Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
available. These tickets—reserved for VIPs, friends of the cast, the
press, and so forth—offer great locations and are sold at face value.
Also,
Monday
is often a good day to cop big-name show tickets.
Though most theaters are dark on that day, some sought-after
choices aren't. Locals are at home on the first night of the work week,
so all the odds are in your favor. Your chances will always be better
on weeknights, or for Wednesday matinees, rather than weekends.
REDUCED-PRICE TICKET DEALS
You may be able to purchase
reduced-price theater tickets
in
advance over the phone (or in person at the box office) by joining
one or more of the online theater clubs. Membership is free and can
garner you discounts of up to 50% on select Broadway and Off-
Broadway shows. For further details, see “Online Resources for Thea-
tergoers & Performing-Arts Fans,” below.
Broadway shows—even blockbusters—sometimes have a limited
number of cheaper tickets set aside for students and seniors, or
drawn by lottery before each show; call the box office to inquire.
The best deal in town on same-day tickets for Broadway and Off-
Broadway shows is at the
Times Square Theatre Centre,
better
known as the
TKTS
booth run by the non-profit Theatre Develop-
ment Fund. A fancy new TKTS booth was scheduled to (finally!) re-
open in Duffy Square, October 2008. The new booth is set to open
by the end of 2008. It's open 3-8pm for evening performances,
10am-2pm for Wed and Sat matinees, from 11am-8pm on Sun for
all performances.
Tickets for that day's performances are usually offered at half
price, with a few reduced 25%, plus a $2.50-per-ticket service
charge. Boards outside the ticket windows list available shows; you're
unlikely to find the newest hit, but most other shows turn up. Only
cash and traveler's checks are accepted (no credit cards). There's often
a huge line, so show up early for best availability and be prepared to
wait. Visit
www.tdf.org
or call
NYC/Onstage
at
&
212/768-1818
and press “8” for the latest TKTS information.
ONLINE RESOURCES FOR THEATERGOERS &
PERFORMING ARTS FANS
Some of your best, most comprehensive, and up-to-date information
sources for what's going on about town are in cyberspace.
Broadway.com
(
www.broadway.com
),
Playbill Online
(
www.
playbill.com
or www.playbillclub.com), and
TheaterMania
(
www.
theatermania.com
)—offer lots of information on Broadway and
