Random and Spontaneous Trips to NYC

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:13am

For those of you who have a bit of a commute into the city and get there by train or bus, did you ever randomly wake up and decide, "I feel like seeing a show today; I think I'll go into the city." Or for those who live in the city did you ever randomly see a show last minute?

One Sunday I woke up around 7 am-ish. I decided that I had nothing to do that day so I randomly took the train for 1.5 hrs into the city and ran all around trying to find rush; in the end I got Spamalot. Gotta love those random trips into the city. <3

[christine_c]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:19am

I'm a teenager, and I always want to do that. I mean, if I have a friend with me and I have a ride to the city, why not go? My mom, however, hates New York with a burning passion. That really is pretty suck for me because I love it up there and if I could I'd be going up every week to see shows. In fact,I plan on it, when I have, you know... a car.

But, yeah. I think spontaneous trips are the best kind! :)

[Bwayfan4]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:27am

I've never woke up and just gone to NYC to a show, for fear that I wouldn't be able to get tickets to a show. But within the past two months, I've just randomly decided to hop on the Telecharge site and buy tickets in advance for shows. (I've spent WAY too much money with doing this...the convenience is too much for me to handle!)

[javertim]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 7:18am

Yesterday I decided to see what the Les Mis ticket availability situation was ... I found row A center mezannine for tonight (Thursday) and decided it was time. So, yeah, I'm ditching my class and travelling the 3.5 hours from Baltimore via Greyhound. I cannot wait!

[ghostlight]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 8:25am

I've recently discovered "cheap seats". You have to be careful about the theater - have a seating chart on hand. But when you go to Telecharge or Ticketmaster, you can often just pull down the ticket price availability bar and lo and behold - there are $25 seats to top shows. These are usually the last few rows - so beware. Some shows it matters - others it doesn't. I just bought seats for Thanksgiving weekend for Drowsy Chaperone - $25 each. Granted, my family is splitting up, not all sitting together - but who cares! Personally, I like to have a ticket in hand when going to NY vs. gambling for rush or lottery and I hate waiting in TKTS lines.

I'll post after we return to let you know if these tickets were worth it!

[ahmelie]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:47am

As soon as I get old enough to just take the bus up with a friend, my friend and I are planning on going up any time we have a long weekend, not that spontaneous, but more so then otheres would prefer, I guess.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:49am

When I lived in the suburbs, I often planned ahead, but there were plenty of times I woke up one morning, realized I've been doing nothing the whole week and just decided to go see something. I agree, those are fun!

Oddly, I don't think I've actually done the spontaneous thing living here yet, though I am discovering the joy of being able to try lotto day after day until I finally win.

[MotorTink]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:53am

I only live about 20 minutes outside of NYC, but with traffic and parking it is still a hassle unless you use public trans. But once in a while we'll just head it for no reason and walk around times square for hours. I've never just gone in to see a show though. We keep talking about doing it, but haven't yet. Soon. but I agree I keep buying tickets on the internet, my fiance is going to kill me!

[jess20882]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 11:58am

I live in NYC, so I have it easier than some of you, it sounds like. Sometimes if I find myself with nothing to do, I'll head on over to Times Square and see what tickets I can scrounge-up. Or I'll wake up one morning and decide 'I feel like seeing something tonight!' - I did that last weekend and somehow managed to get a last-minute center mezzanine seat to see Mary Poppins last Saturday night!

I just wish it would be easier for other people who might not be able to afford that. Not that I can, necessarily, but it's hard for me to justify spending $110 on a ticket, unless I've been saving up for it (like I saved to go see A Chorus Line on opening night).

[mattnyc2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:24pm

The best part of living in the city is waking up and thinking, "I have nothing to do today, maybe I'll go get lottery or rush for..." That happened to me a couple weeks ago when I was off from work on a Wednesday, decided to do the lotto for Drowsy Chaperone and won. Gotta love NYC!

[MotorTink]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:26pm

How does Lotto work? You sign your name up, and if it's called you get tickets?? Are they extremely low price or something?

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 12:52pm

Agreed! I lived fifteen blocks from Times Square during my four years at college, and there were many times my friends and I decided to wander downtown and try to find tickets for something.

I don't remember ever being successful, but we weren't trying very hard.

[mattnyc2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:54pm

It's usually not too hard to find tickets to something, as long as your not picky and it's not a saturday night. Between rush, lottos, and standing room there are cheap tickets to be had for broadway shows.

I've lived in New York for less than a year and I've already seen about a dozen broadway (and numerous off and off off broadway) show s for around 25 bucks. To quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing."

[mattnyc2]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:54pm

It's usually not too hard to find tickets to something, as long as your not picky and it's not a saturday night. Between rush, lottos, and standing room there are cheap tickets to be had for broadway shows.

I've lived in New York for less than a year and I've already seen about a dozen broadway (and numerous off and off off broadway) show s for around 25 bucks. To quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing."

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:56pm

Oh, we totally could have gotten tickets if we really wanted to. But we're picky, and it was really just a way to kill a couple hours.

I saw plenty of shows in those four years, mostly with cheap student discounts or other deals. I just mean we never ended up seeing anything when we went out spontaneously.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 3:59pm

Yeah, I live in the city now, but when I lived on Long Island, I would do that all the time. I used to walk to the train station after school, take the train into the city, see a show, take the train back, and call my mother to pick me up from the train station (you know, back before I could drive).

That's why I'm wearing my school uniform in all my stagedoor pictures from high school. :)

I'm still pretty spontaneous about seeing shows, but strangely, now that I actually live in the city, I'm more apt to plan it out beforehand.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:07pm

Yeah, I usually plan about a week in advance. Like, "Hmm. I want to see this show. I have next Tuesday free! Okay, Tuesday it is!" and then I'll go.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:21pm

Gee, it's nice to see people who have money just to throw away on Broadway tickets. I was on the net the other night checking out the ticket prices for '12 Angry Men', unreal on what the prices are. I noticed the more closer you get to the stage, the more expensive it gets. Maybe someday they'll make another movie version of '12 Angry Men' with the same cast that is now touring in Baltimore MD.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:23pm

If you read the thread at all, we were talking about finding last-minute rush tickets. $25 is hardly a lot of money to "throw away" on a show. Student offers are there for a reason: students don't have money.

Please read thoroughly before you judge.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:27pm

RTfan, if you stopped *throwing away* all of your money on gas for your car, eating at restaurants, and going to the movies, maybe you could find some money to spend on living in NYC and going to the theater regularly. We choose to spend our money on theater, and budget accordingly.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:28pm

i wish i could make random trips to NYC...i will someday though once im older!
for now, i just go on telecharge, look at tickets, and plan shows for trips that are never gonna happen :P just for fun though

[beachbum]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 4:45pm

Living in Florida makes it a little hard to make the trip real spontaneous, however, on a few occasions I have checked into flights and tickets spur of the moment and managed to work it out to fly up for the day see a matinee and catch a flight out that night... sometimes you just have to get that broadyway fix!

In the summer I live in CT so I jump on the train whenever possible and catch a show ... the train is a bit easier then working out the flight situation!

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 5:02pm

I love random trips to the city. In fact the majority of the shows I've seen were last minute.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 10/26/06 at 5:27pm

I don't usually take random trips, but I usually get my tickets in the city.

I did see the History Boys randomly. (I had seen Rent at 2 and decided that since I was in the city, its stupid to go home, lol)

[FeelingElectric]

Posted: 10/27/06 at 8:40am

The first of my "overnight" trips to Broadway happened on a day's notice about a year ago. I work overnights, and found out on a Saturday that I would be off on Sunday and Monday night. I wanted to catch Brooke Shields in Chicago, and there was a discount code for the show at the time. I got the tickets on Sunday for Monday night, hopped on a Greyhound Monday afternoon (a four-hour ride to NYC), saw the show Monday night, hung out in the city for a few hours, and caught the first Greyhound back Tuesday morning. It worked out so well, I have been doing it on a regular basis ever since. However, I have never purchased ticket so soon before a show since then. Now that I am a menber of TDF, I will probably do a spur of the moment show again soon.