The lottery is not the only way to get cheap tickets, although it s generally the only way I ve done

I love New York. There are many, many reasons for this, but one of the biggest is because I m kind of a theatre nerd ( -notice how I automatically spell theatre the silly British way with the RE instead of ER, heyooo!) and I also adore musicals. airline flight arrive times So, naturally one of the reasons I love New York, is for BROADWAY!
airline flight arrive times In the few trips I ve made to NYC, I ve seen a handful of Broadway shows both plays and musicals and have managed to land some killer seats (like, 2nd or 3rd row) to Tony award-winning shows without paying more than $35 for a ticket.
Basically, when a show is selling tickets, it may have a number of seats reserved for people who don t want them often they re comped tickets for big sponsors or similar. If those people don t want their seats for that performance, those seats are available for the lottery. Usually they are within the first three rows of a theatre.
You go to the theatre 2-2.5 hours before showtime. There s a 30 minute window during which you fill out a little card with your name, number of tickets you want (1 or 2 max) and your phone number (be sure it s current! If you don t get picked airline flight arrive times or someone cheats, they sometimes will redraw and you might get lucky). Then, 2 hours before curtain, they draw a winner out of their hat/box/coffin/whatever and you can buy the tickets for that day s show at a SERIOUSLY DISCOUNTED PRICE. Like, seriously discounted.
For example, I saw In the Heights when Corbin Bleu (yes, of High School Musical fame, and no I didn t actually know who he was anyway) was in it back in 2010. I sat 2nd row and I think paid like $20 for my ticket.
Granted, there are a few cons to this process, the biggest being that you might not win. I ve had some good luck and saw ITH, as well as the revival of West Side Story within airline flight arrive times the span of a couple weeks. (My cousin, on the other hand, had a fabulous track record for winning these things and managed to get tickets for almost a dozen shows!)
If you have friends in NYC willing to come with you to try to win the lottery, you ll have a better chance of getting tickets. I m no math whiz, but I m pretty sure it s accurate to say that the more people in your party able to put their names in, the higher your odds. This past March when I was there, a group of people all came to put their names in to try to help their buddy in from Alabama could get a ticket to the Book of Mormon. That s friendship for you.
I like the vibe of people all congregating together to try to earn something airline flight arrive times that is all chance. It gives people a fleeting sense of community, especially with the strong likelihood that you re all going to be disappointed together.
At the Eugene O Neill Theatre where Book of Mormon is playing, even the lottery announcements are entertaining. The lottery dude encouraged us to vocalize our excitement if we won the tickets. Pretend like you won something, he said. This would keep things exciting, and also make the ticket losers feel better in some way about who got the tickets. airline flight arrive times At least THAT guy was worthy airline flight arrive times of the honor, we d think.
The lottery is not the only way to get cheap tickets, although it s generally the only way I ve done it. You can also try standing room only tickets , which requires lining up pretty early at the theatre to try to snag some standing room spots.
Or, if you re lucky, you might encounter a very generous individual needing to get rid of their tickets who will give them to your cousin who will invite you to see the first night of previews to Breakfast at Tiffany s, starring Emilia Clarke, who is fabulously layered and complex as Holly Golightly (you may know her as Daenarys Targaryen on Game of Thrones), airline flight arrive times which all makes for an unforgettable theatre-going experience. I can t give any tips for how to make that happen, though, other than making a libation to the muses and hoping for the best.