Ticket Office Information

The Ticket Office Explained

The Wharton Center Ticket Office is the in-house ticketing operation for all events held at the Wharton Center (Great Hall and Pasant Theatre) and the MSU Auditorium (Concert Auditorium, Fairchild Theatre, Arena Theater and Studio 60). The Wharton Center Ticket Office is the one-stop shop for all events presented or held under the Wharton Center banner. The Wharton Center Ticket Office accepts Visa, Master Card, Discover and American Express for ticket and gift card purchases.

Auditorium and Fairchild Events

There are box offices located in the lobby of the Auditorium and of the Fairchild theatre. Depending where the event is, the appropriate box office will be open 1 hour prior to the event and will remain open ½ hour past the start time of the event. All questions and sales will be handled at the Wharton Center Ticket Office until 1 hour prior to the Auditorium or Fairchild event.

By Phone

Call the Ticket Office (517) 432-2000 or toll free at 1-800-WHARTON (942-7866). 

View current Ticket Office hours listed above. 

In Person

Located inside the main lobby of Wharton Center on the campus of Michigan State University at 750 E Shaw Ln, East Lansing, MI 48824.

Please view Ticket Office Hours above for In Person service.

Online or by Email

• Online Form
• wharton@msu.edu

The Wharton Center Ticket Office offers 4 different ways to purchase tickets (Phone, Window, Web and Group Sales); which one is best for you? No matter which method you choose, we will always offer you the best seats available in the price zone you desire. However, to ensure the very best seating, we recommend that you purchase tickets when they first go on sale.

Pick Your Seat

Using the same “real time” seating map that we do here in the Ticket Office, patrons can choose their own seats at whartoncenter.com’s online Ticket Office. This is the only true way to actually pick your own seat in your favorite row or section. Use this real-time industry-leading tool to find the perfect seat for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Mobile Delivery, Mail or Will Call, it’s your choice. There is a per ticket fee for this option.

Speak with an Experienced Representative

If you don’t like the internet, or you just want to speak to someone who knows the theatre, you can call us toll-free at 1-800-WHARTON and let one of our operators help you with your purchase. All of our operators have attended performances in each of the 4 theatres that we service. We know our theatres!

View current Ticket Office hours listed above.

Mobile Delivery, Mail or Will Call, it’s your choice. There is a per order charge for this option.

Pay Us a Visit

If you want some face-to-face service, you can visit us at the Ticket Office (located in the main lobby of the Wharton Center (On the campus of Michigan State University) at 750 E. Shaw LN, E. Lansing, MI 48824.

View current Ticket Office hours listed above.

There is no charge for this option.

Bring Your Friends (Group Sales)

The Wharton Center Ticket Office has a full-time Group Sales representative to help you facilitate your group of 10 or more. Groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount for most performances and an easy payment plan, giving you time to organize your party. Call us at 1-800-WHARTON and ask for Group Sales Department.

Become a Season Subscriber

The best way for a patron to experience the events in this amazing season is by becoming a Wharton Center season subscriber. Subscribers receive benefits that include significant discounts and access to the best seats and priority seating before the shows go on sale to the general public. In addition, they receive special offers throughout the season, and can take advantage of incentives that include a Subscriber Discount Card offering great discounts at local retailers and restaurants.

More information on becoming a Season Subscriber

Gift cards may be ordered over the phone at 517-432-2000, or in person at the Ticket Office. eCerts can only be purchased online. 

More Info

Purchase Limits

When purchasing tickets from the Wharton Center, you may be limited to a specific number of tickets for an event by promoter request. If there is a ticket limit for an event that information will be included on the event page and is verified with every transaction. This policy is in effect to discourage unfair ticket buying practices and reselling. Ticket limits can vary depending on the event.

Mobile Tickets

With mobile delivery, you will receive an email per event with a link to your tickets. Open the emails, download the tickets and add them to your digital wallet.

When logging in to My Account from your smartphone, you will also be able to view and download your tickets.

There is no cost for mobile delivery.

View more info on mobile tickets

There are two methods of receiving printed tickets:

Have your tickets mailed

If you select MAIL as the delivery method on-line your tickets will be mailed within two business days via U.S Mail. Tickets usually arrive within 7-10 business days of your order. If you are ordering tickets within 7 days of the selected event, your tickets will be held at the Ticket Office for pick-up the next business day up to the night of the show. For pick-up the night of the show, go to the “Will Call” window. At Wharton Center the “Will Call” window is the far right ticket office window, look for the “Will Call” sign. At the Auditorium the Will Call pick up is located at the windows on the right side (south side) of the Auditorium lobby. At the Fairchild Theatre, the right (south) ticket window is for Will Call pick up. All Will Call windows will be clearly marked. There is nominal cost for having your tickets mailed to you.

Pick up your tickets at “Will Call”

Will Call is offered when standard U.S Mail is no longer available, this is typically 10 business days prior to the selected event or if we are holding student discounted tickets for student ID verification. To pick up your tickets night of the show, visit the Ticket Office in the venue where the event is taking place. This could be the Wharton Center Ticket Office, Auditorium Box Office (1 hour prior) or the Fairchild Theatre Box Office (1 hour prior). For pick-up night of show, look for the “Will Call” sign. All tickets regardless of event venue will be available at the Wharton Center Ticket Office until 1-2 hour(s) prior to the event. There is a nominal cost for Will Call tickets.

Ticket Face Value

The face value is the actual advertised cost of the ticket. Ticket prices are determined by the presenter, promoter or artist directly. The Wharton Center Ticket Office does not determine ticket prices. The revenue generated by the face-value either goes directly to the promoter or artist directly or goes directly to the presenter to cover the expenses of the event.

Facility Fee

There is a $4.50 per ticket facility fee assessed to every ticket purchased to an event held at any of the four Wharton Center venues, regardless of where or how the ticket is purchased. Unlike the face value, revenues generated by the facility fees go right back into the building where the event was held. The facility fee directly funds building maintenance, general upkeep, and improvements. The facility fee is in addition to any Internet, Phone, or Group order method fee.

Internet Service Fees 

At the Wharton Center Ticket Office, we want your ability to purchase tickets to be simple, easy and convenient. The Internet Service Fee covers costs that allow the Wharton Center Ticket Office to provide the latest Internet ticketing technology, that allows you to select your own seat, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the comfort of your home or office. The Internet Service Fees is per ticket and based on the face value of the ticket as follows.

Phone Processing Fee

Because we still believe in live customer service representatives, the Wharton Center Ticket Office has a MSU student-staffed call center. A $10.00 phone processing fee is assessed on a per-order basis regardless of the number of tickets or number of performances purchased. The $10.00 per order fee goes right back to the call center for operating costs.

Group Sales Order Fee

There is a $10.00 per-order-fee for all group sales orders of 10 or more.

As soon as Wharton Center is notified of a cancellation by an artist or artist representative, we immediately notify all original ticket buyers by email. For events that are cancelled and NOT rescheduled, the refund is typically processed to the original method of payment. Tickets purchased with cash or check will be issued a Michigan State University check. Refunds will be issued to the person who purchased the ticket; this may not be the actual ticket holder. 

If an event is rescheduled, the ticket buyer will have the option to attend the rescheduled date or receive a refund. If requesting a refund, the tickets must be returned to the Ticket Office in order to finalize the transaction. 

When an event cancels, it is best to keep your ticket until you actually receive the refund. Your ticket is your receipt, treat it as such. Refunds can only be processed at the original point of purchase. Wharton Center cannot refund or exchange tickets purchased through a second or third party ticket operation. 
 

If your tickets are lost or stolen, please contact the Wharton Center Ticket office by phone (1-800-WHARTON) immediately. Depending on the event, in most cases, we can reprint the tickets or issue a “seat voucher” for the seats that you originally purchased. For security purposes, we cannot mail or reissue a second time, reprinted tickets or “seat vouchers”. Reprinted tickets or Seat Vouchers over-ride the original tickets if both were to show up the night of the event.

All sales are final and non-refundable. However, if you have tickets to an event that has multiple performances AND the performance that you have tickets for has not passed, you can exchange your tickets for another performance of the same show on a different date or time (e.g., you can exchange your Saturday Mamma Mia! tickets for Mamma Mia! on Tuesday, but not for Wicked). Exchanges must take place in person at the Ticket Office windows; the original ticket(s) must be turned in at the time of exchange. We cannot hold tickets for an exchange. There is no charge for exchanges.

Not all events allow ticket exchanges, always check the event page for show specific exchange policies.  

The Wharton Center Ticket Office collects contact information from all patrons to ensure the highest quality customer service and communication. We use this information for 3 basic purposes:

• Mailing tickets, season brochures and new show announcements.
• Our credit card processor requires that the street numbers and zip code of the credit card being used matches the billing address of that card for security purposes.
• If important information regarding a show that you purchased presents itself (e.g., cancellations, rescheduling, etc.), we want to communicate that to you as soon as we can.

Wharton Center Ticket Office does not share its customer information.