June 11, 2020 – UPDATE

Broadway is dark and from what I’ve heard via my vocal students is that it may be a long time before they are up and running again…like not until 2022.

I hope to have more info as I hear it, but for now check here:
1) Broadway.com
2) Playbill
3) The Broadway League

New York Times article asking people who live outside the city how ready they are to see a Broadway show. – June 7, 2020

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February 23rd, 2020 – UPDATE!

Yep!

If you’ve been to New York before to see a Broadway show, you know about TKTS‘s discount booth in Times Square, but did you know there were other ways to get discounts on Broadway shows?

Being an Actors’ Equity member, grants you access to even more discounts with TKTS with their program TDF. TDF gets off-off Broadway tickets for as low as $11 and Broadway shows for $49. There is a yearly fee of $40, however right now (Winter 2020) join for just $35! That’s a small price to pay for a big discount. They usually don’t have tickets for new shows, but there is a lot of variety and the Broadway shows they DO have are great!

NOW, did you know that teachers, full-time students, members of the armed forces, retirees and clergy can ALSO join TDF? Yep! Just check out their site! The “catch” is that you have to mail or fax in your information to be approved. So, a few months before your big NYC trip, just send in the info and you’ll get a letter from them with your membership.

Some great sites to look at are Theatre Mania, Ticket Liquidator, Broadway Box, and Broadway.com. For students, HipTix for the Round About Theatre Company (which recently upped their age to 40-years-young) and Student Rush. I don’t personally have experience with these sites, but I’ve heard excellent things! NYtix has some great coupon codes and links to what the term “rush ticket” actually means! NYTix is pretty cool! They give FREE tickets away all the time and you sign up to get emails! You won’t have control over what tickets are to be given out, but hey, free is FREE…right? 🙂

My favorite app is still TodayTix! I saw this app online back in 2013 – a while ago, but didn’t use it until a friend told me about the amazing deals! Ever since then, it’s been my go-to ticket finder!

How does it work? You only get a two-week availability window. So, two weeks before you want to see a show, you log in, pick the show, date and time, purchase and get an email confirmation. Then, on the day of, TodayTix tells you a designated spot for pick up in front of the theatre (45 minutes before the show) and a nice representative in a red shirt will have your tickets in an envelope. It’s THAT simple!
**Oh and if you buy NOW, you can get a $10 discount on your first purchase with this code: TRAXR (you’re welcome!) 😉

Now, when you are in town, you can always go straight to the theatre and ask about their offers. In my experience, Playbill has to most update information!

Ok! For those of you who want the most bang for your buck to get REALLY inexpensive tickets are rush tickets, (SRO) standing-room-only, and Lottery Rush tickets. How to Lottery tickets work? Well, you get up early in the morning – the day of a show, go to the theatre of the show you want to see and enter to win! The tickets are usually between $10-$40! You aren’t guaranteed a win, of course, but you could see some cool street acts from Broadway performers! Most Broadway shows have changed to online lottos and shows like Hamilton now have an app because so many people were showing up that it was causing a public disturbance! G_d bless theatre fans! NYCTix.com has the most up-to-date lottery list I could find but each theatre has its own rules so check out Playbill or Broadway Direct for the best updates. BroadwayBox.com also does a lotto for some shows!

Lotto Quick Links
Hamilton
Tina
Beetlejuice
The Lion King
Wicked
Moulin Rouge

Do check out Playbill, it has a FREE membership of its own where you can get discount tickets.

One last bit of info, the less demanding times for seeing shows are January, February, September, and October (yay for me!) So if you can plan your trip around these months, you’ll have the BEST prices EVER!!! During these times NYC.go has a 2 for 1 Broadway Week to encourage ticket sales! Uh…yeah, it’s AWESOME! In the slow season, Off-Broadway offers 20 at 20. These shows offer 20 shows for $20 20 minutes before the show. SO…20 for $20 at 20…(Eeeek!!) 🙂

FOR KIDS! The Broadway League does a really cool Kid’s Night. Here’s how this works (directly from their site): “Adults purchasing a full-priced ticket will receive one free ticket for a child age 18 and under to the same show.” Now, they are only on certain nights and usually an off night like a Tuesday or a Thursday, but what a wonderful way to introduce your child to Broadway!

Well, I hope you’ve found all this info useful and that it GREATLY improves your NYC Broadway experience! If you have any insiders tips for getting great NYC theatre seats at a discount price, I’d LOVE to know! So, please share in the comments!

Karmyn Tyler is a member of Actors’ Equity as well as many other talent memberships. Please visit her website, www.karmyntyler.com for more information. First posted Jun 8, 2013 1:34 PM EST – 1st Update March 1, 2016 8:57 AM EST – 2nd update February 24th 2020 7:58 PM EST