by Caitlin Bitzegaio. @caitorade.
ELMONT, NY – Stacy Ono, a local Long Island woman, is being heralded as a hero by her community for bravely posting her TodayTix lottery entrances on social media without shame.
“I enter the Sweeney Todd lottery every week,” said Frankie DeBoer, Ono’s Queens College classmate and Facebook friend, as he transferred funds from his 401K to save for Broadway tickets for his upcoming anniversary. “But I could never bring myself to post on socials that I did that. I just don’t have the strength. Stacy is built… different.”
TodayTix, the popular digital ticketing platform, incentivizes users who enter their lotteries to share posts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Most users immediately delete posts due to embarrassment or avoid posting at all, choosing to lower their odds of winning rather than advertise they obsessively participate in Broadway ticket lotteries. Ono is uniquely fearless among her peers.
Ono has posted publicly about her attempt to gain access to affordable Merrily We Roll Along tickets for an astounding ten weeks in a row, despite criticism from those closest to her.
“I told Stacy: you don’t have to post those on main,” explained Ono’s sister, Marian, while she researched intervention services to help her sister. “Just use the Insta account we created for our failed Etsy business! It has like nine followers! That’s what normal people do!”
For her part, Ono doesn’t see herself as courageous.
“I forgot I even posted that,” claims Ono, wearing an old hoodie from a college production of Chess that has cast signatures all over it. “Why would I care that someone saw that? And what would I be worried about them thinking? That I love musical theater? Everyone knows that. My username is @RentHead1994. Lol, it would be so sad to be thinking about your socials like that all the time.”
“Not all heroes wear capes, I guess,” lamented DeBoer, as he texted his husband explaining the tax penalties they’ll incur from the sale of his 401k. “Stacy really is an inspiration. To just bravely own that you want to see the shows you’re a fan of for prices you can afford? Couldn’t be me, but God speed.”
At the time of publication, Ono has not won the Merrily We Roll Along lottery, but diligently continues to post.