wilees

Just a quick question regarding walk up tickets to shows in New York.

A friend of mine said that for shows that are not sell outs he just walked up half hour before the show and got tickets for $10 (or cheap at least) - this was 18 months ago.

Has anybody else done this?

I have seen a lot of theatre in London so will not be that picky about which shows (but wouldn't mind saving some money cos then I can go again the next night!!!)

Any advice?

nytraveler

I have heard of shows that are about to close offering "student" tickets for $15 or so. But it's the worst seats - and generally the house is half empty - which I would think would significantly lessen the enjoyment. Also - don;t kow how you would know which shows to check out - unless they have already announced the upcoming closure.

If the show has only a few extra tickets they will give them to the TKTS booth to sell. If the show is on discounts you can usually get them in advance on broadwaybox.com.

nytraveler

FYI - just checked. In May the LIRR has 4 trains per day to and from the Hamptons - and the ride is about 3 hours each way.

NYer1979

$10 tickets are very rare. Maybe some special student rate or pay-what-you-can night at an Off-Off Broadway theater. Some Broadway shows offer "rush" tickets in the $20-30 range, but these are usually distributed via a lottery system and can be hard to get (unless it's not a very popular show, then you might be able to get them by just walking up to the box office shortly before the show).

Recently, a new policy began at Off-Broadway theaters where about an hour before curtain, they'll sell any unsold tickets for just $20. But Broadway theaters don't do this.

You can find info about the student and rush policies, and also discount codes (which are the best way to get half price tickets), at http://www.nytix.com or http://www.playbill.com.

HowardR

In all my years of theatergoing (at least in the past 20-30 years), I've never heard of a Broadway show selling tickets for $10! As others have mentioned, some shows have cheaps tickets for students and some have lotteries in the $20-30 range.
If, as you say, you're not too picky, then your best bet is probably to go to a TKTS booth and get half-priced tickets....or you can take a chance in the $20-30 lottery for a show.

mclaurie

Some info for you here on student tix and rush tix
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82428.html

wilees

Thanks for the advice. I thought it sounded too good to be true. However, my friend also said the seats he got were very good (surprisingly).

The lady at the TKTS office actually suggested he just walk up to the show he requested as she knew he could get it cheaper. (Which was very kind of her).

showmetheshow

Saw tickets for Pirate Queen Orchestra for $35. Lowest I've seen Orch tickets.

http://shows.travelzoo.com/

HowardR

I checked it out....and sure enough, they're available. I checked for a Tuesday night, which would offer the greatest chance for availability, since it's the slowest night of the week.
But, just be aware that they only give you the row and words like "left of stage." So, you have no idea how far over the seats are.
But, hey for $35 a ticket, what do you expect? Still, even for that price, I'd want to make sure the show was a good one.
Anyway, it's obvious that they're having trouble selling tickets. In all my years of theatergoing, I never remember a 70% discount offer!

NeoPatrick

Howard, I think you may have missed looking at the next line where Ticketmaster does show you the actual seat numbers. I looked too, and first found "Best Available" in orchestra Row P left of stage, but below that gave the seat numbers -- 13 and 15 I think it was. But then when I backed up and entered "Dress Circle" for a choice instead of "best available" I found front row mezzanine (near the end) which are still great seats for Friday night, May 25. And yes, those seats are $33.75.

NeoPatrick

Hmmm. I've not been to the Hilton Theatre, but I see the front row of the mezzanine (or Dress Circle) is over ROW T -- that's quite a distance back -- 22 rows back, in fact.

NeoPatrick

After playing around for awhile online this morning, I got two tickets in the 10th row, about the middle of the side section. For $ 89 complete for two tickets including all the silly fees, I guess I won't complain. I did want to see The Pirate Queen, and I decided I should book pretty soon (did them for Thursday, May24), as I suspect it won't be playing very long. My guess is, that they're trying to build an audience that may like the show to spread the word -- which is why they are practically "giving the tickets away".

strawberryrhubarbpie

thank you showmetheshow! I have been researching which show to see while in NY and it was btwn pirate queen and wicked. Well, the price was right for pirate queen!!! I'm going tuesday night 8 pm, all it told me was that I'm seat number 24, I have no idea where that's at but I'm sure I'll have a great time anyway. Hey we should all post back here after that week to talk about what we thought of the show LOL!

strawberryrhubarbpie

Oh wait a second it does say... sec: ORCH, row: M, seat: 23. Is that good? or okay enough at least?

My first broadway show I'm so excited!!!!

NeoPatrick

That's about the 15th row back on the side, four seats from the side wall. Not being familiar with this new theatre, I think you'll be fine. I tend to care more about closeness than being dead center, and I suspect your view won't be blocked at all from being at a side angle.