Ticket sales for Broadway shows in Halifax paused after seating chart fiasco

Update: Ticket sales will resume Monday after concerns about sightlines were resolved. Read more here.

Ticket sales for two Broadway shows planned for Halifax later this year have been paused after a seating chart error Thursday.

Broadway in Halifax announced that The Book of Mormon and Come From Away would be coming to Scotiabank Centre later this year.

Book of Mormon is scheduled for July and Come From Away in November. 

Ticket packages went on sale at noon Thursday, but people attempting to purchase tickets online just hours later were given a message that access was denied.

"Unfortunately, shortly after the public onsale ... discrepancies were discovered between the number and location of seats that should have been available for sale and the number that were offered to the public during the on sale period," Rebecca Brait, a spokesperson with Innovation Arts and Entertainment's Broadway in Halifax, said in an email late Friday.

Tracy MacNeil, who is originally from Newfoundland but now lives in Upper Rawdon, N.S., said her husband bought front-row tickets for her to both shows as soon as they went on sale.

MacNeil said after the site went down, they assumed tickets had sold out. 

But now, after CBC News told her about the error, MacNeil is concerned about how seats will be redistributed.

"It makes me a little worried because, like, I was really looking forward to it, [and] because I do wear hearing aids, I did want seats up closer so I could hear it a little bit better."

Error being fixed

Brait said the error forced the show presenters and the venue to halt ticket sales.

"The last thing we wanted was to have patrons seated in areas that may not offer a clean and clear view of the action on stage," she said.

"Both the presenters and the venue are working diligently to resolve the discrepancies and get tickets back on sale with the confidence that every seat sold meets the high standards that our audience deserves."

Brait said an internal review of the situation could take a few days.