Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

August: Osage County closed its incredible summer run in Chicago yesterday to lively fanfare and nearly universal acclaim. It stops next in New York City, to the storied Broadway stage, and from there it will likely see production on an exponential scale. During its eight weeks at Steppenwolf, August: Osage County injected Chicago theatergoers at first with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, and then, as critics rolled out praise, a sense of privilege and pride. Both August the month and August the show heated up, with all remaining performances sold out well in advance. For any desperate procrastinators without a golden ticket, there were only two ways to see the Westin Family duke it out at the OK Corral: wait in an uncertain line for day-of tickets, or fly to New York.

For most Chicagoans, the choice was pretty easy, which led to a serious explosion of interest in standbys and 20-for-$20 tickets, both sold day-of performance. Not just in pure numbers or line length either (although some remarked that the show should be retitled August: DuPage County), but instead in a manner usually reserved for the likes of garnering seats to The Police reunion tour or (not to jinx anything) Cubs playoff tickets. Our hungry and determined patrons, armed with the prospect of seeing a brilliant breakthrough show, and acting without specific instruction, formed lines many hours before we could sell tickets. And, in some cases, many, many hours.

Take, for instance, last Wednesday evening’s standby line. We sell standbys an hour before the show starts and, on average, a standby line on a Wednesday night begins fifteen or twenty minutes before that, around 6:00 or 6:15. Pretty standard for mid-week demand. Last Wednesday, however, the evening standby line formed at 2:15 PM, immediately following the start of the Wednesday Matinee, five hours in advance of the 7:30 show. Five hours. That’s impressive. Five hours, in a line, outside, for the possibility of getting tickets to a sold out show. In economics, one weighs the subjective value of an item against the cost of obtaining that item in order to decide whether or not to purchase. To Steppenwolf patrons last week, the strength of the play’s story and spectacle far out weighed waiting twice the allotted time of the play length itself in order to witness it. For some perspective, consider the fact that in five hours, you can fly to Osage County and on the plane they’ll provide you with a padded seat, air conditioning, a complimentary beverage, and a small bag of peanuts. If you’re lucky, you might even get a movie. Five or more hours in the Steppenwolf standby line? Let’s just say you’d be smart to bring a personal fan and a copy of Waiting for Godot.

And the next three mornings, in lieu of the 11 AM sale of 20-for-$20 tickets, people did just that. Hopeful ticket buyers showed up as early as 6:30 AM to stake their claim in line, toting with them bags full of snacks, water bottles, crossword puzzles, books and newspapers. The earliest folks even set-up lawn chairs. Honestly, I expected to see someone fire-up the hibachi and start grilling “Westin Dogs” (a Chicago-style dog with extra hot peppers and jalapeños, one can only assume).

Regardless of how early people arrived during the last push of the run, the most striking detail surrounding the experience definitely lands on the atmosphere. A certain camaraderie developed within each line of eager individuals—every one of them sharing more in the communal excitement than in the competition, choosing to cheer rather than jeer. One evening, very close to show time, with dreams of seeing August nearly dashed, a pack of standby hopefuls gathered in the lobby with their fingers crossed. Seemingly on cue, a subscriber donated a single ticket, thus providing one lucky patron to see that night’s performance. That patron, once he accepted the offer, walked to the box office amid friendly and honest applause. Victory for one was victory for all. And most of them would be in line the next morning anyway.

If they remembered to set their alarm.

This entry was posted by Zachary Gonzalez-Landis on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 3:01 pm and is filed under August: Osage County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.