Waiting to the last minute can pay off: It’s called rush tickets

by Jamie Rhein on

Although, it’s true that living the Girl Scout motto “Be Prepared” can pay off, flying through life by the seat of ones pants also has merit. Take yesterday, for example. Yesterday, I got the urge to see Avenue Q. The touring company is in town for a few days, and because I’ve been busy, getting tickets became shuffled to the background of my life. Then, about 3 p.m., I had to go. I must go, even if no one was going with me. I’d be nuts not to. At 4:45 p.m. I dashed into the CAPA ticket office to buy my ticket.

The guy behind the counter said, “Ya’ know. At 6:00, you can get a $25 ticket. There will be 20 rush tickets for sale.

At 5:30, after a trip to the library to pay off a fine for overdue books, there I was, first in line, at the Palace Theatre box office, By 6:10, I had two tickets. At that price, my husband agreed to go with me when I called to tell him about our good fortune. By 7:50 we were settled into our third- row orchestra seats on the right-hand side, much better and cheaper than the ones we would have had if I had planned ahead.

There are two morals of this story:

  1. If you get the urge to go to a performance, even if it’s last minute, don’t assume it’s too late–you might hit pay dirt.
  2. If you want to plan ahead, find out if there are rush tickets and how to get them.

Here is a link to tips on getting rush tickets for Broadway shows in New York City, and here’s a link to Talkin’ Broadway’s On the Boards that has ticket information including rush ticket policies and standing room only details. Standing room only is another last minute, cheaper ticket option. Here’s Avenue Q’s touring schedule. I highly recommend it, but it’s bawdy. Good natured, clever and terrific, but bawdy.

Skybus may return again: Some ideas for making a go of it

by Jamie Rhein on

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, so might Skybus. Yesterday, there were several stories about the possibility of Skybus Airlines’ return. The first story I heard was on the radio. Next came the nightly news. According to the stories, John Weikle, the airline’s founder, said he’s been working out ways to bring it back.

Weikle pointed to Allegiant Air as an indication that no-frills airlines can work. In order for the airline to pull it off, it needs to up the on-time performance and control expansion. Considering that Skybus has the planes, it has the logo, it has people who have probably not found jobs yet, AND there is the space in airports designed specifically for Skybus, it seems to me that the ingredients are there. Even since yesterday, I’ve talked with more people who were either going to buy tickets or who bought tickets all the time in order to visit relatives.

Now, it’s almost impossible to fly anywhere from Columbus without stopping somewhere along the way–often in an opposite direction. For people who are older, changing planes is problem. Why not promote Skybus as the airline that brings family members together. Another thing that I think would help push the smaller airports is to have step by step directions on how to get to the larger cities from the small airport locations. For example, have it spelled out how to get from Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York to Grand Central Station. I don’t think it’s that hard, but it’s something people need to know in specifics. If the directions are in a format so they could be printed off, even better. How handy, people might think.

Another idea I have for a user-friendly addition is to have a page to click on at each airport location that highlights the things to see in the area. Click on Greensboro, North Carolina and you’ll find out information about what it’s near. I’d really like to know what’s near Greensboro, North Carolina without having to search myself. When I went to Allegiant Air’s Web site, I saw information about Allegiant Air destination towns and photographs. This put me in a traveling mood. Also, Allegiant’s Web site looks like it changes with new highlights. Smart. If Skybus could only get some more investors. An article in the Dispatch today said that those in Columbus shouldn’t hold our breath. I do have my fingers crossed.

Depressed in Ohio about Skybus and Jet Blue deprived

by Jamie Rhein on

I found out about Skybus’s demise from Grant when I checked e-mail last night. Grant had found out the news from a comment sent to us from a reader a few hours earlier. While Grant was busy typing up the Skybus calls it quits post, I was out having a drink with a friend, unaware that my summer plans were mucked up,–and my birthday–AND a visit from another friend.

Yesterday afternoon I decided we should fly to New York on Skybus instead of drive after seeing how cheap flights still were in August. Luckily, I hadn’t booked the tickets yet. I wonder how many people booked flights yesterday totally unaware that they’d be contacting their credit card company less than a day later?

My husband just told me an hour ago that he had bought a ticket for my best friend in Massachusetts to come to Columbus for my birthday the end of August. That’s out. The bill has not been paid yet–we haven’t even received it, so I think we may be in luck and not have to pay. Who would come get us to make us pay?

I also just remembered that a friend of mine in Los Angeles was to come to visit in May. He bought his ticket back in September. How does that work since that credit card bill has long been paid? I’m sure there are many many stories like this one all over Columbus. I heard two of them today in a writers group I go to.

Here’s my beef. Jet Blue pulled out of Columbus this year because of Skybus. Even though Jet Blue is offering cheap seats for folks stranded by Skybus, because that airline doesn’t come to Ohio that doesn’t help us in the Buckeye state. The non-stop flight to L.A. on Delta that I took in September isn’t available anymore either. For Ohio, whose economy is a bit in the tank, Skybus was something to feel special about. We were the city with those $10 airfare. People were coming to Columbus as a result. That’s over. I know for sure my friend in L.A. won’t be coming in May. My other friend may still come for my birthday, but with the price of airfare now, I might want to come up with something else.

I sure hope Jet Blue comes back. Please. Pretty please?

First possible blizzard since 1996 is gumming up Ohio

by Jamie Rhein on

Catherine mentioned in her latest Gadling Take 5 post that it’s breaking up in Alaska where she lives. It’s socking in in Ohio. This is the first blizzard warning we’ve had in central Ohio for years. Streets are a real mess–so is Port Columbus International Airport. I just heard an interview with someone who is waiting at the airport for a friend to arrive. The friend’s airplane did arrive but the plane couldn’t land until the runway was clear. Since it didn’t have enough gas to keep circling the airport, it went onto Detroit to refuel and will be back. Flights out are getting canceled. I hope her friend likes Detroit.

We don’t get much snow here so people can be a bit reactionary when snow flies. Folks have flocked to the grocery store to stock up on food. It’s like people go into Little House on the Prairie mode thinking that they’re stocking up for months of hard times. From what I’ve heard, it’s going to quit snowing by tomorrow afternoon. If we didn’t buy food for a week, at my house, we’d still be able to find something to eat–shriveled potatoes, perhaps. I’m wondering, though, if I should have headed to the grocery store for loaves of bread and milk, the most popular items, according to the news. The hording tendency is catching.

These are the days that remind folks that no matter how much you plan, it just might not work out. You could end up in Detroit. Not that there’s anything wrong with Detroit, but only if that’s where you planned to head in the first place. Or-you could be stuck in Columbus.

A visit with Aminah Robinson, artist and MacArthur Fellowship winner

by Jamie Rhein on

The first time I saw Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson’s work at the Columbus Museum of Art, I was astounded. When you see a Monet, you know it’s Monet. Same with Picasso, Van Gogh, Cassatt, Renoir, Dali, Matisse. Seeing one of these artists’ works is an “I know you experience” that is grounding. At least, it grounds me.

The first time I saw Aminah’s work was also an “I know you” happening. Perhaps it’s because her subjects capture the essence of people and community–a pairing of the African American experience with the African by connecting the present with the past, and then connecting those ideas to the notion of what makes us universal. The ideas about what makes us human with spiritual connections–with soul, is also what I gather from Aminah’s work. It’s one of the threads of my own life. It’s what I kept looking for when I was in the Peace Corps. I think the search for connection is what calls people to world travel.

Aminah’s work pairs fabric arts of rag paintings, and RagGonNon (her own creation) with storytelling. She also creates fantastical sculptures and music boxes using a method she calls Hogmawg which incorporates found objects and roughly carved wood. Each piece chronicles an aspect of history and culture.

This past Sunday, Aminah, a Columbus native, made an in-person visit to the Columbus Museum of Art as part of the closing to the exhibit of her latest endeavor, “Along Water Street.” For the closing, she gathered the audience’s children around her while she read the book, To Be a Drum, one she illustrated. A young drummer beat time to her voice in the right spots and the children leaned in with their ears to the floor when Aminah leaned down, listening for the drum’s heart beat. This was one of those rare magical moments of spontaneous connection pulled together by her energy.

Now Aminah’s work and story are on the Web. Aminah’s World provides an opportunity to visit her studio, find out about her life, create Aminah style work, and find out where her artwork is on exhibit. Here’s the link that tells where. There’s a video of her studio and one of her talking about her influences. Also, you’ll see why she was given the MacArthur Fellowship. The fellowship is for “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.”

For more about Aminah talking about her work, check out this page of the Columbus Dispatch where there is an audio interview.