Booking Broadway shows

[lolalou]

Last minute trip to NYC next week
I’d like to book a couple Broadway shows.
Having never travelled there in July before, and almost having a seizure at the online theatre ticket prices, I have a few questions please.
Would you wait and try for the Tickets booth when there or are theatres mad busy in July?
Am I likely to find tickets this close to travelling?
Are there any canny ways of booking in advance?
Rush, cheaper ways to get good seats?
Hadestown, Little Shop, Beetlejuice on the list of possibles.
Also curious about Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More
Are there any other theatre related things to do? Exhibitions/museums etc
Any advice would be amazing thank you

[samuelwhiskers]

TodayTix (app) is decent for New York, I always use it when I go there.


Unfortunately the new Museum of Broadway doesn’t open until November, but the Museum of the City of New York has a decent theatre collection.
www.mcny.org/collections/theater-collection

[Mark]

Jul 12, 2022 22:51:30 GMT lolalou said:

Hadestown, Little Shop, Beetlejuice on the list of possibles.

Beetlejuice is always on TKTS at 50% off, making it around the $80-$90 mark depending on the day.
Hadestown is occasionally on there, moreso mid-week.
Little Shop sometimes on TKTS, and also does offers on TodayTix in advance. 

[franke6610]

I live in New York City and travel to London often for theatre. Don't deal with advance tickets because you can do better once here. Go on line and see what's available on tkts.com this will show you the half price booth and what is available that day ( same as in London ). I just did Book of Mormon lottery and easily won $45 and A day seat at Funny Girl at the box office $42. All stall seats. Want to see The Music Man then queue up at 7 a.m. on a two show day and get a $49. seat. Tickets aren't that hard to come by. Talk to box office workers see if they can give you a deal. It's possible at times. Try luckyseat.com for lotteries.

[Deleted]

You can use the code DIRECT921 at telechargeoffers.com for Little Shop and it brings the cost of orchestra tickets down to around $65 before fees. The theater is small so almost every seat location is good.

This thread at Broadway World is where people post discount codes for shows, so you might scroll through it: www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=1125911&page=16. You can also try the search engine at Broadway World chat, but it is not the best.

playbill.com, theatermania.com, and broadwaybox.com all provide discount codes for different shows.

And this site aggregates different digital lotteries for Broadway shows:
lottery.broadwaydirect.com/

Hadestown often has regularly priced tickets in decent seat locations for under $100 which isn't cheap, but if you want to confirm your seat in advance, it might be worth it.

[franke6610]

Also there are these so called ticket sellers next to the TKTS booth on 47th & Broadway that at quarter to show time are stuck with tickets to a few shows. They got to sell them at discounts or lose the entire value of the ticket. They get whatever they can. Also checking allthatchat.com can give you insights to things

[greenswan]

I think it's a time/money trade - if you're willing to pay more, you can skip the queuing. Went a few weeks ago and got all of these:

- Music Man - queued from 7am on a two show day
- A Strange Loop - was the only one in the queue from 8am to 9am, then about 20 people at 10am
- Funny Girl - didn't win the lottery, didn't want to chance it, so queued at TKTS for reduced tickets
- Off Broadway - walked in half an hour before the show and got a rush seat

[franke6610]

BroadwayBoosters.com has shows including Little Shop of Horrors $29. + $4. Service charge.

[lolalou]

Thank you to everyone who took three time to reply/ much appreciated.
One question are Covid passports still a thing at theatres there?
Had both vac but just slightly panicking now if I should’ve done someone in advance but haven’t due to short notice

[Mark]

Jul 17, 2022 21:07:36 GMT lolalou said:

Thank you to everyone who took three time to reply/ much appreciated.
One question are Covid passports still a thing at theatres there?
Had both vac but just slightly panicking now if I should’ve done someone in advance but haven’t due to short notice

No covid checks anymore.

[harrietcraig]

Jul 17, 2022 21:11:25 GMT Mark said:

Jul 17, 2022 21:07:36 GMT lolalou said:

Thank you to everyone who took three time to reply/ much appreciated.
One question are Covid passports still a thing at theatres there?
Had both vac but just slightly panicking now if I should’ve done someone in advance but haven’t due to short notice

No covid checks anymore.

“No covid checks” is true for Broadway shows, but some off-Broadway theaters may have their own rules, so if you’re seeing an off-Broadway show it’s best to check the theater’s policy before you go. For example, you mentioned Little Shop, so I checked their website, and proof of vaccination is still required for people sitting in the first row (not for anyone else). Also, I had to show proof of vaccination when I saw Hamlet at the Park Avenue Armory recently.

[Deleted]

Telecharge provides vaccination and masking updated info for many of their shows, but confirming at individual show sites often is best if you're concerned:
www.telecharge.com/siteinfo.aspx?siteinfotype=helpfaq&stop_mobi=YES

[stuartmcd]

I was in New York a few weeks ago for my first time and we thought we’d check out the queue for TKTS one morning and it was horrific. I’m sure if you got there early enough you could get in line early and beat the queue but you’ll still be waiting around waiting for it to open. And by the time the time you get to the front of the queue they might not even have tickets left for the show you wanted. Other people may have different experiences but the day I went the queue was ridiculous.

I think if there’s a show you definitely want to see then book it before you go. Either through the website or TodayTix. You can often find discount codes for shows that use telecharge.

Also try the online lotteries. Both me and friend entered the lottery for Come From Away and we both won.

I also entered the lucky seat lotteries for the 4 shows they had available and won both Funny Girl and Moulin Rouge. And even though we lost the Into the Woods lottery they sent us a discount code the next day to get cheaper tickets.

[lolalou]

Jul 18, 2022 17:10:59 GMT stuartmcd said:

I was in New York a few weeks ago for my first time and we thought we’d check out the queue for TKTS one morning and it was horrific. I’m sure if you got there early enough you could get in line early and beat the queue but you’ll still be waiting around waiting for it to open. And by the time the time you get to the front of the queue they might not even have tickets left for the show you wanted. Other people may have different experiences but the day I went the queue was ridiculous.

I think if there’s a show you definitely want to see then book it before you go. Either through the website or TodayTix. You can often find discount codes for shows that use telecharge.

Also try the online lotteries. Both me and friend entered the lottery for Come From Away and we both won.

I also entered the lucky seat lotteries for the 4 shows they had available and won both Funny Girl and Moulin Rouge. And even though we lost the Into the Woods lottery they sent us a discount code the next day to get cheaper tickets.

Hi there
I’ve entered a couple of the lucky seats. Hadestown, ITW and BOM
What type of seats are they? Three website says might be partial view

[stuartmcd]

Jul 19, 2022 0:01:59 GMT lolalou said:

Jul 18, 2022 17:10:59 GMT stuartmcd said:

I was in New York a few weeks ago for my first time and we thought we’d check out the queue for TKTS one morning and it was horrific. I’m sure if you got there early enough you could get in line early and beat the queue but you’ll still be waiting around waiting for it to open. And by the time the time you get to the front of the queue they might not even have tickets left for the show you wanted. Other people may have different experiences but the day I went the queue was ridiculous.

I think if there’s a show you definitely want to see then book it before you go. Either through the website or TodayTix. You can often find discount codes for shows that use telecharge.

Also try the online lotteries. Both me and friend entered the lottery for Come From Away and we both won.

I also entered the lucky seat lotteries for the 4 shows they had available and won both Funny Girl and Moulin Rouge. And even though we lost the Into the Woods lottery they sent us a discount code the next day to get cheaper tickets.

Hi there
I’ve entered a couple of the lucky seats. Hadestown, ITW and BOM
What type of seats are they? Three website says might be partial view

Unfortunately you don’t find out until you actually pay so it really could be anything. The ones we won for Come From Away were row B but right off to the right hand side so they would be classed as partial view as there were a few small moments where you couldn’t see something. But for $50 it was a great seat.

[Mark]

My Hadestown lottery ticket was in the box and was definitely partial view!

[ncbears]

Jul 18, 2022 17:10:59 GMT stuartmcd said:

I was in New York a few weeks ago for my first time and we thought we’d check out the queue for TKTS one morning and it was horrific. I’m sure if you got there early enough you could get in line early and beat the queue but you’ll still be waiting around waiting for it to open. And by the time the time you get to the front of the queue they might not even have tickets left for the show you wanted. Other people may have different experiences but the day I went the queue was ridiculous.

I think if there’s a show you definitely want to see then book it before you go. Either through the website or TodayTix. You can often find discount codes for shows that use telecharge.

Also try the online lotteries. Both me and friend entered the lottery for Come From Away and we both won.

I also entered the lucky seat lotteries for the 4 shows they had available and won both Funny Girl and Moulin Rouge. And even though we lost the Into the Woods lottery they sent us a discount code the next day to get cheaper tickets.

It's been a while for us - but it used to be that the Times Square TKTS line gets blocks of tickets throughout the day. So, what was available (and price) changed through the day. It was not always best to be at the front of the line when it opened. If you can wait to the last half hour before curtain, there were more deals. Also, TKTS used to have a second line for plays - that was much much much shorter. And since plays are rarely sold out or even 90% of capacity, there were often deals to be had. But I just checked the TKTS website - and that line is not presently available. The website says that if you are a "repeat" customer - with your prior TKTS ticket - you can get in a "Fast Pass" line  - but I know nothing of how that operates other than what is on the site.
If you can qualify to be a TDF member - you can get similar deals without dealing with the TKTS line. 

[appoul]

You may also find this website useful:
broadwayforbrokepeople.com/

[Someone in a tree]

Hiya,

Doea anyone know if a Theatre Monkey type website exists for broadway ? I'm wanting seating advice for Sweeney at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. If anyone knows anything I'd greatly appreciate it

Please and ta

[viserys]

I think your best bet are probably View From My Seat and Seatplan which both have photos and comments from people who sat in seats.

aviewfrommyseat.de/venue/Lunt-Fontanne+Theatre/
seatplan.com/new-york/lunt-fontanne-theatre/

If you can wait a month, I'll be seeing Sweeney Todd there at the end of the month and could answer questions then. I bagged a single seemingly reasonably priced seat in the orchestra Row B, but I'm now worrying about neck cramp.

[Someone in a tree]

Thanks that's great and very kind - i can happily wait as I'm not booking anything till Here we are (and maybe the Frogs) is purchased.

[Nelly]

Hello! I am off to NYC next month and have earmarked a couple of shows I'd definitely like to see (Hell's Kitchen and Great Gatsby). I was aware that Broadway tickets are, in general, a bucket load more pricier than the West End, but holy moly they are on another level. It's been about 14 years since I was last there.

So...my question is, does anyone have any tips on how to secure tickets in advance at discounted rates? Do they do dynamic pricing? The dates/performances I'm looking at have the majority of seats available so it begs the question, are these shows playing to empty-ish houses or is there a trick here? 

I am aware that there's the usual TodayTix, Rush/Lottery options, but it would be nice to go with at least one show pre-booked so I can plan dinners etc or is this the way to go and there's usually lots of tickets available via those routes instead?

Apologies for the self indulgent nature of this thread, but hopefully it will produce helpful answers for myself and others! 

Thanks!  

[Nelly]

Oct 7, 2024 23:05:20 GMT kit66 said:

This might help

theatreboard.co.uk/thread/9686/booking-broadway-shows
And....
www.broadway.org/info/buying-broadway-tickets

Thank you! I did search for a similar thread to mine on here but nothing came up, will have a read through that thread for sure.

[BurlyBeaR]

Merged

[tcb]

Personally I would only book ahead if there is something you are desperate to see. We tend to book one show for our first evening then get everything else once we’re there.

We see most shows by doing day seats, basically queuing up at the box office early in the morning. I know this isn’t for everyone but our trips are based around seeing shows so it works for us.

It’s also worth checking TKTS prices, but I think you get better deals at the box office. TKTS charge a booking fee.

I don’t think today tix have as many rush shows, most of the ones we’ve wanted to see haven’t been on there. But we have done the today tix offer where you pay say $99 and get given a seat 24 hrs before the show. We did this most recently for Parade and were given two front row mid circle tickets.

You can also get very good deals if the main star is off. We got brilliant $45 stalls seats for Funny Girl when 3 of the 4 named stars were off.

If you don’t mind what you see Broadway roulette is good, but we always try to see things we’ve not seen/not on in the U.K.