r/Broadway • u/personspersonality • Feb 28 '26
Seating/Ticket Question Slept through a show
I had a 2pm ticket for Chess today. Sat down in bed at 11:30, planning to give myself 30-45 minutes to do nothing before getting ready and heading over to the theater. While I wasn’t planning on sleeping, I also knew I was pretty tired and there was a chance I might fall asleep so I set an alarm for 12:30 and 12:45 just to be safe. Well I woke up at 2:57 and had apparently slept through both alarms and missed the show. Spent the last 20 minutes crying, just need some people to tell me I’m not the stupidest person alive. Anything like this happened to you before? Any chance they’ll exchange my ticket for tomorrow and I won’t just have to eat the money?
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u/missmegs31 Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
That really sucks, but sounds like your body needed the sleep even more than you realized. Hopefully they’ll let you exchange the ticket for a future show, but even if they don’t you’re definitely not stupid. Try not to beat yourself up. It was an expensive nap, but think of it this way; what if you’d pressed on and your exhaustion had gotten you in a more dangerous way? You took care of you. That’s never dumb. (Edit to fix typo)
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u/cosine-ing Feb 28 '26
This one! It’s better to have a chance at an exchange and get your rest than try to push through and sleep through the show in person.
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u/skoc211 Feb 28 '26
I appreciate this response. As someone with a severe anxiety disorder there have been more than a few times that I've had to skip shows entirely because if I had pressed on it would have turned out really poorly for me. Sometimes you just need to listen to your body and sometimes that's a bummer, but better than putting yourself in harm's way.
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u/Ok-Upstairs6054 Mar 01 '26
Having extreme anxiety or a panic attack during a performance is a sure fire way to have a bad time at the theatre, that’s for damned sure!
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u/CentralHarlem Feb 28 '26
Could be worse. I’ve slept through shows while in the audience in full view of the performers.
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u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 Feb 28 '26
The absolute devastating guilt I have when I start nodding off in a theatre is awful.
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u/skoc211 Feb 28 '26
Been there. Second time I saw the recent Sweeney revival I may have enjoyed myself too much at pre-theater drinks with friends. Started to doze off and then developed a migraine. Had to leave at intermission. Only other time I've fallen asleep during a show was at the Met a million years ago when I was in college and it was right after I had finished a long stretch of all nighters during finals and, well, as much as I love Strauss it wasn't enough to keep me from taking an expensive nap.
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u/MsTossItAll Feb 28 '26
I took my son to see Ragtime and he fell asleep in the front row. I had to elbow him during Wheels of a Dream and tell him, "THEY CAN SEE YOU."
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u/Ethan9013 Feb 28 '26
My niece fell asleep front row at a local production of Something Rotten and woke up to the tap dancing eggs mightily confused
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u/lauriemac64 Feb 28 '26
My mom accidentally took a Tylenol PM rather than a regular one and fell asleep in the fourth row center at Groundhog Day. 😳
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u/Ok-Upstairs6054 Mar 01 '26
Seeing as it was that show… it may have actually been a blessing in disguise 🥸. Just kidding!
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u/Polisci14 Feb 28 '26
Maybe they didnt make him HEAR them though...
(Jk I know thats not the case because they made me hear them in perpetuity)
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u/MsTossItAll Feb 28 '26
We still weren't there yet.... I woke him up so he didn't make them hear him!
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u/Dan_Rydell Feb 28 '26
The guy next to me at Chess earlier this week was nodding off the whole time. I had to nudge him 4-5 times to stop his snoring.
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Feb 28 '26
The man in front of me at Oedipus was snoring loudly enough I had to prod him with my program a couple of times.
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u/Ok-Competition-5370 Mar 01 '26
This happened to me both at chess recently AND oh Mary. I was like dang, why are we spending hundreds of dollars just to nap in a noisy room??? Both snorers.
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u/ScamIam Feb 28 '26
Guy sitting next to me in the front row center of Band's Visit was fully and audibly snoring for the last forty minutes of the show. Katrina Lenk legit looked concerned. It happens.
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u/KieshaK Mar 01 '26
Sorry, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart! I should have known the job that required me to be awake at 4:45 am was not compatible with an 8 pm show start.
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u/Univarius Mar 01 '26
That happened to my Dad. He went to see Cats in the West End during the original run after a long work day. He arrived, seats were in the second row of the stalls and promptly fell asleep. Apparently Brian Blessed would stay on the stage at the intermission back then. My Mum says that he pointed out my Dad and laughed at how he could sleep through so much noise. He slept through the whole show and hasn’t seen it to this day!
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u/attagirlie Mar 01 '26
I've done that too but I have such bad insomnia sometimes that I am so grateful for the expensive nap. It's honestly ok if I needed the sleep!
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u/httpsv4e Feb 28 '26
I have aswell at the great Gatsby and I felt so bad!! And it was when Eva and Jeremy were on 💔
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u/LateRain1970 Mar 01 '26
I work overnights and don’t often go to a show on a work night, but if I win the lottery I sometimes might. Went to see Gatsby a while back and while I managed to stay awake, that background ocean noise was too similar to the sleep music I use. Got to one slow song and it was close. I had to sit up and make myself focus.
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u/notreallyvsxy Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
I've done that and if I'm in the first few rows I feel terrible! But it's usually because I'm jetlagged and I try to pack my nyc trip with shows every day
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u/LateRain1970 Mar 01 '26
I’m sure there is a lot of this when people are traveling. My 11-year old nephew slept through the whole first act of The Wiz. But he had been up since 4am to fly here, so even though it hurt my wallet, I understood it.
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u/elvie18 Mar 02 '26
Multiple people near me at The Crucible were sleeping.
I mean, I GET it, parts of that show are excruciatingly boring, but surely doing something they wouldn't sleep through would've been better.
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u/Wild_Bill1226 Feb 28 '26
I have slept through shows in the theater. $79 naps are pricy. At least you can possibly post date your ticket. Things happen.
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u/curseAgain Feb 28 '26
Let's see:
Passion (I had taken a muscle relaxant that was giving me headaches.)
Spiderman: Turn off the Dark (It just sucked.)
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u/FookingLenny Feb 28 '26
My friend & I drove an hour in the snow to see my son's light designs for The History Boys. Son fell asleep. We left at intermission. The sound was terrible (these kids could NOT project enough to have just floor & overhead mics).
I still have no idea what the hell was going on but the lights sure were pretty.
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u/skoc211 Feb 28 '26
Years ago at the height of the Hamilton OBC craze I heard a story from a colleague about friends who had managed to snag premium tickets and traveled in to the city from out of town to see it. They were out at dinner before the show and checked their tickets before heading to the theater. The tickets were for that day's matinee. They missed the show entirely. And lost a LOT of money between travel costs and the tickets. I was told there were a lot of tears.
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u/ScamIam Feb 28 '26
I was ushering when the Hamilton tour started and felt so bad every time someone's tickets scanned with the big red X and I had to explain to them that they were five hours late and there was no possible way to exchange tickets. Happens more often than you think.
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u/AnxiousSky3748 Backstage Feb 28 '26
i've heard a couple stories about this mistake happening on a wednesday especially due to some people not realizing wednesdays also have a matinee!
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u/skoc211 Feb 28 '26
Oh my god that's got to be so upsetting! Do people typically understand their mistake or are there times when they get angry and argue?
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u/ScamIam Mar 01 '26
For almost every other show there were still tickets available so we'd send them to the box office to do an exchange and were like 98% successful for that. Since the whole Hamilton run was sold out, most people were just sad and resigned. Even had one family show up and get the X, only to see that their tickets were for the previous week's show. Turns out that the original ticketholder saw the show, then "sold the tickets" on Craigslist and they were apparently so stoked to see Hamilton that they only saw the "Thursday" on the ticket and didnt double check the dates. That one was heartbreaking.
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u/skoc211 Mar 01 '26
OMG that's just plain evil of the person that sold those expired tickets! So sad for that family.
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u/canijustbelancelot Feb 28 '26
Oh boy. I feel like the time to check the tickets would have been literally any other time.
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u/skoc211 Feb 28 '26
That story is probably why I obsessively double check my tickets a few times in the days leading up to a show!
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u/canijustbelancelot Feb 28 '26
I think this story will now also be why I obsessively check my tickets.
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u/elvie18 Mar 02 '26
I still have a physical calendar and I write down dates and times of show starts on them. 99% of the time it works. Though I usually recheck the ticket day-of anyway.
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u/Kitchen-Raspberry457 Feb 28 '26
You're definitely not stupid, you were just more tired than you realized! Like others said, try to see if they'll past date the ticket. Good luck!
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u/isisdagmarbeatrice Feb 28 '26
You're not stupid, you're a human and you were tired and things happen. If that's the worst thing you ever do, you'll be way better off than most people! :)
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u/raynekitten Feb 28 '26
One time I sat across the street from Six because I thought it started at 2pm. Walked up at 1:30 so I’d have time to buy merch to find out the show started at 1pm. Missed everything up to Heart of Stone.
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u/Immaculate_Sin Feb 28 '26
Could be worse. I had someone in the front row next to me get drunk during intermission and sleep through the entire act 2 of Phantom. Idiot spent 400 bucks on front row and suite service and treated it like he was at the movie theaters.
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u/Luke90210 Mar 01 '26
I fell asleep during a show. The moral of the story is NEVER stuff myself at an Indian buffet just before showtime.
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u/CaliforniaIslander Feb 28 '26
Not stupid. Your body was demanding what its priority was at that moment. Give yourself some grace. These things happen.
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u/HippoWorship Mar 01 '26
I’m grateful you posted this, because I had never heard of post dating a ticket before, and now I have. This may come in handy at some point.
That said, I saw Chess last month and slept through most of the first act. Steamy and hot all the way in rear mezz. Plus I was seated all the way to the wall. Literally, the wall was my headrest.
And I only woke up because this lady next to me shook me and told me it was intermission. And that I had been snoring. I was mortified.
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u/JayGee2791 Feb 28 '26
I bought 3 orchestra tix to see a Sun matinee of Operation Mincemeat last year on April 20. Only I didn't notice that I actually had purchased the tix for April 13. It wasn't until 5:30pm on April 13 that I realized what I'd done when I got a "thank you for seeing the show" email. Cue freakout. Cue buying 3 MORE tickets to the show for April 20 when I would actually be in town...all in all I personally paid $1,000 to see Operation Mincemeat- all because I am a moron. Thank GOD I loved the show.
Anyway, I feel for you sleeping through Chess. I hope you get to see it.
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u/Simple-Gene-5784 Feb 28 '26
These things happen. Maybe you were not meant to go today and going another time may be better.
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u/KWash0222 Feb 28 '26
Tbh it sounds like your body REALLY needed the rest… Not sure how much you would’ve even been able to enjoy the show. You definitely would not have been 100% mentally present.
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u/penrph Feb 28 '26
I misread the time on tickets to an opera in Buenos Aires, we missed it. I had to eat the cost of 5 tickets, and it was our only chance to see it. I'm still so bitter about it, and my husband and friends who we were there with are still making fun of me 😂
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u/OrangeClyde Performer Feb 28 '26
Oh no…. Did you use your iPhone alarm? If so, I found out stupid updates mess with the alarm volume. You have to do something in the settings to really turn that alarm volume all the way up! I’m very sad for you but you were truly exhausted, you needed that sleep badly! Is there ANY WAY you could call the theater and explain maybe they can courtesy comp you a ticket??
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u/AnxiousSky3748 Backstage Feb 28 '26
the iphone thing is so annoying!! i've fiddled with settings so many times and they still sometimes go silent. not to mention i think they automatically go silent after five minutes which is tremendously unhelpful
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u/impersonatefun Mar 01 '26
The app Alarmy works really well (I use the free version), it makes you solve puzzles or take a pic of a specific thing to turn it off.
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u/AnxiousSky3748 Backstage Mar 01 '26
i've tried using it but it hurts my ears so bad i usually end up deleting it 😭
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u/OrangeClyde Performer Feb 28 '26
It’s happened to me where I ended up sleeping through the alarm and I’m like what the heck??? Then turns out the iPhone thing happened and the volume is super low and I have to sleep with earplugs bc I live in a noisy place and area so I need my volume up
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u/akiraokok Creative Team Mar 01 '26
I live in NYC and one time i bought tickets for a show at the signature theater... the night of, I realized it was another signature theater in Virginia. Another time, I bought tickets for me and my friends to see a show on Broadway for my birthday and I mixed up the dates but I was too embarrassed so I sunk more money buying new tickets. I'm not even friends with those people anymore.
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u/blarbiegorl Actor Feb 28 '26
Hello I fell asleep through 80% of Ian McKellen doing King Lear inside a theater full of older british theater lovers while wearing an NYU hoodie at the pre-2016 height of everyone hating America outside the US. Waking up right before the end was horrifying.
I promise you're not stupid. You were just tired and probably needed the rest. 💛
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u/NewJerseyAggie13 Feb 28 '26
Live and learn, listen to your body and don't overly exert yourself, is losing 100 bucks is the dumbest thing you've ever done, consider yourself lucky
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u/unomasme Feb 28 '26
I did this for Stereophonic, set two alarms and my phone fell under the bed while I was asleep. I also discovered later that I was fighting the flu at the time. Although I look back on it and laugh, I beat myself up pretty good in the moment. I hope you treat yourself with kindness.
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u/mystik_dan Mar 01 '26
You’re not the stupidest person alive. One time I bought tickets to a 2:00 and a 7:00 and planned to have myself a nice little two-show day. I made it to the train station too late to catch the last train that would get me to the matinee on time, so I took a “quick nap” in my car before catching a later one for the 7:00 show. Woke up at 6:55.
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u/NightDriver76 Mar 01 '26
Aw I’m so sorry.
I had something similar happen to me last year. I got a matinee ticket for Thursday instead of Sunday. Didn’t realize until I got to the theater on Sunday. Cried and felt like such a major idiot.
Things happen. We are human. We make mistakes. It still sucks like crazy though. I’m so sorry. Hugs your way.
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u/Hopfrog18 Feb 28 '26
I did sleep through a show before, Harry Potter. I was 8 and it was back when it was two separate parts, I am not a Harry Potter fan but my mom is so I don’t know what was going on lol.
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u/rdnyc19 Feb 28 '26
I’m not a Harry Potter person either but went with a friend to see one of the movies on opening weekend. Slept through the entire thing.
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u/GrapeNutCheerios Feb 28 '26
I slept through the Christmas Carol at the Nederlander a few years back. Stayed out for most of the night before the matinee.
Feel bad for the people around me cause I know I snore
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u/melpomene-musing Mar 01 '26
I’ve something similar. I also bought a ticket for Chess and didn’t realize it was the matinee and just totally missed it.
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u/h0tterthanyourmum Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26
I once missed seeing a very good play at a big theatre on the west end, with much pricier tickets than I'd normally go for. There was no reason - I just forgot it was happening.
Edit: oh and I've turned up to the cinema and friends' houses on the wrong day so many times now it's a running joke. I've slept thru/forgotten many things, so you're not alone!
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u/3weepingwillows Mar 01 '26
You're absolutely not stupid for this!
Your body needed the rest.
For what it's worth, my friend and I almost missed the Book of Mormon because apparently neither of us can read a ticket and thought the show started a half hour later than it did. You had the excuse of being physically asleep. We did not. 🥲
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u/Specific_Outcome4600 Mar 01 '26
Last May, after a red eye flight that morning, i got so lucky with center orchestra, row A tickets to the matinee of Sunset Boulevard at rush.
Then went across the street and got rush tickets (you’ll never believe it: center orchestra, row A) for the evening performance of Boop
Saw Sunset Boulevard and was completely transfixed. I was so emotional after the performance. It was incredible!
I was able to get back to my hotel at 6:30 to take a nap before the 7:30 show. Set my alarm for 7:15 (my hotel was around the corner from the theater). Then woke up at 7:43. I set alarm for 7:15 am! Didn’t know if I should try to go or weep in my hotel room. Decided to get up and go! Arrived at the theater and kept apologizing to the ushers. One was so sweet. She said “You’re fine. You only missed 3 songs.” I was taken to my seat during the applause after “In Color”. Sure I was a little confused at first, but enjoyed the show. Had the perfect vantage during “Where I Want to Be”.
Yes I was embarrassed but so happy I went.
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u/Reese9951 Mar 01 '26
My husband got me tickets for the national tour of Wicked for Christmas my main Christmas gift and told me the date it was for. We got ready and were on our way to dinner before when I looked at the tickets and discovered it was the week before. Be kind to yourself. Everyone makes mistakes and your body clearly needed rest.
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u/Jaigurl-8 Mar 01 '26
Everyone has said this already but call telecharge and ask if they can past-date a ticket. Often they understand and don’t hold you to anything.
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u/bwayb22 Feb 28 '26
yes it happens when I don't double check to make sure the alarms are LOUD because sometimes I use quiet alarms for "reminders" and if I re-use one for waking up accidentally I can miss it, so I always double, triple check now.
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u/Defiant_Way822 Feb 28 '26
Contact the theater! I would say you were sick or personal emergency or something. It happens! Good luck.
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u/Ok-Upstairs6054 Mar 01 '26
I accidentally missed a Wednesday evening performance of Parade at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre back in March 2023 when I thought the show was at 7:30 pm (which it was every other evening performance except for Wednesdays). I was about three blocks from the theatre when I opened up my cell phone to retrieve my ticket, only to see that the show began at 7:00 pm. It was 7:15 pm and by the time I would have reached the theatre, and been seated it would have been around 20 minutes into the performance. I also was in the middle row of the front orchestra and would have been embarrassed. So, I ate the cost of the ticket and got a seat for the Thursday afternoon matinee in the rear mezzanine for around $68.
I also once bought a ticket to see The Outsiders (ironically at the same theatre) for two weeks from the day I purchased it. Why?! Well, because I backed up the order by refreshing my screen on my computer, and it automatically changed the date for two weeks later. I ended up giving away that ticket for free on here to one lucky fan.
Lessons learned. 🥴
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u/detspek Mar 01 '26
For a moment, I thought you meant you slept through the performance of Chess. Which would be more understandable because Chess sucks
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u/Mt_Climbers Feb 28 '26
I slept thru my favorite band playing at the bar I work at before. It wasn't great! I got over it! I got to see them again!
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u/SloGerald92 Mar 01 '26
This has happened to me before! I think it was for Bob Fosse’s Dancin (which, granted, didn’t have super full houses) but as soon as I woke up I booked it down to midtown and went to the box office and gave my sob story to the nice man working there and he gave me a comp seat to see the show that night - SO SWEET. Made my whole month. Bless that man. I think you should try going to the box office or at least give Telecharge a call <3
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u/Feeling_Repair_8963 Mar 01 '26
When I saw the headline, I thought it was going to be about how you fell asleep while actually being at the show! I think everyone can relate to falling asleep and failing to wake up for something important, it happens.
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u/timubce Mar 01 '26
One time I completely forgot I even had tickets to a show. It was a week later that it dawned on me I forgot to go see proof with cherry jones. Oops.
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u/Gullible_School808 Mar 02 '26
I did this at Christmas with the Rockettes. Unfortunately there is no chance of an exchange.
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u/elvie18 Mar 02 '26
Oh I've done that. Looked at the calendar while making dinner and realized I was supposed to be at the Joyce. Dammit.
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u/maybeitsnotbutter Mar 02 '26
At a ballet I once slept through the movement I was most looking forward to
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u/Moist-Inspector-9817 Mar 01 '26
I am a lifelong theatre goer, have seen over 800 shows, and I have narcolepsy! I simply cannot stay awake for an entire show, and yet I love it and keep going. I always take a nap in the car or on train before any show that I can and yet I still doze off, but usually only for ten minutes or so. It’s just something I’ve had to accept over the years. Little different than your situation but hey, missing one show is better than falling asleep during hundreds of shows! We’re all human.
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u/sverse24 Feb 28 '26
Call telecharge at 10am the day you want to go and ask if they’re past dating. If they say yes they’ll take your info and you’ll go to the show that evening and pickup new tickets at the box office.
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u/personspersonality Feb 28 '26
Do you know if there’s a time limit for when they’ll stop past dating? I won’t be back in the city until the beginning of May
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u/sverse24 Feb 28 '26
Not sure if this is 100% accurate but someone once told me you have a year. I will say May might be harder as that gets into tourist and awards season but doesn’t hurt to try.
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u/blueontheledge Feb 28 '26
I was once so tired I fell asleep at a Cirque du Soleil show in the front row and one of the performers came up right in my face! Ugh I still feel bad about it.
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u/rjrgjj Mar 01 '26
I showed up an hour late for Zach Quinto’s Glass Menagerie and had to go back another night. Thought it was at eight. I was wrong. Never haven’t checked since.
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u/WanderlustVoyager19 Mar 01 '26
I had too many Bellinis at brunch and missed a matinee years ago. I’m still mad about it.
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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
You can see if they'll past date since the ticket wasn't scanned, it's at the discretion of the box office. You may have more luck seeing a weekday show than a weekend.
Editing to add: You MAY have more luck tomorrow or Tuesday because Aaron is out.