How to Buy Affordable Broadway Tickets

I do not know many people who can afford to see Broadway shows on a regular basis at $140/ticket. Fortunately, there are many ways to buy affordable tickets to a Broadway show.  The following list is not comprehensive; rather, it is based on my experience. 

1.) Rush Tickets- approximately $25-$40

Many shows have a set number of discounted seats for sale the morning of the show on a first come, first serve basis.  Most people arrive at the theatre before the box office opens to get in line for these tickets.  For popular shows, people may arrive at the theatre as early as 6:00am with blankets, camping chairs, and laptops, and will wait until the box office opens, usually at 10:00am. For less popular shows, arriving after the box office opens may be sufficient timing to purchase a rush ticket. Also, some rush policies are “student rush”, while other shows have “anyone rush”.  If it is a student rush, you will need a student ID. Each person is allowed one or two tickets. Seat locations vary: I’ve had everything from rear orchestra to middle mezzanine to box seats. To determine if a show offers rush tickets and the type of rush ticket, I usually refer to: http://nytix.com/Links/Broadway/listofcurrentshows.html

Tips: 

*Arrive as early as you can tolerate if you REALLY want to see a particular show. 

*It’s helpful to have several choices of shows in case your first choice does not work out. 

*If you are able, go when there is inclement weather.  There may be less people in line. 

*You may have a better chance on a weekday rather than a weekend. If able, aim for Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday performances. 

****If you arrive at the theatre and there are no rush tickets left, ask the box office if there are any discounted tickets available. If there are many unsold tickets, they may lower the price of tickets the day of performance in order to fill seats. 

2.) Lottery- $20-$27

If you like taking a risk, some shows offer a lottery drawing. If you go to the box office 2.5 hours before the show, you can write your name on a slip of paper and put it into a box. Two hours before the performance, names are drawn for a set number of discounted seats that are usually towards the front of the orchestra. The number of available tickets varies, but is usually about twenty. You must be present when they call names. If you win the lottery, you will have the option of taking one or two tickets. I’ve been to lottery drawings with as few as 30 people and as many as 300 people. Again, you can determine which shows offer a lottery by going to: http://nytix.com/Links/Broadway/listofcurrentshows.html 

Tips: 

*Again, trying the lottery when there is inclement weather or during the week may increase your chances if less people are present. 

3.) www.broadwaybox.com- approximately $40-$100

This website offers discounted tickets to almost all Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Most discounts are about 40 percent off full ticket price. You can easily purchase tickets on the website, but ticket price is increased by about $10 due to processing fees. What I do to bypass the fees is either print out a coupon from the website and present it at the box office or use the Broadway Box phone app to display the discount coupon at the box office (this also saves paper). There are no additional fees when tickets are purchased at the box office. The nice thing about Broadway Box is that they offer orchestra, mezzanine, or balcony seats so you have more choice as to where you are sitting. 

Tips: 

*For popular shows, I would buy tickets ahead of time. For less popular shows, I have used this discount on the day of performance. 

4.) Audience Rewards- variable price

www.audiencerewards.com

This website allows you to earn points by purchasing theatre tickets and answering theatre trivia questions. After you accumulate 500 “ShowPoints”, you can purchase theatre tickets at a discounted rate. Seats vary from orchestra to mezzanine. You must set up an account but it is free to join. 

Tips: 

*You may be able to earn audience rewards points when you purchase Broadway tickets through other websites that are served by telecharge. Broadwaybox.com is one such site. Make sure you type in your audience rewards account number when prompted so that you can get credit for purchase and earn points. 

Mamma Mia

Broadway, Winter Garden Theatre

1/14/12 matinee

Background: On January 14th, I traveled to NYC with the intent to see a show, but no tickets and no clue as to what I wanted to see. I felt like I should see Follies for the third time since it would be closing the following weekend.... but there were no rush tickets left. Cross Follies off my nonexistent list. What to see?? I started walking up Broadway looking at the marquees and thinking, “okay, do I want to see that? No. Do I want to try a lottery?  No, I’m not in a risk-taking mood today”. As I walked toward the Broadway Theatre, I suddenly got a hankering for Sister Act, which I saw this past August. I was feeling in the mood for something light and humorous (On second thought, Follies would NOT have been a good choice for me). I entered an empty box office and asked about rush or discount tickets. None left. Forget about my hankering for Sister Act. I was now starting to worry that I would not be able to see a show that day. I continued to mentally list all the musicals currently on Broadway. What to see, what to see? Suddenly, I saw the Winter Garden Theatre looming in front of me. Mamma Mia? 

My first experience with Mamma Mia was when I saw the touring cast a few years back. Every Christmas, I take my grandmother to a Broadway musical and I usually let her pick what she wants to see.  One Christmas, I gave her the list of shows and to my surprise, she picked Mamma Mia. Why, Gram? Because friends of hers had seen it and thought it was hilarious. I knew nothing about Mamma Mia except that it was inspired by ABBA songs. As the curtain came up and the show began, I soon realized this was not a show that my conservative grandmother would enjoy. A story about a girl with three possible fathers who spends two hours trying to discover which man is her biological dad. DOT DOT DOT... So instead of enjoying the show, I spent two hours and fifteen minutes being slightly mortified and worrying that my Christmas gift had been an epic failure. The verdict: “It wasn’t what I thought it would be”. I did better the following year with Beauty and the Beast. 

So as the marquee loomed in front of me, I was confronted with the chance to see Mamma Mia again, this time through new, undistracted eyes. I decided that Mamma Mia was just what I needed that day. In the box office, a little girl and her mother were buying tickets and the little girl was dancing around with excitement. So cute. And thank goodness, there were rush tickets just four rows from the front at a very affordable price. I finally had my ticket and would see a show that day after all. 

Synopsis: On a Greek island, 20 year old Sophie Sheridan is getting married and wants her father to walk her down the aisle. The problem: she doesn’t know who her father is. After reading her mother’s old diary, she realizes that she has three potential fathers and invites the three men- Sam, Bill, and Harry- to her wedding without telling her mother, Donna. As she tries to learn who her biological father is, she learns something much more important instead. 

Comments: I really like Mamma Mia. Simply put, it's just plain fun. It’s the perfect show for anyone who wants to see a comedy with great high-energy dance numbers and classic songs. Some of the most memorable songs for me were: Dancing Queen (of course), Mamma Mia, Slipping Through My Fingers (bittersweet), Does Your Mother Know (hilarious), Honey, Honey, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, Take A Chance On Me, and The Winner Takes It All (powerful).  Lisa Brescia, Annie Edgerton (u/s), and Judy McLane as Donna, Rosie, and Tanya had great chemistry together and had the audience in hysterics. Felicity Claire (u/s) as Sophie had beautiful vocals and Jordan Dean as Sky had one of the most amazing bodies I’ve ever seen. Patrick Boll as Bill Austin was particularly funny, especially in his scenes with Annie Edgerton. I was most impressed with Lisa Brescia as Donna. She hit notes that Meryl Streep can only dream about (no offense to Meryl, who is a great ACTRESS, but not necessarily a singer. At some point, I will need to write about my opinion of movie musicals.). She also portrayed a more emotional, vulnerable, maternal side of the character. The stand-out performance in Mamma Mia was Lisa Brescia as Donna Sheridan. With that said, the entire cast was fantastic. I would see it again... 

Unnaturally Green by Felicia Ricci

With the astronomical success of Wicked in the past eight years, it’s surprising that there hasn’t been an “Elphaba memoir”. In fact, I don’t know of any Wicked cast member who has written an account of their Wicked experience. Original G(a)linda, Kristin Chenoweth, briefly recounted Wicked in her memoir, but Wicked was not the focus. I would say that it’s about time someone wrote a complete account of the Wicked experience- from auditioning to costume fittings to rehearsals to first performance to closing night.  And finally, someone has- Felicia Ricci... and she doesn’t disappoint. 

Felicia Ricci was an Elphaba standby in the San Francisco production of Wicked in 2010. Her memoir, Unnaturally Green, tells not only of her Wicked journey, but also of her fear of failing as a new actress, overcoming personal challenges, coping with loss, and learning life’s lessons (sometimes the hard way)... or as she puts it, “ one girl’s journey along a yellow brick road less traveled”. This memoir does not disappoint the true Wicked fan; however, the reader does not need to be a Wicked fan to enjoy this book. In fact, Felicia does a great job of relating to all readers as she acknowledges the struggles that we all face, whether we work in the theatre or not. 

Unnaturally Green is smartly written; it is no surprise that Felicia was an English major. Felicia is endearing with her quirky, self-deprecating sense of humor. There are many “laugh out loud” moments. For Wicked fans, her description of her first ‘Defying Gravity’ performance is hysterical (for the reader, not for her at the time). I also found her description of bodily functions to be hilarious (i.e. the Week I Didn’t Poop, sweaty armpits). She tends to say the things that we all think but are afraid to say out loud. She writes honestly and comes across as the type of normal, down-to-earth person any of us could have for a friend. She wasn’t afraid to admit how hard she had to work to play Elphaba and conquer the “Songs of Death”. 

After her first performance as Elphaba, it wasn’t long before someone posted a bootleg video of her “Defying Gravity” performance. I loved reading her account of watching herself on YouTube. I think it must be hard for performers to watch their performances on the Internet- and worse, to read unjustified negative comments. Is it really fair to the performer to be recorded on low-quality cameras that distort sound or when they are sick or having an off night? You can’t judge a performance by a YouTube video and no YouTube video could ever compare to a live performance. 

As Felicia continues in “Life Lessons 101”, it will be interesting to see what path she will take and if she will return to the stage.  And will there be a second book........? 

People who would appreciate this book:

A must-read for Wicked fans (duh)

Theatre-goers 

Young adults who are just getting started in the world

Anyone who feels “green” (look it up in the dictionary)

Bonnie & Clyde

Broadway, Schoenfeld Theatre

12/17/11 matinee

Background: I guess there is no point in reviewing the ill-fated Frank Wildhorn musical, Bonnie & Clyde, which closed prematurely on 12/30/11 after just 36 regular performances. But I need to pay homage to this wonderful show that closed far too soon. 

For some reason, I felt that Bonnie & Clyde would be running for a while and so I didn’t rush to see it right away. But when I heard that tickets were not being sold past 12/30/11, I decided to make Bonnie & Clyde a priority during my next planned trip to NYC. The day before I went to NYC, it was announced that Bonnie & Clyde would be closing on 12/30/11. Boo. I tried to get rush tickets on the morning of 12/17, but it seemed that many people had the same idea as I did, and the line was almost out the door of the box office. Needless to say, I did not get rush tickets, but I was able to get a discounted ticket just four rows from the stage.  

Synopsis: Bonnie & Clyde chronicles the love story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, two infamous outlaws in the 1930’s. The story begins with Bonnie and Clyde as young children, reveals how the two met, fell in love, and endured hardships, and finally recounts their lives as outlaws. The show attempts to explain the title characters’ motives for choosing the paths that they did; Bonnie wanting to be a famous actress and yearning for excitement, and Clyde wanting to provide for Bonnie and his family in the way that he was never provided for. While the show is filled with action and special effects, it is also smart, witty, sexy, and above all, a love story. 

Commentary: The cast of Bonnie & Clyde was exceptional. Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes had great chemistry together as the title characters, and were both VERY strong vocally. I expect that both will have long and prolific careers on the Broadway stage. Claybourne Elder and Melissa van der Schiff as Buck and Blanche also had great chemistry and provided some of the show’s more comical moments. 

After seeing Melissa van der Schiff perform, I thought, ‘who is this girl and why haven’t I seen her perform before?’ Her performance as the God-fearing, desperate wife of Buck was strong and memorable to say the least. Not only was she funny, but she portrayed beautifully the range of emotions Blanche experiences as the story progresses and makes the character relatable for the audience. I can’t wait to see what she does next. 

(Sidenote: It was also great to see Louis Hobson as Ted. He is so closely identified with Next to Normal after playing Dr. Madden/Fine for the entire Broadway run, and it was nice to see him in a very different role). 

The best part of Bonnie & Clyde was the music. Even if you didn’t get a chance to see the show, go out and buy the cast recording when it is released. The music is catchy and memorable and I was definitely humming some of the melodies as I left the theatre. This show should have been a hit for composer Frank Wildhorn, a redemption of sorts after last year’s Wonderland. Frank Wildhorn stated in a recent interview on playbill.com that he writes “for the people” and he truly does. Bonnie & Clyde is filled with crowd-pleasing melodies. In the same interview, he also mentioned a possible national tour... my fingers are crossed that this will come to fruition. I know many people who would appreciate this musical and probably would have seen it had the show run longer. I found the show to be very “generic”, meaning there is something in it for everyone to enjoy. 

The Verdict: 

Hope for a tour. 

Buy the cast recording. 

Never assume a show will be running for a while. 

My Top Ten Favorite Performances of 2011

1.) Bernadette Peters as Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music

2.) Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone in Follies

3.) Alice Ripley as Diana Goodman in the national tour of Next to Normal

4.) Wicked on Broadway. After seeing it eight times on the first national tour, it was amazing to finally see it on Broadway. 

5.) Chad Kimball and Montego Glover as Huey Calhoun and Felicia Farrell in Memphis

6.) Norbert Leo Butz as Carl Hanratty in Catch Me If You Can (a musical that closed far too soon...)

7.) Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes

8.) Donna Murphy as Raisel/Bubbie in The People in the Picture

9.) Aaron Tveit as Frank Abagnale in Catch Me If You Can

10.) A tie between Norm Lewis as Porgy in Porgy and Bess and Telly Leung in Godspell

Here’s to many wonderful performances in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!

Follies

Broadway, Marquis Theatre

9/24/11 matinee performance

12/17/11 evening performance

Background: When I first heard about Stephen Sondheim’s Follies opening at the Kennedy Center last summer, I seriously considered making a trip to our nation’s capital to see it for one reason: Bernadette Peters. I’ve been a huge fan ever since I saw her as Desiree Armfeldt in last year’s revival of A Little Night Music. She is an exceptional performer. Unfortunately, I never got to D.C. last summer and so I was thrilled when it was announced that Follies was transferring to Broadway this fall... and it definitely met my expectations. Follies has everything you could possible want in a musical-- energetic dance numbers, exquisite costumes, stellar acting, a haunting story, and beautiful music, including the classics Broadway Baby, Losing My Mind, I’m Still Here, and Could I Leave You. 

Quick synopsis: Follies is the story of two discontented couples: Phyllis and Ben Stone played by Jan Maxwell and Ron Raines and Sally and Buddy Plummer played by Bernadette Peters and Danny Burstein. Thirty years ago, Phyllis and Sally, both Follies girls, were roommates, close friends, and dating Ben and Buddy respectively.  Now married, A Follies reunion brings these two couples together once again and issues of the past resurface. It is revealed that Sally is still in love with Ben after thirty years. Follies depicts each character’s emotional anguish; Sally’s breakdown in response to Ben’s unrequited love; Phyllis’ resentment of Ben’s apathy; Ben’s unhappiness with himself; and Buddy’s anger and desperation to keep Sally. Follies is basically an explosion of thirty years of suppressed emotions... and some scenes are quite explosive.  

Commentary: The best part of Follies was each of the four main characters, who were perfectly cast. 

Jan Maxwell as Phyllis Rogers Stone: Let’s start with Jan Maxwell, who stole the show. I admit that I saw Follies for the first time for Bernadette Peters, but I returned for the second time to see Jan Maxwell again. When she wasn’t on stage, I found myself wishing that she was. She brings wit, sarcasm, intelligence, vulnerability, and sass to the character of Phyllis and has mastered comic timing. i.e. “young man, you’re getting me all wet.” (go see Follies and you’ll understand). Her performance is somewhat contradictory in itself because she has an emotionally “heavy” role, yet part of the character’s charm is her sense of humor and sarcasm... but she made that balance work wonderfully. I loved the sarcastic and emotionally-charged Could I Leave You and her Follies number, The Story of Lucy and Jessie. For someone who says she is not a dancer, Jan Maxwell can dance pretty darn well. I can’t wait to see what she does next. She was just amazing. 

Bernadette Peters as Sally Durant Plummer: Bernadette Peters gave an equally wonderful performance, although I would not say that she “stole the show”, maybe because her character was not as likable as Phyllis. Even with that said, she has once again proven why her career has successfully spanned six decades. Bernadette Peters can sing and dance, but above all else, she can act. And more importantly, she acts as she sings and is able to effectively convey her emotions through her singing voice. When I saw her perform Send in the Clowns in A Little Night Music, I remember thinking, ‘now I know what that song means’. Similarly, her performance of Losing My Mind in Follies was equally as beautiful and emotionally raw. And while Bernadette Peters may not be the expected actress to play the “crazy”, mousy Sally, she is entirely believable. 

**I hope Jan Maxwell and Bernadette Peters both get Tony nods this year. 

Danny Burstein as Buddy Plummer and Ron Raines as Ben Stone gave very strong performances and were very well-cast. It was also nice to see British theatre legend Elaine Paige as Carlotta. Other cast members that stood out were: Terri White as Stella Deems (the Mirror number was amazing), and Mary Beth Peil as Solange (does anyone remember her as Grams on Dawson’s Creek?). 

As I was leaving the Marquis Theatre after the show on 12/17/11, I overheard an audience member saying that he didn’t like the ending because it had no resolution. While I don’t want to spoil the ending for anyone who is planning on seeing the show before it closes, I will say that Follies does not end the way most people want or expect it to. However, I did think that the ending was realistic and true to real-life relationships... and it leaves room for the imagination. I think there’s something to be said for stories that negate the traditional “happy ending” and end on a realistic, more thought-provoking note. For example, Next to Normal. Everyone wants Diana’s illness to be resolved, but in real life, there is no cure for bipolar disorder. If Diana was a real person, her life would always be an uphill battle. The musical would have lost its poignancy if it had ended with a true resolution. The same can be said for Follies. I think the ending is fine the way it is (but I didn’t tell the man at the theatre that of course). 

The Verdict:

**Go see Follies before it closes on 1/22/12 or catch it in Los Angeles this spring. You will not be sorry! P.S. Bernadette Peters will not be continuing with the L.A. production! 

**Buy the cast recording! Not only does it include all of the songs, it also includes several tracks of dialogue. Personal Favorites: Losing My Mind, The Story of Lucy and Jessie, Too Many Mornings, In Buddy’s Eyes, Could I Leave You, Live, Laugh, Love, and Broadway Baby.