Update: Lincoln Center released a statement at 11 pm on its home page saying it would see “what arrangements may be made to honor each ticket purchased.”
Update as of 5:15 pm, as related to us in-person at the box office: Tickets given during the glitch last night will not be honored. They will start printing tomorrow. If you chose to pick them up at the box office, they will be available then. J.K. Rowling WILL be signing your books at the event; one will be distributed to each guest before the performance, unsigned.
Update as of 4 pm: Tickets are sold out.
“What’s coming will come, and we’ll meet it when it does.”
Rennervate if you have to, Muggles: J.K. Rowling is making a rare New York trip on Oct. 16 to promote her new novel, The Casual Vacancy. Before this, her most recent tour was in August of 2006, when she spoke at Radio City Music Hall alongside John Irving and Stephen King – who, we’ll remember, once said Rowling never “met an adverb she didn’t like.” Though expected of authors with her status, a world tour is uncharacteristic for Rowling and her deliberately private life. The book itself comes out Sept. 27.
Since tearfully shutting our copies of Deathly Hallows in July 2007 – or, if you successfully savored slowly, a little later – we’ve been waiting to once again reflexively check MuggleNet and Leaky Cauldron. And it’s arrived; J.K. Rowling is already the most successful “debut novelist” in history.
Though tickets were scheduled to go on sale today at 10 am, a batch appeared online late last night, 12 hours before the scheduled time. They sold out within the hour. The apparent glitch was corrected by Lincoln Center, which began releasing tickets again at the originally scheduled time. Though Rowling will be giving several interviews, this is the only public event in the States.
The theater seats 1,100. It is unknown how many of these are filled. Phone and box office reservations may still be available; to secure these, people have been camping out at Lincoln Center for days. Rowling will sign books after the event (one is included with your ticket), though we’re not sure for how many.
The Casual Vacancy is a departure from Harry Potter in many ways – it’s a novel; it’s for adults; it’s short(er), at 512 pages. The book cover reveals little, offering instead a sweeping, bold font and marked by a mysterious checkmark. Similarities in design have been drawn to The Marriage Plot, another highly-anticipated book by a wildly successful author (Eugenides). Both italicized titles have three words preceded by an article, and are accompanied by one obscure image.
Vacancy is a mystery, yes, but one operating on a smaller scale than that of the entire wizarding world. Like many Agatha Christie novels, the preview promises unrest beneath the surface of an idyllic English town populated by Muggles. (And also maybe reminds us of “The Riddle House,” the first chapter in Goblet of Fire).
This may be J.K. Rowling’s only American appearance, but it’s just one of the many public events she has scheduled for the book’s release. Her first is in Southbank Center of London at Queen Elizabeth Hall on Sept. 27. Being the rockstar she is, Rowling must schedule her events at music venues ordinarily scheduled to seat Gaga’s millions. She will also appear at the Cheltenham Festival on Oct. 6. The Festival is in Prestbury, another small English village you haven’t heard of.
We’re trying, Hagrid; we’re trying.
(image via)
I was on hold for 45 min, got through at 11, they were sold out. Started to ask a question, they hung up. Now I hear there might be fear of double selling because of said glitch. I’m am currently on hold again and have been now for 11min. Lincoln Center needs to get their stuff in order; you can’t be making mistakes with something like this.
I got tickets last night due to the glitch but the problem is that they don’t actually tell you where your seats are. My seat can be in either the orchestra, mezzanine OR balcony. Because of that, I am afraid that maybe they did double sell some of the tickets.
I tried for well over an hour and was then on hold for a long time only to find that they were sold out. I had gone to the website where I had attempted to purchase tickets, was told I needed to register and sign in, then was told that tickets were not available online. The whole experience was a nightmare, and I tried from early this morning. The Lincoln Center definitely doesn’t have its act together when it comes to ticket purchases, especially online. The website is user-unfriendly. Someone there needs to do some work to straighten out their mess.
I just don’t understand why the Lincoln Center couldn’t have stuck to their word and sold the tickets at 10:00am today like they’d said. I called yesterday to confirm that tickets would indeed only begin selling today and was reassured that they would. (I also checked the website, maybe around 9:00pm last night, and the event wasn’t even listed on the event calendar.) I called in this morning at 10:15am only to be met with a busy signal. I finally got put on hold at 10:50am for 30 minutes, at which time they informed me that tickets were completely sold out. I had been waiting so long for this and am completely devastated. How could they let this happen? Now tons of fans who had been calling since early morning are heart-broken and disappointed plus some people may not even have proper seating. How unprofessional.
Also, when I went on the website it said there were 8 tickets remaining but an error occurred upon trying to purchase them. Apparently this was a glitch, but later some people were able to buy some from a new batch. How ridiculous is this?
Agreed; glitches happen, especially where Harry Potter is concerned, but people handling this type of event should expect that level of traffic and demand. I’m thinking of those crazy security measures (guard dogs, tracking devices on publishers’ delivery trucks) that kept the books from leaking.
My roommate and I got in line outside the Lincoln Center last night (about 30 people back) to camp out for tickets. There were no barricades, the people working the box office had no idea what was happening (were they opening the mall at 8? was a line even going to be formed? was security getting here early to arrange some sort of organization?). Needless to say, all 30 of us got tickets at 10pm at the Starbucks across the street and promptly left. I can’t even imagine the chaos that could’ve ensued at Jazz at Lincoln Center had we been left to our own volition until ten in the morning.
That said, the fact that I even got my ticket at 10pm is atrocious. For an event that had been publicized everywhere as being on sale at 10am, that is a major fault on the Lincoln Center’s part. And I just don’t understand how this was so poorly organized. There are so many events that take place yearly and even weekly in the city that people do this for (NYCC and SNL come to mind). The fact that large and small venues across the city continue to do this and shaft innocent people astounds me.
I got my tickets last night, I cant say whether on account of a glitch or not, but I can say there will be a Hell so scornful to pay if my ticket is not honored, my credit card was already charged and I was issued a confirmation, I WILL be there on the 16th whether they foresee me or not. Lest I bust a cap up they a$$
So, will we get out money back? That’s the most important thing. Seems you didn’t care about that detail……
I just called the box office, and the representative said that he was “not sure” if they tickets would be honored or not. These people need to get on top of things!
My tiks better be honored. My card was charged and I have my confirmation numbers. It’s not our fault they messed up. They will be facing lawsuits and will be dealing with dozens of angry fans tomorrow otherwise.
[...] what happened when a local New York source spoke with the box office: Update as of 5:15 pm, confirmed in-person at the box office: Tickets [...]
As long as they respect those of us who bought our tickets at the *CORRECT* time, that’s fine. But the leaked tickets should not be considered valid. The tickets were not “Legally” on sale. The people who bought the tickets knew that full-well, and only made it that much harder for those of us who fought for the tickets at the appropriate time.
Jane, you’re a moron. Period.
We paid fair and square, just like you, and just because we were more alert and conscientious does not mean our tickets should be validated, if anything our promptness should be prioritized in this case.