By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on August 13, 2012 12:14 AM
Shubert Organization makes changes to its Telecharge website with an interactive seat finder in response to Ticketmaster seat finder

The most significant improvement on the new Telecharge.com site is that it now allows users to search and select seats on a map. This is helpful to Broadway ticket buyers because they are able to easily see where available seats are located in the theater and to choose their preferred seats accordingly. Telecharge's 3-D seat map gives you the option of looking at the theater from overhead or from a stage view -- if you already have your tickets, you can even enter your section, row, and seat numbers to see exactly where the seats are located, although Microsoft Silverlight must be installed for this functionality to work. Telecharge has also included functionality to see a view of the stage from your seat before buying. Not all the theatre data and photos have yet been loaded, but this function promises to be quite valuable to ticket buyers.
Overall, Telecharge's seat finder is not as good as the one used on Ticketmaster.com, which handles the ticketing for most of the rest of the shows on Broadway.
Though it will likely improve in time, at the moment Telecharge's map has an unfinished look, is often slow to load, is not nearly as intuitive as Ticketmaster's map, and in some cases lacks the flexibility of being able to see all the available seats on one screen.
The new website still does not allow the use of discount codes, they must be used on Telecharge's other website, BroadwayOffers.com. The new site also requires Microsoft Silverlight to be installed, further limiting the penetration of their latest development, as Microsoft Silverlight has very limited user adoption and many documented problems with Google Chrome and Safari on the Mac. Similarly this functionality will not work on Apple's iPad or iPhone.
On the whole, the new Telecharge website is an improvement because it presents Broadway ticket buyers with more detailed information on schedules, pricing and seating, along with a more complex search function. Nonetheless, it needs work in terms of smoothness of appearance, ease of use, and functionality.