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.

O.K. guys, I'm not following your logic. If a show is a "hit, sell-out" show, I'm assuming that they would not be offering discount tickets on Playbill.com or others. Therefore, your point about house seats being held to sell at full price isn't computing with my comment regarding discount coupons. I still contend that the parameters on Broadway discounts have changed recently. Not a crime -- just a comment.

BTW Patrick, I have a good friend who is a Tony nominated NY actress. Its not in their contract (and certainly not in a crew members contract) to have access to a "certain number" of house seats. They put their name on a list for house seats for nights they would like. The seats go to producers first and then to cast on a first come, first serve basis (star recognition counting somewhat if it comes to bumping) -- crew members coming long after cast members.

TC, perhaps I haven't been clear.
Producers of a less-than-sold-out show may make discount tickets available, while at the same time holding onto the best seats to be sold at full price.
As performance time gets close, they may (or may not) decide to offer those latter seats at TKTS.

There are crew members and then there are crew members. My best connection is a production stage manager, and he DOES get 4 house seats per week by contract. Maybe that's his own requirement by contract, but I had the impression that is a standard part of his Equity contract. I wasn't necessarily talking about scenery shifters or dressers.

Patrick, You are right...it must be on a person to person basis. One of my good friends was the Production Stage Manager for The Piano Lesson on Broadway. No such guarantee in that contract. Thanks for the tips.

Need to resurrect this thread as tix for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels are indeed on sale now for March 06 visit. HOWEVER, I do see that there have been many discount offers for this show, so wondering if best to wait to purchase? (Aren't discounts usually for shows that aren't selling as well? Thought this was a big seller ...).

And thinking of the "Putnam Spelling Bee" show and see that I can order for our dates if using my Amex card. Curious why there is an extended sale period - should I grab tickets now before they go on sale to general public?

Thanks

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels doing okay, but it's not selling out. If you want the best seats, but them now at full price. If you are looking for a bargain, then wait. Discounts for March performances will not be available until 2006.

I really never feel like there is a truly bad seat in NY theatres, but there's always a first time, right?

And Spelling Bee - what's your take on that show?

and Howard, do you think Lithgow and Butz will still be in the show in March? (Playbill.com says the show will tour next summer but sounds as if Lithgow and Butz will stay in NYC).

I'm not Howard but I'll chime in that Spelling Bee is fun, but not worth full price Broadway price imo. It's really an off Broadway show and I felt "taken" by paying full price. Discount is fine.

I agree -- Spelling Bee really feels like a small off-Broadway show. It was the show that started this whole discussion on discount coupon limitations. When I tried to use the dicount offer at the Spelling Bee box office (even though the coupon did not specify particular seats) I was told that it was only good for "certain seats" -- which were quite far to the side. Being unfamiliar with the theater I chose to purchase full price tickets. Now I know the side seats would have been o.k. The theater is small and there isn't much that happens on stage. Its not worth full price -- cute, but more like a long Saturday Night Live sketch.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is wonderful. Get good seats for it if you can.

It's interesting to think about what is "worth" a full price these days- I would submit that it is purely a matter of taste.

If you enjoy a show, it's worth the money of a full-price ticket (comparatively). If you don't, then no matter how large and glamorous the production may be, it was likely not worth your money. This is especially true with many of the recent flops on Broadway now (great article in the Times recently about "vanity" productions that alludes to that point).

I thoroughly enjoyed Spelling Bee. It's a nice change to many of the trends on Broadway now, and I was completely engaged from start to finish.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is great as well, but I think you can wait to get tickets. There will likely be a discount offer available in March. Also, I saw the show from the last row (last minute tickets!) and because the theatre is on the small side, the seats were just fine and a bit cheaper- I think $60 each on Saturday night.

We will be in NY during daughter's college spring break. I see that full price tickets have gone up by $10 per ticket. Do you think I should bite the bullet and buy these tickets now, or are discounts still possible? I know we'd be disappointed to miss it.

And for that matter, if in the 4th row of the rear mezz saves $20 per ticket, should we do that? Or is it worth $40 to be in first row of front mezz? Thanks

Ooops. Meant to say tix had gone up for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

I would wait on getting tickets for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. There's a good chance that there'll be a discount offer for March, which wll appear probably sometime in January.

inthechips-The word is that John Lithgow is leaving DRS January 8,2006. Sherie Renee Scott is leaving the end of January. I think Norbert extended for a while but not sure how long.

Thanks Paula. Perhaps that's why there could be discounts. Although I'm a little confused as to why tickets went up by $10 pp if one of the main cast members is rumored to be leaving. Daughter is really interested in seeing Norbert more than any of them.

I had read on Playbill.com that the show was going on the road in summer of 06 with the original cast continuing on Broadway, but it reads a little confusing on Playbill and I could be misinterpreting what it says.

I would wait. Most Broadway shows are concerned about getting through the holidays and January right now. It's very likely there will be more discount offers available for the January-March period a little later on.

We've been really lucky to see lots of original casts in some great shows, so it doesn't really matter to me who is in it. I'll wait as suggested. Thanks for the input.

Now if they'd only bring in "Noises Off" again, one of my alltime favorites ...

fodor folks,

pardon the shill, but you may find this listing useful:

http://www.entertainment-link.com/tkts.asp

(a week-at-a-glance listing of those shows that are available at TKTS discount booths)

regards,

david
(full disclosure, i'm the editor of the site)

Perfect, David - the site is ABSOLUTELY what I needed and couldn't find!