Advice for TKTS & 1st Bway show please?

[rjm516]

Posted: 6/14/11 at 9:41pm

Hello,
I haven't used TKTS for many years, but I am taking a friend to her very first Broadway show (I think it's her 1st theatrical production; she's from a tiny country) next Saturday (25th) so we figured we'd see what's available then.

Questions:
For a Saturday matinee in the summer, how early should we get in line?
What do you think is a good first show for someone (mid-20s)? What good choices might be available? (I did see the 'what was on the boards last week' TDF listing, but I mean considering question #2.)

The friend wanted to see Wicked, but the only tickets left are $150 and that's too much.
Thanks for any help.
Updated On: 6/14/11 at 09:41 PM

[mpd4165]

Posted: 6/14/11 at 9:49pm

I suggest getting there at least 1 1/2 - 2 hours ahead of time. I did that for a Friday evening and was certainly glad I did so. Also, if you have a smartphone, go ahead and get the TKTS app, because that will allow to keep track of what is on the board at the time without having to keep going out of line and check the board outside.

Expect these to most likely NOT be at the booth:
Anything Goes
The Book of Mormon
The Lion King
War Horse
Wicked

I recommend Catch Me If You Can. It's usually selling at 50% off, Norbert Leo Butz just won the Tony and he is a great reason to see it.

[CurtisB]

Posted: 6/14/11 at 9:58pm

I say skip TKTS and use broadwaybox.com. Same discounts, but online. Spares you the long lines and maybe not getting the show you want.

[rjm516]

Posted: 6/14/11 at 10:04pm

Thanks mpd!
Curtis I didn't realize BroadwayBox had the same discounts as TKTS? Is there any benefit to going to the booth over bwaybox?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/14/11 at 10:12pm

I've found that BroadwayBox usually offers 40% discounts. At TKTS you might be able to score 50% off.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/14/11 at 10:15pm

BroadwayBox is a solid discount and a guarantee of the tickets you want. TKTS is normally a better discount but you have no control of the quantity or location of the tickets. Could be good seats, could be bad seats, but they'll definitely be cheap seats.

[Ajpuppypal]

Posted: 6/15/11 at 8:40am

you could always try to get rush tickets or if you want to take a shot in the dark you can try for the wicked lottery
http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/82428-Broadway-Rush-Lottery-and-Standing-Room-Only-Policies

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/15/11 at 8:57am

If it were me, I'd take my friend to the Wicked lottery. Why not? It's early, leaving plenty of time for another lottery or TKTS.

[Feldzieg]

Posted: 6/15/11 at 9:12am

Does one of you have a student ID? That would give you lots of better options to get a cheap ticket.

If you are willing to get up early and stand in line for about 2 hours you could score rush seats for either Sister Act or How To Succeed. Would recommend the latter one - very entertaining show and they sell a lot more rush seats than Sister Act. Get in line directly in front of the theater at about 8 am. They open the Box Office at 10. Don't be intimidated if lots of people show up. They have two shows on Saturday and sell about 50-60 rush seats altogether (maybe even more). Sister Act sells only front row. For both shows it's $30.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/15/11 at 10:37am

Yeah, I say do the lottery too - if Wicked is the show she wants to see, it would be a shame for her to go back to her "small country" without seeing it. You could be lucky!

[Patash]

Posted: 6/15/11 at 3:22pm

Another option is to go to the South Street Seaport TKTS booth on Friday --as they sell Sat. Matinee tickets then. If you don't see what you want there then, you still have an entire day to go to box offices with your printed out Broadway Box or other discounts.