Fans brave weather for Madonna tickets
David Badour appeared worn out and anxious as photographers huddled around the State Theatre box office to snap shots of the Mount Pleasant resident as he stepped up to the window.
Badour arrived at the State around 3 a.m. Thursday to be the first in line for tickets to see Madonna present her documentary, “I Am Because We Are,” at this summer’s Traverse City Film Festival.
By the time tickets went on sale at 11 a.m. Saturday, Badour was at the head of a line of more than 300 people that snaked down Front and Park streets to the Grandview Parkway.
“I’ve been a fan since kindergarten. I have been to many of her concerts, but this is the first time I’ve had to wait,” said Badour, who made the trip north with his brother Cody Badour and friend Jamie Slavik.
“It was definitely worth it. You get to know a lot of people” in line.
The film, written, produced and narrated by Madonna, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this spring, and roughly half of the State’s 540 tickets sold out in about 30 minutes Saturday. The queen of pop will be at the theater Aug. 2 to introduce the film that details her personal observations on the poverty and AIDS-stricken African country of Malawi. An additional 300 tickets were also on sale for another yet-to-be-named location where Film Festival officials will simulcast the event.
Traverse City resident Deb Korreck, who arrived in line around 5:30 p.m. Friday, said an overnight downpour forced Madonna fans to work together to construct makeshift tarp tents for shelter. Despite the foul weather and early morning heat, Korreck was impressed at how well the diverse group got along during the night.
“Everybody around was like our neighbors. There are teenagers and everyone up into their 50s like me, and we were all hanging out,” Korreck said, adding that she looks forward to the Material Girl’s perspective on the AIDS epidemic.
“I grew up listening to her music and dancing to her music. I’d just like to listen to what she has to say.”
Madonna’s outlook on Malawi was the main motivation for Kerri Finlayson, who recently witnessed the birthplace of Madonna’s adopted son on a bicycle trip through Africa. Finlayson, though, was the next person in line Saturday when tickets for a seat at the State sold out.
“What I noticed was that there were young teenagers that were the moms … and the 30 to 40-year-olds were missing. AIDS just wiped out a generation,” she said of her trip.
Other fans, like Garret Reinhart and Jeff Rohlmann, simply couldn’t miss an opportunity to see the pop star.
“I am just a huge, die-hard Madonna fan, and knowing Madonna will be three hours away I can’t miss that,” said Rohlmann, who came down from Sault Ste. Marie with Reinhart Friday morning.
“She is from the state of Michigan, so we support a home-state girl,” Reinhart said.
Source: The Record Eagle
Thanks to Vincy