Taking Full Advantage of the PCMS Box Office

I thought it might be helpful to all of our patrons if I took the occasion of this initial blog posting to offer suggestions as to how our Box Office might make your concert going experience a more pleasurable one.

Important services (and ones rarely taken advantage of by our patrons) include our "ticket upgrade" and "ticket waiting" lists. A surprising number of tickets are returned for one reason or another (illness, bad weather, etc.) in the few days or hours leading up to any given concert (even the most popular ones!), and this sometimes allows us to improve your seating or find you a ticket that was not available earlier. If you yourself need to return a ticket, we ask that you try to call by noon of the day of the actual concert. This gives us a reasonable chance of reselling it. Having said this, some patrons still drop off tickets they can't use at the desk before the concert. If you are not completely happy with your seat it never hurts to ask at the desk for an upgrade before you go in.

In future blogs I'd like to discuss the merits of our different venues and the specific seats within those halls. The staff has had a lot of experience with seat locations and we would love to share our views on acoustics, sight lines, comfort, etc. with you. There are often different things to consider depending on the type of concert you choose to attend (piano recitals vs. quartets, etc.). In the meantime, if you are uncertain as to where you are sitting or just want to talk about possible seat changes, please feel free to call. We are aware that sometimes having the perfect seat can make the difference between a good concert and a great one.

A few other notes:

• It is always good to keep in mind that we open the doors into our "general admission" concerts (Philosophical Society, Art Museum, Settlement, St. Marks, Gershman Hall, Fleisher, Curtis) 30 minutes before the concert. If you arrive at that time you will have your choice of seat locations.
• I would also like to encourage everyone to try sitting in the balconies of our different venues (Perelman Theater, Seaport Museum, Philosophical Society, Gershman Hall). I've always felt that both the sound and the sight lines are best there and often go unconsidered.
• It also helps us very much if when ordering tickets on-line you can give us a clear idea of what you would consider ideal seats (please use the "notes" section). Unfortunately, there are not seating charts on the website and this allows us to choose a seat that you are most likely to be happy with.

Enjoy the beginning of the new season, and please let us help you if we can!

Remember: 215-569-8080