C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 11:13:05 -0400

Teatro Caupolican, in Santiago, San Diego 850, just to the south of the city
centre, is a mid-sized (4,500 seats) theatre.  It's big enough for a famous
group, but small enough that everyone sees the stage - it was perfect to see
Herbie Hancock.

But while the concert itself was excellent, we had a very confusing time on
arrival.  I am writing these notes in case it helps others (but note that this
was based on a single visit, so things may change).


First, tickets.  If you look at http://www.teatrocaupolican.cl/html/mapa.html
you'll see that there are basically two levels - floor level and a balcony
(some photos show the central area without seats - when we went there were
seats there).  In spanish, the floor level is called "Platea" and the balcony
"Galeria".  BUT they are not consistently named on tickets.  Our tickets were
for "Platea Izquierda" but it was on the upper level (lower part).  So don't
go by the name when you buy tickets - have someone explain exactly where they
are.  Note that all seats are good seats - you can see and hear from anywhere
- so you're basically paying for who you sit with, how comfortable the seats
are, whether the tickets are numbered, how much crush when you enter, how easy
escape is in case of fire(!) etc.


Second, transport.  Shows typically finish too late for the Metro and start
close to rush hour.  If you go by car leave a lot of time for the evening
traffic (it took us over an hour in car from Providencia and only 15m to
return home).  They have parking, but it was full by the time we arrived.
Thankfully they also have people on the street arranging parking there (who
charged us $2.000 - I don't know if that was legal or not, but it seemed fair,
as it was friendly, helpful, and just metres away from the entrance).


Third, entry.  There are two entrances, both on San Diego (the bike shop
street).  The South (Sur) entrance is about 20m to the south of the main
(North/Norte) entrance.  As far as we could tell, the main, North entrance was
used for the upper level, and the South entrance for the floor.  But note what
I said above about confusing ticket names - our tickets, for "Platea
Izquierda" were for the North.

There were long queues to enter.  For the North entrance there appeared to be
two queues, one for people with (so-called, see comments above!) "Platea"
tickets and another (longer) one for people with "Galeria" tickets.  But when
the gates finally opened (two very small entrances in a metal "fence" that
made entry extremely slow) everything merged into one mess of compressed
bodies.

Despite the crowd and slow entry, most everyone appeared to enter before the
start.  And while some people will sit "anywhere" they will move if you have
the ticket for that seat number (this is normal Chilean behaviour - I am
writing this in English so explaining to visitors, largely).


Enjoy the show :o)

Andrew