The ticket booth at the Theatre and Communication building was packed with throngs of people as tickets for The University of Memphis' production of "The Phantom of the Opera" went on sale Monday.
Tickets for all eight showings were sold out when the box office closed at 4 p.m., but those who didn't manage to grab one aren't out of luck.
The lobby of the theater building was filled with people, stretching down a side hallway from the time the tickets went on sale until the office closed at 4 p.m.
Those without a ticket who still want to see the play were told to show up on the night of a performance an hour beforehandto be put on a waiting list.
U of M students Cole Sanders and Matthew Schwartz waited in line for two hours to buy their tickets. They are required to see a production for class and said they thought the show would be the best one attend.
"It also happens to be one of my favorite musicals," said Sanders, a freshman accounting major.
Cindy Uphoff waited in line to buy tickets for her niece, who lives in Oklahoma.
"My niece told me to come down here and get in line for tickets after she realized that tickets weren't being sold over the phone," Uphoff said.
After waiting for nearly two hours and being roughly 30 spots away from her turn in line, she left without tickets for the sold-out Friday night showing.
Brian Fruits, graduate assistant in the theater department, said the department didn't anticipate selling out on the first day.
"We anticipated that by the third day we would sell out, but we didn't expect it to be so packed," Fruits said. "It was great that students, faculty and people from the community were coming in, wanting to see one of our productions."
