I just saw this on NY1 and thought I'd pass the info on to those of you planning to visit New York this January.

The NYC Convention and Visitors Bureau is sponsoring a promotion called "Spend Your Regards to Broadway." You can get free tickets to a Broadway show by spending $500 or more at participating businesses. More info at www.nycvisit.com.

Some more details:
promo runs until january 16th only--but you can redeem receipts for the tickets until January 31st.
Also, if you look at the FAQs on the site (can't find the link now, if I do, I'll add to this thread), you'll see that the purchases are not limited to "participating businesses" You can spend the money at almost any store,restaurant, hotel in NYC--just can't use it for grocery stores, pharmacies, 'services" (legal, medical, dry cleaning), so this is good for both visitors and natives

And you better move fast, as the receipts must be dated between January 1 and 16.
You can turn them in for 2 tickets to one of the following shows for performances thru March:
Beauty and the Beast
Cabaret
Chicago, Contact
Les Miserables
Proof
The Full Monty
The Phantom of the Opera
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
Urinetown

worth topping

here's the link I was thinking about, with FAQs about this promotion--hurry!
http://www.nycguide.org/spend.html