NYC - Broadway show
 

Recommendations a 13 year old girl who has never been to a professional theater performance before, wtih the exception or Radio City Music Hall. Grease? Hairspray? What are the chances of getting matinee tickets at the TKTS booth - I believe matinees are only Wednesdays, during the week? Is that correct? We would be looking at November 28th. Any idea what the cost would be?

If the Lion King is still playing - that is one of the most amazing theater performances I've seen - and I would think a 13 year girl would LOVE it. (okay, I'm in my 50s, and I loved it)...... I've seen Grease, and it was good - but Lion King just blew me away......

Legally Blonde is another musical your 13-year-old might enjoy. I like to buy tickets at www.broadwaybox.com

If you don't find tickets for a show that interests you, keep checking the site.

It is better to have tickets in hand and to know where your seats are located than to save a few more bucks by waiting in the TKTS line and hoping you will get what you want.

Thanks for the tips - keep them coming! I agree it would be great to have tickets in hand, but we're on a pretty tight budget!

There are always some matinee tickets on sale at TKTS, but you can never know exactly which shows will be there (not all matinees are on Wednesday; many shows have matinees on weekends as well). But you'll rarely, if ever, see Lion King there. Or Wicked. Please note that the weeks after Thanksgiving are typically among the busiest of the entire year in NYC. The lines at TKTS will be very long. But you can easily buy discount tickets in advance from Telecharge if you use codes found at Playbill.com or BroadwayBox.com.

I can't urge you strongly enough to buy tickets for that week in advance.

You've gotten some good recs. I'd throw in Xanadu as another possibility or Mary Poppins. There's also a Cirque du Soleil show at Madison Square Garden, and another interesting-looking show from De La Guarda playing downtown at Union Square.

Hairspray is very fun and I would definitely recommend it (it currently has a cast filled with "stars.") I agree, purchase the tickets in advance using a code from broadwaybox.com. It's worth the $20 or whatever to have seats before you go, because there's no guarantee you'll get the show you want from TKTS.

If you want to try your luck at TKTS, use the South Street Seaport location as opposed to the one in Times Square (though you would need to wait in line on Tuesday to purchase Wednesday matinée tickets at the South Street Seaport location.) If you check this site: www.entertainment-link.com/tkts.asp before you go, you can get a sense of what has shown up at TKTS the previous week. The cost for tickets at TKTS is 25-50% off, so you're looking at a price of about $55-80 or so for orchestra seats. And they only take cash, so be prepared.

If there is any chance you can swing it, my number one recommendation for a show for a 13 year old would be Wicked. Discounts aren't available, but really, it's wonderful.

Enjoy your trip!

I second Wicked, Hairspray, and Grease, having seen them all myself. Mamma Mia! is also great.

Hairspray is a lot of fun. The music is great, it has a good message and it is just plain fun!

Les Miserables is really good and should be available at half price booth.

Xanadu is awesome!! Relatively new and a box office hit.

Fun and energetic!!