The musical stars Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez. It’s one of the hottest and most expensive shows playing right now.
When waitress Clair Howell picked up the checkbook from her table that just paid, she had to do a double take.
“I'm just like in total shock, like, like what?,” she tells Inside Edition Digital with excitement. “I'm looking around and they're gone, totally gone.”
The customers had left her a $500 tip on their $231 bill with a note that read, “Go see Merrily. Sit in the orchestra!”
The note was in reference to “Merrily We Roll Along,” a musical revival playing at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway starring Jonathan Groff ("Frozen," "Hamilton"), Daniel Radcliffe ("Harry Potter") and Lindsay Mendez (CBS' "All Rise"). It’s one of the hottest and most expensive shows playing right now. For the week ending on Dec. 31, 2023, the average ticket price paid was $258.20, according to the Broadway League.
Howell, who works at a restaurant in Times Square, right in the heart of Broadway theaters, always asks her tables if they’re seeing a show. That way she can help get their food out on time so they can make it for curtain.
“I'm an actor and I know everything on Broadway. So I love talking to people about it,” Howell explains of why she asks. “They said they were seeing ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ and my reaction to that is always like, ‘oh my gosh, I wanna see it so bad!’”
She had no idea that they would leave such a generous tip. That night, she went online and bought herself a ticket for $379 to sit in the second row of the orchestra – a price she says she would never pay on her own accord.
“I have to do what, what was written. This was gifted for that reason,” she says of spending so much. She still got to pocket a hundred dollars in tip money.
A post about her experience on Instagram has garnered thousands of likes and attention from some of Broadway’s star players.
Clair says she hasn’t heard from the family that gave her the tip and she doesn't she think they know her name.
“Theater brings people together and art is just magical,” she notes on the kindness of strangers.
