Comedy of Errors

The Book of Mormon opens in Sacramento tonight, through the California Music Theater (CMT).  CMT shows are the touring Broadway shows and the best Sacramento has to offer each season. It is CMT that keeps me reviewing because there is always a "really good" show coming up that I want to see for free.  Wicked, Lion King and some others.  I'll sit through a lot of things I'm not interested in for the chance to see the "big" shows for free.

Book of Mormon is one of the shows I've been waiting for, one of the perks of being a critic.  Walt gave me tickets to the show in San Francisco for Christmas a year or two ago and it was FABulous, but it also cost an arm and a leg.  The chance to see it from great seats for free was going to be wonderful.

When I mentioned it, Char said she and her daughter would like to come and see it and didn't mind driving all that way (or paying that much).  It's cheaper here than it was in San Francisco, but it's still ridiculously expensive.

I contacted my friend, the PR guy in Sacramento when I first learned that the show was going to be on the schedule for the next season.  I asked him if I could make arrangements to buy two tickets next to my own tickets and he said he would take care of it.

We had several back and forth about it, how to do it, etc.  Finally a couple of months ago, he confirmed that yes, he had arranged for the tickets to be next to mine.  

CMT shows traditionally open on Tuesday and so I mentioned seeing Char and Dana on Tuesday and she said she had Wednesday on her calendar for months.  I apologized and said that no, Tuesday was the opening day.  Dana had a conflict but said she'd get out of it.

Later, I mentioned the mix-up to Walt and he assured me that yes, the opening date was Wednesday.  I'd forgotten that sometimes for the big shows which have a longer run, they start a week earlier and so have an extra half week.

I wrote back to Char and Dana and apologized for screwing things up.

Then yesterday, I got a mailing to the critics of the Sacramento News and Review, the Sacramento paper I review for.  It was a copy of a note from the PR guy about reviewer tickets:

Pretty crazy around here lately. You know we didn’t do a standard release about The Book of Mormon because there weren’t tickets available. Here’s a release that we sent a week or so ago about the pre-show lottery each night.

Review night for Mormon is Thursday—but I didn’t think you guys were going to do a review?

They weren't giving the usual number of reviewer tickets because the show was sold out and they didn't need a review.  AND, review night was Thursday, not Wednesday!

I sent another note to Char and Dana letting them know that the show was not Wednesday, but Thursday.

This is getting funny, Dana wrote.  But it looked like the new date (third in a day) would be OK for the two of them.

Then I wrote to the PR guy to verify that yes, I do have reviewer tickets and yes, I do have tickets for Char and Dana.

Yes, your tickets are for Thursday. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is, in fact, the first performance. But sometimes with blockbuster shows like this (Wicked, and I believe Jersey Boys), the show chooses to have press night be on the second night, just in case there are glitches (which there never are!). So you're absolutely correct that your 4 tickets (2 comp and 2 paid) are for Thursday, March 10, at 8:00 PM.

I'm sorry for the confusion--I should have explained that better in my initial email.

See you on Thursday!

Whew!  I'm glad we didn't show up at the theater tonight, thinking our tickets were for opening night, as usual.

Now I feel guilty for the critics who can't get tickets because the show is sold out!  But I'm so excited to see it again!