LETTERS

Re “A Sour Note for Bowl Sell-Out,” by Diane Haithman and Mike Boehm, Aug 4: It is so sad that so many Angelenos want to celebrate our great fortune in having Gustavo Dudamel come to our city to lead the Philharmonic to even greater heights and will be unable to participate in this first concert at the Hollywood Bowl. What a wonderful idea it was, and how badly the tickets were mismanaged.

However, all could be forgiven and forgotten if the concert were televised live so we could all partake of and enjoy this historic event.

Grace Millington

Los Angeles

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I don’t recall seeing any clear information for the public that only 1,000 tickets would be given out at the box office on Saturday, aside from vague references that 250 wristbands would be handed out.

Had everything been clearer, I’m sure that many of the hundreds of people who showed up would have stayed home, saved five to six hours of their time, saved gas, saved their blood pressure and stress levels, and tried to get tickets by phone or on the Internet (although the site basically crashed).

Maybe the city will decide to put some money into broadcasting this landmark event. It would probably cost only a fraction of what the Michael Jackson funeral cost.

And, yes, a lottery would have been a much fairer way to go.

Monica Faulkner

Los Angeles

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My friend and I arrived early enough Saturday morning to be among the first 250 who were fortunate to get the desired yellow arm bands. We waited two hours just to get our arm bands and another two hours to have our numbers called for tickets.

Fewer than 1,000 tickets were given out at the Bowl. If it had been 1,000, we would have gotten tickets. They ran out of tickets at No. 246.

In the first 250, there were several families where children younger than 10 got four free tickets; one family with four small children got 24 tickets. This was loudly protested by many standing in line but ignored by those “in charge.”

We followed all of the rules, were part of the “lucky” 250 and walked away with nothing. None of the people we know who went online or to Ticketmaster outlets got tickets either.

Lynn Henley

Los Angeles