Here’s a Q&A about why ushers at many Broadway shows now scan the bar codes on your tickets instead of tearing them. Tidbit:
[T]he scanners record exactly when each patron enters the theatre, allowing Telecharge to amass and analyze data on when people tend to show up. What have they found so far? A lot of the data has confirmed conventional wisdom. For instance, at plays, which tend to attract native New Yorkers, lots of people show up five minutes before curtain. At musicals, which attract more tourists, people tend to show up earlier.
Interesting. This reminds me of a few years ago (pre-scanning) at Bombay Dreams (yeah, yeah) when we found a couple sitting in our seats; turns out their tickets were for the next day. Scanning wouldn’t have prevented them from making their way to the theater on the wrong day, but they at least wouldn’t have had to sit and wait until the real seat-holders arrived to realize the (hopefully honest) mistake.