in a pleasant non-confrontational tone and asked me what was the problem. I advised him that I was standing on a public sidewalk, was not obstructing pedestrian traffic, but was being HARRASSED, THREATENED, AND INTIMIDATED BY GERSHIN THEATER EMPLOYEES. He advised me not to worry and that everything was OK. I then went to their front ticket booth and asked for somewhere in charge to lodge a complaint: how convenient.....she (the general manager) was not available at that time and out to lunch at 4 pm on a Wednesday 3/27.Thank God for the NYPD otherwise you would have lawless and abusive employees on the fringe of fascism allowing their egos to rule and forget about real common decency, courtesy, and customer service by being the true Enemies of the People. All I have to blame is the Gershin Theater leadership for allowing this sort of behavior to flourish. What good is a play or musical experience if the venue staff can't treat you...

Wicked was AMAZING, the theatre was not. First, we arrived early as recommended. The merchandise lines were not all open, so the ones that were open were long. So was concessions. So I stood in one and hubby stood in the other. By the time we got thru the lines, it was 10 minutes until showtime and the bathroom lines were long so we decided to wait until intermission. We had great seats, but it really didn't seem like there would be bad seats; it is laid out nicely and clean. Once intermission started, we made our way out as quickly as possible (we were located in the center, middle level) but the women's bathroom line was already weaving back and forth 3 lines deep across the lobby. Intermission was 15 minutes long and at 8 minutes, I still had not moved from where I originally got in line. With two minutes remaining, they took everyone after the lady behind me to the men's restroom and a lady started yelling a countdown to those in the bathroom. When I entered at "20 seconds left!" (as the second to last person because those that were behind us either left or went to the men's) she continued to countdown and said that if we weren't out in time we weren't getting back in the theatre. I went in to full panic mode, couldn't finish what I went in there to do, and went running out. Mentioned to the man at the door on my way in that was the "worst experience I ever had" and he laughed and said "she just does that...it works doesn't it?" Days later and I am still disgusted. If necessary, do this to people blocking sinks to fluff their hair and do makeup, but I literally stood in line for 15 minutes to pee and was truly afraid I wouldn't be allowed to finish the play. I ended up back at my seat in frustrated tears because people were allowed to come in after it started and I still had to pee. In hindsight, I should have just finished and been willing to fight to get back in for something I paid for, but I was doing as I was told. This experience made me realize I am in my 40s and do not recall being treated this way anywhere. I hope management reads this and makes the lady stop this behavior. It certainly isn't necessary for someone like myself who didn't want to miss a moment for something I paid for, but instead it really tarnished my entire experience. So, if you're going, you'll love Wicked. Plan to stand in line for merchandise and drinks but use the bathroom before you arrive! The theatre obviously needs to extend intermission long enough to accommodate everyone. If I had wasted time getting to the bathroom, that choice would be on me, but I literally went straight to the line and there is nothing I could have done differently to get in...