Two friends and I are off to NYC next Thursday (May 12). We want to see a Broadway show (not too particular, would prefer comedy). Should I buy tickets now - or can we wait until we get there and get half price tickets? I don't want to spend a lot of time in lines waiting to buy tickets - we are only there for 2.5 days.
Thanks,
Martha

I buy tickets at broadwaybox.com where I get the same tickets others get, but for less.

HTTY

You take a chance with waiting to get 1/2 price tickets. It's random as to which shows will be included - depends on how many tickets are available for a particular show. broadwaybox.com is a great site as are the regular sites of ticketmaster.com and telecharge.com just to see the availability. My advice is that if you really want to ensure you get tickets to a show you really want to see then buy them in advance, otherwise, take your chance. I've gotten decent seats before to struggling shows that I thought were quite good at the 1/2 price ticket booths.

Since you are not that fussy, you stand a good chance of getting discount tickets...and you can do it without waiting a long line. Just log onto broadwaybox.com and/or playbill.com and check out what discounts are available. Then, print out the offers that interest you. After you've made your final selection, bring a copy of that discount offer to the box office as soon as you get to the city and get the tickets. The wait will be slight or not at all at the box office.

If you want to have an idea of which shows are likely to be offered at a discount, go to the Playbill site and click on Broadway Grosses at the left. Scroll down to the two-week comparison and find the shows that have a low capacity for a couple weeks. Those producers will probably want to improve their numbers.

perfect question..My daughter and I are going next month and was wondering the same thing...we have tickets to Cirque but thought we would take a chance on Broadway tickets...mjnbrown let us know how you got along.

Thanks for all the ideas so far. We are looking at the Broadway websites to get ideas on what shows we may be interested in. Jannieween - I'll let you know how we do.
Martha

If you're only here for a day, certainly buy discounted tickets in advance using a discount code from broadwaybox.com (in the left column). You can buy online or perhaps better, phone and speak to a live person. Have an idea of which show(s) you want and look at seating chart before you phone. If you're here for a few days or more and don't want to go to the theater on the first day/night, print out the offers from broadwaybox.com and bring them with you and go directly to the theater box offices. Doing this will save you transaction fees but it's best to do when you have a few days. I've not had good luck doing thing for same day tickets.

If you are only coming for a day, then I'd opt for mclaurie's advice and order the tickets in advance. Sure, you'll pay an extra $6-7 a ticket as a transaction fee, but since you're only here for a day, you probably don't have that much spare time!

Thanks everyone for the advice. Are the seats that are sold through broadwaybox.com decent seats? I'm going to print the voucher for Chicago and will need 4 or 5 tickets during the week of May 23-27.

Broadwaybox is a source fcr the discounts.
To buy the tickets you can follow the link to the official vendors for Broadway tickets, Ticketmaster or Telecharge.

Yes, they are usually "decent" tickets. Obviously, it depends on the show and how popular it is. Also, obviously, you'd probably get better ones if you were paying full price!

As already mentioned, Broadwaybox doesn't actually sell tickets. They're merely a clearing house for selling discounted seats the same way the TKTS booth is. If you buy b'waybox tickets online, you get to SEE the seats nos. and can look on a seating chart before you purchase. Same at the box office. The ticket seller will tell you which seats are available, you can look at the seating chart posted and you can opt to buy or not. If you've got a few possible dates, you can also ask for options on all the dates to see which are best.

You rarely get the best seats at discounted prices. Even at long-running tourist shows like Chicago those are reserved for full-price tourists, so the best seats go on sale only at TKTS only if they aren't otherwise sold. I've very rarely seen any ticket in the first half of the orchestra for a discount lately. You might get front mezzanine but certainly not buying 2 weeks in advance ... you have to buy 2 or 3 months in advance to get the best seats. By waiting, you've all but guaranteed that you won't have a prime seat.

I think this is good advice for any tourist who is coming to NYC. Check out the discounts and buy tickets 2 or 3 months out. Many shows are discounted now, and most that will stick around are selling discounted seats in mid- to late June at present.

Thanks for the clarification everyone. I did realise that Broadwaybox doesn't actually sell the tickets, I just didn't express myself very well.

It doesn't sell tickets, but Broadway Box is a great source for discounts. I almost always buy my tickets to Broadway shows at a discount. I generally purchase before the opening night and can almost always get tickets in the front mezzanine (my favored spot for most musicals). But when I've gotten orchestra seats, they are almost always after row M. These days, the first 8 or 10 rows of orchestra seats (except sometimes for the front row or two) are almost always "premium" seating that tries to sell for $250 or more per ticket. I just won't pay that. Any discounted orchestra sets are almost universally on the side if they are before row M (and farther back than that in many theaters).

Thanks to everyone who suggested Broadway Box. I just got what I think are good discounted tickets for Jerusalem in May!

Thanks to everyone - I appreciate the advice to get discounts through Broadwaybox.com. I went ahead and ordered tickets - getting the discount through broadwaybox.com. We decided to go to The Importance of Being Earnest and got front mezzanine seats that look pretty decent from the seating chart. Thanks for the good advice to go ahead and order the tickets in advance instead of waiting until we got there.
Thanks everyone!!!
Martha

Any front mezzanine seat in the American Airlines theater is pretty good, so I think you'll be fine at Importance of Being Earnest.