New World Stages — Attraction in New York

My husband, my 16-year-old and I purchased tickets to see Puffs at this location. The play is hysterical and very well done. I highly recommend it. The New World Theater, not so much.

Out tickets were for early January and it was freezing out. We arrived about 45 minutes before the show started and thought we would go to The Green Room, a restaurant/bar located in the theater. This was a mistake. When we walked in there was a man holding a sign just outside the door which read "Quiet Show in Progress". This meant that our only option was to walk around in freezing weather or sit in the theater lobby until they opened they ticket check-in. We sat in the lobby with several other people who were waiting to get into the theater.

After a while, I had to use the restroom so I asked the ticketing agent if there was a bathroom I could use. After giving me a disgusted look he stated that the bathrooms wouldn't be open until 30 minutes before the show. I then went downstairs and asked the guy holding the sign. He was friendlier but mentioned that the closest bathroom was at the Starbucks a block over. I wasn't about to walk that far in the freezing cold, so we stayed downstairs and sat on the floor in the hallway waiting for them to open the ticket check.

Eventually, a guy came out and sat at the ticket check. I asked if we could go in and he said yes. I showed him my ticket, he directed me to the theater, down another flight of stairs, my show would be in and we stopped at the first bathroom we saw. Because we were there so early the bar and shop were not set up yet. I didn't mind this. The area just outside the actual theaters has a bar, a couch, and a few chairs. My husband and I sat in two of the chairs as he wanted to charge his phone. There is a charging station but most of the connections have been ripped off, literally. When the bar opened we ordered sodas, which is a cup full of ice with a little soda poured in which cost us about $15 not including tip. The couple in front of me ordered 2 mixed drinks (rum and coke and something else). Their tab came to over $40.

It's important to note that the theater itself is down 2 flights of stairs. There are escalators, however, the first one is not working and the second only takes people up the stairs not down. There is also an elevator but it either doesn't work or patrons are not allowed to use it.

While I loved the show, I will think twice before attending any other shows at...

Bad venue for a tech conference.

There were a few aspects of this venue that were annoying enough for me to not want to attend a Tech event at this location again.

Basically no power plugs anywhere. I found one wall plug in a back corner that a few of us found to charge our laptops. So as not to hog the outlet for myself, I brought a power strip so that a couple more people could plug in. It didn't take long for one of the venue workers to tell me to remove the power strip. Why? Because he thought it would overload the circuit. Really? 3 laptops plugged into one outlet will overload the circuit? Furthermore, when I asked if there were any other plugs, he was not able nor willing to help me out. Did NOT CARE AT ALL!

On the end of day 1, just as we were dismissed from the Auditorium, I went to use the restroom. Multiple venue employees told me that I need to exit the building immediately. I asked if I could just use the restroom really quick, and then begrudgingly let me do so. Really? You can't give the guests a few minutes to use the restroom? I was not hanging around at all!

Small but annoying thing, the water bottles were all lukewarm. They were not put in ice or chilled at all.

Another small but annoying thing; they took away the coffee for a while after lunch. Having a constant flow of electricity and caffeine is essential to any tech conference. : )

Some of these things might seem a bit of first world problems, but when you pay $1k for 2 days of a conference, the venue should treat you as a guest and try to be accommodating and thankful for the business, not just doing the bare minimum and trying to push you out the door the minute time's up. I have been to other conferences and the venue cared about some of those...

I saw The Play That Goes Wrong here. The play itself was fantastic and the auditorium was comfortable enough. However, it would've been nice/kind, if not ideal, if the personnel at the box office could at least try to be professional.

The theater experience begins not at showtime but from the moment the patron begins to consider the show to see. I simply greeted the individual and proceeded to give my details to retrieve my tickets. Said individual did not even have the common courtesy to acknowledge and/or return my greeting and then proceeded to being snappy and decided to rush me with truncated questions- with the snarkiest tone and the driest facial expression, so mean-spirited! No one was behind me so it wasn't a case that I was holding up a process and they'd need to feel anxious/overwhelmed. If one's gonna be front-facing, we have to appreciate and portray the necessary behaviors to build experiences for paying customers...no matter how we may feel. That interaction could've ruined what I decided to make a good evening.

Please be mindful of the staff posted in the box office. The middle-aged caucasian individual with blood-red nails and drop earrings, working on 01/10/23 around 7:50pm, has no business being front-facing with the aforementioned kind of attitude. Kindness costs nothing but can...