Questions re Broadway tickets
 

While at "Westside Story" Wednesday pm, I talked to the people sitting next to me. They said that they had tried for ticket through a lottery at 12 noon. They told me that you enter your name and the first 18 names drawn get front row seats for $20. They didn't win so they bought the tickets next to us which were discounted because of poor leg room (a pillar behind) and partial vision-they had the same view as we did and it was fine.

They told me that all the theatres have some sort of gimmick such as a lottery. Can someone please elaborate on this for me

That's not entirely true. It really depends on the play. I think Rent was the first play that started the lottery for first-row tickets. Others have followed, but they don't always have restricted-view seats to sell the losers, so you're often just out. Unlike British theaters, which tend to sell tickets based on quality (with lower prices for worse seats), most NYC theaters (though certainly not all) sell all tickets for the same price. But it depends a lot on the show and the specific theater.

TKTS is a better bet if you want a discounted seat. Anyway, not sure I'd want to sit on the first row for any show. I've done that a couple of times and really didn't like it.

Whether you'd enjoy front row seats depends on the distance of that row from the stage and the height of the stage.

Also, I thought people were joking when they talked about spit and sweat!

Thanks, mclaurie. That list is longer than I thought. I suspect these policies will continue pretty broadly as long as the economy is shaky and the plays have problems filling their seats.

The Wicked lottery is one of the most popular on Broadway. There are people who come back over and over to see the show and try the lottery. I also noticed the "In the Heights" Lottery was popular.

After the Rent lottery, they often offered a discount for remaining tickets. They would announce, for example, that orchestra tickets were $55 and mezz tickets were $30 for that night's show - they weren't restricted view, they were simply unsold tickets. I've heard of other shows doing this as well. I have never seen that advertised anywhere, and it doesn't happen if shows are sold out. It's kind of a "right place at the right time" deal.

I think that all this works if you live in New York, but for a 1 or 2 day trip it is too time consuming. It would be better to use the discount sites.