Trip Advice

Hi guys,

My friend and I are working on plans for a trip that takes place a year from now. We want to set up a payment schedule to help spread out costs. The only reason we are coming is to see shows, so we have made room for 12.

These are the shows we are looking at for consideration: Tuck Everlasting, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Shuffle Along, Cats, Hello Dolly, Miss Saigon, Singin in the Rain, The Wiz, Naked Boys Singing, Fun Home, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, and Hamilton.

Will most of these either be open, or still be running a year from now?

If not, these are the shows on our "back up" list: Bright Star, Waitress, On Your Feet, Falsettos, The Bandstand, The Color Purple, Gotta Dance, Groundhog Day, The King and I, Something Rotten, The Present, My Fair Lady, Gypsy.

We love all things Broadway, so we are open to anything. What shows are must sees, and which ones should we scratch off the list? Are they any shows I've left off? Thanks in advance for any help!

Shows running now probably won't/may not be running a year from now: Bright Star, King and I, Something Rotten, Fun Home

You have a lot of shows on your list that aren't confirmed to come in, or don't have dates yet, so you may have to hold off. Why is Naked Boys Singing on your list with a bunch of Broadway shows?

You should get your Hamilton tickets as soon as they go on sale. Like, go on Ticketmaster the moment the sale opens.

Great info so far...thanks! I will for sure make some room for The Color Purple on my schedule. The reason it wasn't on my main list was because I saw the original production of that show...how different is this show?

NBS is on my list only because it's on Saturdays at 6...its just one more show that we can go see while waiting for one of the bigger shows.

I'm checking daily for Hamilton ticket info...I CANT miss it!

As far as some more specific questions I have...what are the chances that Tuck Everlasting will last a year? Will Audra still be in Shuffle Along at that point? What are the chance that Nicole will reprise her role in Cats? Miss Saigon, Charlie, and Singin in the Rain - all say "Spring of 2017" - Is it typical that Spring openings happen by mid-march? Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Is it likely that Josh will stick around until that time? Gypsy - I've heard some rumblings that this is making it to NYC soon...is that accurate?

Sorry for all the random Q's - but yall are helping me more than you know!!

I LOVED Natasha Pierre ant the Great Comet of 1812, but that is another show for you to get tickets for fairly early for, onstage seating improves the experience alot. I think Audra will still be there due to that she will most likely get the Tony and will have a 1 year contract. As said before, Bright Star already has dismal sales and it would take some form of a miracle to make it go to 2017. I dont see why Nicole Scherzinger would reprise her role, but stranger things have happened. Spring 2017 means it is in Spring 2017, all depends on availability. I have no idea about Groban, celebrities have odd schedules. No ideas about Gypsy.

If they're open (I don't know all the opening dates), I wouldn't worry about Cats, Hello Dolly, Miss Saigon, and Hamilton still being open a year from now. It's a difficult call at this point with everything else. There are too many variables.

As for must-sees I vote for Fun Home and Hamilton. I haven't seen them but Shuffle Along, The Wiz, and Natasha Pierre would be the other ones on my list.

Tuck Everlasting can't really count on name talent or name recognition though it has them in some circles. I think it depends on what the material is like and whether it gets good word of mouth and catches on with families and younger audiences. It's not the easy sell of Matilda or School of Rock or Aladdin.

Nicole being in Cats is one of the only reasons I'd go see Cats. The for sure way you could rule her out is seeing if she's signed up for one of the many reality shows she pops up on.

I don't see Gypsy coming in but you never know.

Yes, aside from Hamilton and Dolly, you'll have to wait. We don't have dates for any of the other shows you mentioned and without dates, you can't buy tickets. No way to know when they'll be announced.

As far as some more specific questions I have...what are the chances that Tuck Everlasting will last a year? Will Audra still be in Shuffle Along at that point? What are the chance that Nicole will reprise her role in Cats? Miss Saigon, Charlie, and Singin in the Rain - all say "Spring of 2017" - Is it typical that Spring openings happen by mid-march? Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Is it likely that Josh will stick around until that time? Gypsy - I've heard some rumblings that this is making it to NYC soon...is that accurate?

Too early to tell about Tuck yet.

Josh will still be in Natasha Pierre probably. The rest of the things are early to tell.

Gypsy probably not coming.

Ok...just checking back in for some more help...

I have 9 show slots to fill...

These are the shows that I am FOR SURE seeing and that I know will be open when I go:

Hello Dolly, Hamilton, Aladdin, School of Rock, The Great Comet.

These are the shows that I THINK will be open, and that I would like to see:

Dear Evan Hanson and Singin' in the Rain.

These are the shows that I would REALLY like to see, but have no idea if they will be around when I go from March 17 to 23 of next year:

The Wiz, The Present, Photograph 51, Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, Gypsy, Spongebob.

Anyone have info on which of these shows I should plan on seeing? Or any info on if these shows will be around? Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

I understand that you want to spread out costs, but most of the shows that will begin performances in the spring won't release their timeline and put tickets on sale until very late in the year or even the beginning of next year. The exception are big block-boster shows like Dolly. Like someone else has said, many might not begin previews until mid to late March so that they have their Opening Night in the last week before the cut-off. That week typcially sees one Opening Night every day. But even shows that say they will start previews just in time for you to see them might push back their first preview a few days just before they are about to start. I feel like 1-2 shows do that every year. Another thing you might want to take into consideration is the shows weekly schedule. Especially during previews some shows have different schedules (no matinees, but a Sunday or Monday evening show instead, for example). So it's good not to book too many shows until you have a good overview of what you can see on what does. And I expect a bunch of shows to still be announced for either this season, or be perhaps pushed back to the next because of theater availability. It's hard to say what shows will last through the two low selling periods Sep-Nov and Jan-Feb. That however will determine how many new shows will come in, and when. Some spring shows might even jump in very last minute if a theater opens up.

The bottom line is, it's VERY hard to plan a Broadway trip this far in advance, With the exception of Hamilton I think a good time to book your shows might be around December.



In terms of spreading out your costs, instead of trying to buy tickets very early on, why don't you transfer something into a savings account every month? That way you put it aside and to save instead of spend, and then have it available when you need to make a lot of bookings at once. And hotels and flights can be booked a lot longer in advance.



Also, make a list/spread sheet to collect the info that's already out there to keep organised. I will mostly likely not be back during this season, so I haven't been paying close attention what shows announced dates ect,, but some have or will shortly, and it'll be easier to make a list of your options with details, instead of trying to keep it in your head. Playbill has a useful overview of upcoming shows, and they are pretty good at updating that list when new details are announced (like their preview, Opening Night and closing dates): click