Can someone please explain to me how lotteries work?

I'm kind of new to the whole broadway obsession thing. I've been hearing about Rush and Lotteries and TKTS. Can someone explain what these things are and how they work?

(btw- I did a search on this and didnt find nething, so if I failed in searching, and this topic already exists can someone explains the whole search feature too?)

RUSH tickets sold on the day of the performance, only at the box office. Prices range from $20 - $30.

STUDENT RUSH tickets are the same thing, but only sold to students, with a valid school I.D. The type of school doesn't matter, it's honored from Jr. High and Up.

LOTTERY tickets are usually for the front row of the theater. You go to the box office on the day of the show and enter your name to win, 2 hours before the show.

STANDING ROOM ONLY tickets are sold when a show is sold out. They are usually for the area behind the Orchestra seating section.

TKTS is a booth in Duffy Square (right in the middle of Times Square), where half price tickets are sold, to most on and off Broadway shows. Don't expect to see Wicked or Spamalot, it just sells tickets to shows that aren't sold out.

How much is it to enter the lottery?

Thank you for your answers by the way.

This page gives information about rush and lottery policies for most shows.


Playbill Rush Policy Page