Is TDF worth it?

Sorry if this question has been asked before--I tried searching but couldn't find anything, so here I am.

Right now there are two upcoming shows I want to see: Drood and Phantom. The thing is, I'm sure by next year there will be many more shows I'm interested in seeing. So is it worth it to pay the sign up money now for TDF and get discounted tickets in the future?

I'm just curious because I have no idea how good the seats are. I'd rather spend more money on good seats than pay a discount on bad seats. For instance, I signed up for HipTix and looked at Drood, but the seats are way in the back. I don't care if it's a low price, I can't sit that far back. I'd rather just pay the $100 or however much it costs to sit up front.

So basically, does TDF provide good seats for shows? I don't want to pay for the service and then have it turn out that the seats are terrible, meaning I wouldn't bother using it and it'd be a waste of the sign up fee.

Thanks!

For YOU, no it would not be worth. ANY discount program is for people that understand that to save money, you aren't going to get the cream of the crop, the cushion on your seat, the center of the meat. And we're ok with that.

Pay full price. You will be happier.

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For me, part of the fun of TDF is picking up my tickets at the box office and seeing if I've scored an orchestra seat. But you've been given good advice from the previous posters. I don't think TDF is what you're looking for.

In my limited experience (2 b'way, 3 off b'way), we've had lousy seats for the b'way shows, and seating doesn't much matter in most Off b'way houses. But the savings from just the Off b'way shows have more than paid the annual fee.

Just picked up Old Jews tix for $30 each (total), and looking forward to it.

I'm going to thread jack a little here but I didn't feel like starting a new thread. Does anyone know if Met Opera tickets ever go on TDF?

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I hae been seriously considering not signing up for TDF.Sure, tickets are still cheap for a musical, $49 including tax and fees for a musical. But for $15-20 bucks more I'd rather use a discount code and know where I am sitting weeks ahead of time. It is a great service if you live around the area. But as someone who does live near New York it is getting harder and harder to justify being a member as prices begin to rise.

I agree about the rising prices of TDF & am rethinking my own membership !

Thanks! I hadn't realized you have no idea where you're going to sit. Not sure if I want to go for it then. But thanks for your helpful answers, I appreciate it :)

But I have one more question: Let's say a person says that they used TDF and saw Phantom and sat in, say, the orchestra, does that mean that anyone else who uses TDF for Phantom in the future will also sit in the orchestra? Or is it completely random for each performance?

Hypothetical Example: TDF always gets orchestra seats for Drood, always gets mezzanine seats for Book of Mormon, etc. Or do the seat sections always vary?

I agree that TDF is a godsend. I joined last year, and just paid my $30 to renew. It's been a great 12 months! I saw 27 shows through TDF. I probably saved $50 to $75 (or even more) per ticket compared to the standard box office price. I started out with musicals and comedies, but now I've started to branch out, and I just got tickets to Virginia Woolf. If you're not fussy about where you sit, TDF is ideal. Best $30 I ever spent!

Updated On: 11/16/12 at 12:56 PM

Yes, you can get modest discounts with Broadwaybox, et. al, and you'll know your seats when you book. But, in my experience, the available discount inventory is usually side/rear orchestra or 3rd row or further back in the mezzanine, seldom prime center orchestra. So you may know where you're sitting, but it will likely be right orchestra row R, 8 or 10 seats off the aisle. (The exception is booking day before or day of, when some box offices release any still available prime orchestra seats for discount booking.)

On the day of show, the objective of box offices is to fill in the house. The block of TDF presales gives the box office a great tool to do that. An unsold single in Row F? Let's put that TDF single there. Nobody using the 2 remaining house seats in Row H? A TDFer might just luck out and get them. Last week I lucked out and got Row F center orchestra 4 seats off the aisle for Golden Boy. For a Book of Mormon preview, a friend and I got the 10th row center orchestra aisle pair, directly across the aisle from Jon Stewart. (And yes, we did feel we hit the theater equivalent of the Mega Millions jackpot.)

I've also gotten less-than-spectacular seats. But I think I've gotten better seats overall through TDF than via other discounts.

When I do get a great seat, I make it a point to thank the box office person for giving me such a great seat on TDF.

And remember that part of the great deal of TDF is the $4 fee PER ORDER for tickets (and that covers up to 9 tickets). Compare that to as much as $10 or $11 per ticket when you use a discount through Ticketmaster or Telecharge, and TDF comes out as an even better deal.

Updated On: 11/16/12 at 05:10 PM

I live in Detroit and visit NYC 2-3 times a year. I love tdf! Those discounted tickets always give the worst seats IMO, so tdf can't do any worse. At least if there are better seats available, with tdf, you will get them. If you look at the attendance% on the Playbill grosses, you can get a sense. As Edwin Drood is having low attendance, you're more likely to get a decent seat on the main floor. Plus, you generally end up sitting by other tdf members, so you have more to talk about when the show isn't on. The fee pays for itself with one ticket and it's a non-profit org that supports theater, so I don't mind it.

Even if you buy only a few tix a year, it's worth it...

IMO, TDF is not worth it if you're very choosy about your seats. I think that's pretty obvious. As someone who lives in NYC and can use it last minute to grab cheap tix to shows, it's completely worth it for me.

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