Crowds Flood ‘Miss Saigon’ Box Office

Theater-goers lined up from dawn until well past dusk to buy tickets to “Miss Saigon,” the most expensive show in Broadway history with advance sales already at a record $34 million.

About 120 people were waiting when the Broadway Theater’s three box office windows opened at 8 a.m. Monday, two hours earlier than usual, and they were still trickling in shortly before midnight, when the windows closed. Regular box office hours, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., were to begin today.

First in line were Darren Stein of Beverly Hills and Peter Hack of Montclair, N.J., two students at New York University. They had arrived at 5 a.m. to buy tickets to the hit British musical.

“It’s an incredible show,” said Stein, a film major at NYU. “I saw it in London.”

By 5 p.m. Monday, the Broadway Theater box office had taken in $461,230, said Fred Nathan, a spokesman for the musical. In comparison, Nathan noted that “Les Miserables” took in $447,275 the first day its tickets went on sale at the same venue.

“The Phantom of the Opera” sold a record $920,271 in tickets its opening day here, but individual “Miss Saigon” tickets have been on sale through phone and mail orders since May 20, 1990, 24 weeks longer than “Phantom” tickets had been available, Nathan said.

Top price to see “Miss Saigon” is $100 for each of 250 prime seats in the front mezzanine. It begins preview performances March 25 and officially opens April 11.