discount broadway tix
 

anyone have a reliable source for discount broadway tix?

most if not all discount tickets to Broadway shows must be booked through the exclusive agency for each theatre -- either Ticketmaster or Telecharge. The key is having a discount code to give them to get the discount.

Here are some sites to check to get the codes. You may need to register, but they are free to do so.

www.playbill.com
www.theatremania.com
www.broadwaybox.com

Patrick's answer is not complete. You can also print a copy of the offer and take it directly to the theater's box office when you get to New York, thus saving the telephone or online charge per ticket.

Howard's answer is correct, of course. For those of us who don't live in or near the city, but want to plan ahead, we must rely on those call-in tickets if we want a decent choice of seats, generally.

And admittedly those agency charges are not minimal. Although I must say Chicago's Ticketmaster holds the new record for me -- $12.02 per ticket for Wicked.

Note also that you must check those website discounts just ahead (or not too far ahead) of your dates. Typically, as one discount code expires, another is announced. Often, additional shows are added, too.

I find booking ahead worth the fees. You can shop for shows/seats at your leisure, versus running around to the theaters while there.

Of course, there's always the TKTS booth. If you haven't seen any of the shows (and have and idea of those you'd find most appealing), don't mind standing in line, and know that you need CASH...

http://timessquare.nyctourist.com/broadway_tkts.asp

You can also, once there, head for the NYC Visitor's Bureau, now called NYC & Company, at 810 7th Ave, for discount tickets.

All in all, the earlier you book, the better the seats.

If you can wait for tickets until you get here, I HIGHLY recommend TKTS but NOT in Times Square, you will be in line for HOURS. Head downtown to the South St. Seaport, at the corner of Fulton and Water St, is the Prudential Building and on the back side of the building is the TKTS booth. Locals use that location since it opens at 10am and there is rarely a line or if there is the line is usually short and you have your tickets in minutes, then head up to Chinatown (walk right up Water St, to the Bowery and have Dim Sum, then walk up to Little Italy for some pastery.

Enjoy the city!!!!!!!

I took the advice and started registering with the various websites, no discounts were available currently with most but i hit the jackpot with broadwaybox.com. I went on, didn't even have to register, clicked on discount tix for "moving out" and got the ticketmaster code for "all seats $55". regularly the orchestra seats were $100. I got 3 orchestra seats, row L, for $55 a piece. I'm quite happy. Thanks

cmrey4, welcome to the "club" and congtratulations.

Patrick and/or Howard, any idea when tix might become available for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" through March? Thanks.

Patrick and Howard, Have you had any problems with the printed coupons at the box offices lately? I have done this maneuver for years saving the Tickemaster fee and gotten great last minute seats - most times "house seats". On my last trip however, I was told that only "certain seats" were available with the coupon -- not very good seats I might add. At full price there were plenty of tickets for that evenings performance. Under this circumstance the discount coupons are a bit misleading as they state being good for any orchestra seat, etc. The particular show I had problems with was (surprisingly) Spelling Bee. Your experiences?

TC, I have never gotten "bad" seats after bringing a discount offer to the box office. Naturally, I would expect that the seats might not be as good as they would be if I paid full price. Still, I've had good luck. And, since I live in New York, I am able to bring the discount offers to the box office and save the phone/online charges often.
Our most recent experience was with Doubt, where we were pleasantly surprised at how good our seats were, especially considering that the show was close to selling out when we saw it.
Incidentally, those offers really don't say that the discount offer is for any orchestra seat. Obviously, in most situations, the "quality" of the location for a discounted ticket is dependent on how well or poorly the show is doing!
inthechips2, I would guess that March, 2006 tickets for Scoundrels would be available by late October or early November.

Howard, I know your comments were related to TC's question and well answered, but another point here is when do you go to the theatre and get those tickets? I think "our" point was that if we call in with a discount code a month ahead of the date we are far more likely to get BETTER seats than walking in the day before the performance and getting what is left at the box office.

Now if we had the ability to print off the offer and go to the box office when the offer is first released -- sure that would be great, but not so great when we only arrive for a few days in the city and are getting last minute tickets.

Incidentally, I've noticed that lately those discount codes aren't issued nearly so far in advance as they used to be -- generally less than two months. You could be right, but I wouldn't expect discounts for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in March to be available in October or November. Right now you can't get them past mid October -- only 6 weeks away. I'm helping friends for tickets for November and virtually nothing is available yet for that.

Patrick, I totally agree with you that it's certainly better for out-of-towners to get these tickets in advance over the phone or online. I just inferred, based on the way he worded his comments, that TC was talking about his experiences at the box office.
As for the Scoundrels question, I assumed that inthechips2 was talking about full-priced tickets, since I don't think those are available now for next March. Certainly, there'll be no March discount offers until calendar year 2006! (Also, remember that there is always a plethora of discount tickets right after the year-end holidays, since that's the start of the show season for the theater.)

Yes, I was likely going to have to pay full price as our visit in March is always short (we come during daughter's college break). Never want to take the chance of not seeing what we want so almost always buy ahead of time. Sometimes while in town, we check out TKTS but that's just to fill in our free time. If there's something we really want to see, we buy tickets ahead of time and almost always full price.

Howard, You are correct....some of the current offers have caveats regarding seat locations. However, my Spelling Bee coupon did not spell this out (pun). In past years, this was not the case. It was simply last minute offers on the best seats available at the time one redemed one's coupon. On many occassions that would be house seats that had been held back and released on the day of a performance. I think this still happens at some houses. But just like the introduction of "Premium Seats" (at twice the price) some Broadway theaters have found yet another way to wring more money from its patrons. Sad that they would rather see empty seats than offer them last minute at a more afforadable price.

Thanks for the discussion.
Cheers,
Ms. TC

TC, far more often than not, when last-minute house seats are released for public sale, it's for hit shows that are selling out or close to selling out. Thus, the producers are confident that they'll be able to sell them for full price at the last minute.
If a show is not doing well, the producers would rightly feel that there's enough discounted tickets available that they can hold onto these prime seats, hoping to sell them at full price. They're really not losing out on a sale. After all, people who are getting tickets at a greatly reduced price don't expect the best seats in the house!
I have benefitted a few times with last-minute purchases of house seats...at full price!

TTT (Thanks for the South St Seaport info!)

Not necessarily the place for this... my family has one extra ticket for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for tomorrow night 8PM (Sat, 9/10). No clue where the seat is, but email [email protected] if interested. I know they are willing to let it go cheaper than what we paid as there are only four of us and we bought 5 tickets.

Howard, another thing about house seats. Many cast and crew members have in their contract availability of a given number of house seats, and in fact I'm pretty sure Equity even requires some to be available. So as a show has been running a long time, often those cast and crew members can release those seats for general sales -- but they often don't do it until the last minute, or day of performance.

I failed to mention however, that yes you're right about those seats still being sold for full price if the show is a hit and selling out, rather than discount prices if not.