An American In Paris (scalped edition)

We waited too long. The ads were everywhere on the kiosks and at métro stations.

Malheursement, when An American in Paris finally opened at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris, every performance was sold out.

Not ones to give up, Jessica and Erica decided to take their chances and show up for the Sunday matinée with the hope they would find someone selling extra tickets.  Eric, so certain of a bad outcome, would have no part of it.

Jessica and Erica showed up at 3:00 p.m., an hour before the performance, and Jessica held up a sign.

. . . no action for 50 minutes.  At last, a tall, somewhat sketchy looking man approached Jessica and offered to sell two tickets for 120€.  "I paid 140€," he claimed.

Jessica knew to be cautious and told the man to wait while she confirmed the authenticity of the tickets. Inside the theatre, two ushers told her the tickets were valid. They looked like good orchestra seats.  Happily, Jessica forked over the money.  Jessica and Erica entered the majestic theatre, ecstatic to have found good seats for a completely sold out performance!

Soon they discovered the problem - the view from their seats.

In reality, these were 8€ seats -- the dregs.  To see the show, they had to peer around a large post.

Did the experience of being scalped deter from their enjoyment of the performance of An American in Paris?  They considered themselves lucky to have gained entrance to a show they would otherwise have missed.  The voleur was happy because he had tricked some Americans into overpaying for tickets. Eric was happy that Jessica and Erica had lost just their sleeves, not their shirts.

Oh, the dancing!  Ah, the lush Gershwin score! Oy, the utterly improbable plot.  They loved every minute.

Robert Fairchild & Leanne Cope

For a taste of the original musical, check this out and enjoy.