I am going to post this here with the expectation that Mods will move to most appropriate category - this seemed like it..

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Living in NYC and being thrifty has let me enjoy all that Broadway has to offer with none of the prices Broadway wants to get!

Here's a few tips for your visit - and you can always PM and ask me if you have a question.

There are two types of people - those who are adventurous, and those who are bringing a family of five and need tickets in hand before they come to NYC.

For the "planners" --

The cheapest shows are as follows (as of 5/2005)
Phantom Of The Opera - $20
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - $20
Beauty And The Beast - $30
La Cage Aux Follies - $25
All Shook Up (the Elvis musical) - $19.95

Some other shows like Lion King and Producers have 30-40 dollar seats but they are almost always obstructed view and problematic (like only available at box office when the other seats are sold out for a performance)..

Basically the seats at those prices are located in the mezzanine or balcony. All Shook Up the seats are kinda high, the others are not too bad, I've sat in most of them.

If you go mid-week the shows can be empty and after the intermission the ushers will usually let you move up. For CCBB we had $20 seats and we ended up in $100 dress circle seats, same for Phantom.

You can get tickets for the first three from TELECHARGE.COM, the last two from TICKETMASTER.COM - note the service charges are almost $10 per ticket all told, so if you have a friend in NYC ask them to go get at the box office for you with CASH and you will save a few bucks.

Now - for the adventurer in you..

1) A few shows have a "lottery" which is usually 2 to 2 1/2 hours before showtime. Check with each box office 3 hours before the show for the times and procedures, they are usually posted.

In general order of popularity..
AVENUE Q (21.25 front row)
Wicked (30 dollars front row)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (35 dollars front row)
Hairspray (30 dollars last row mezzanine)
Rent (not sure - you couldn't pay me to see it! LOL!)

If you "win" a lottery you can purchase 1 or 2 tickets at the above "cheap" prices..
It's a real endurance test and if there are more then 2 in your party DONT BOTHER.

However I have seen many people do well (especially in the winter!) and it can be an excellent value.

2) Ticket scalpers hang out in front of La Cage box office and around the island holding the TKTS booth (see #3). Basically they will ask if you want to see a show and generally are holding the tickets out. NEVER EVER EVER pay a PENNY over face value to these guys. They are what are called "chop shop" guys in the ticket biz. This means the person who owns the ticket is expecting 1/2 of the face back, and the street guy keeps anything over that. For this reason, since they are usually enough feet away from the venue, and the capacity of the theaters is under 5000 the sale is a grey area.. But if you're up to the challenge you can get killer deals from these guys. I've seen WICKED tix out there for 40 dollars and whatnot. It's always worth a shot before option #3..

3) The TKTS booth.. Frankly it's a bit sleazier then the scalpers even though it's the "legit" source. You wait in a LONG line and the tickets are "up to 50 percent off" which may get tourists but should not get any member of AFC!

Many of the shows are 25-40 percent off, and with 100 dollar face values, they're still a bad deal!

This should always be your last resort for last minute theater tickets.

If you are going on a weekend - get the NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY EDITION and cut out the list of currently running shows. Circle the ones you want to see that advertise "GROUP SALES". On the weekends the tour operators usually have a few extras they try to unload at thier discount price on the street in front of the theaters. Some of them are very nice, like the people who got us into "42nd Street" for $12 each. Some of them are very nasty like the woman who wanted to sell me "Mamma Mia!" from her stack of 30 extras for $95 each 10 minutes before the show.

I hope this helps, and if people really use it I will try to write some more about NYC tourism!

- Sam
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If you dug this post - you'll dig YMMVRADIO.COM

Oh my! Phantom tickets for $20??

Here in Vegas you cannot get show tickets to anything decent under $100!!

I might have to visit NY soon!

I think this is a good spot for the post since it gives hints from someone experienced?
What do I know???

Not true - Mac King is free, Ron Lucas if he's still out there is free - gamble enough and all the shows are free

Wow! Those are awesome prices!

So, if I go to Wicked's theatre I can get $20 tickets? Wow!

Btw- how was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

~Brigette

Brigette,

Wicked is $30, please go back and read my OP for how to get them exactly.

CCBB was so awful I wanted to throw up, but I'm a jaded New Yorker.

CCBB was really that bad? I'm sorry... did you make it through the whole show?

~Brigette

Of course - we had to get our money's worth!

Why don't you want to see Rent? That would be one of my first choices. I saw Urinetown a few years ago, I think it wasn't on Broadway yet though. I haven't been to NYC in years............need to take the train up there sometime, maybe in the Fall. I didn't know you could get tickets so cheap.

Thanks!

Again--anything DECENT,

Trish--you would really like Rent. It was ok, imho, but you and I are very different. I think RENT is nothing more than a modern remake of Cabaret. DH had the same opinion of Rent as Riff. I think it creeps a lot of guys out

I love Mac King!!

Rent? You see the scene in "Team America"? Was right on the money.