When is a theater weekend not a theater weekend?

[mikewood]

Posted: 5/6/05 at 9:41am

When it takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday of course!

I have a bit of hairbrained scheme in mind and wanted to get the opinions of you folks "in the know."

Some questions:

1) This may be an ignorant question but I know Mondays are generally dark for shows in NYC but what about Tuesdays. Can you catch a show on a Tuesday night on Broadway? I know when the tours come to Boston you generally can.

2) How dark is the week between Christmas and New Years? Here is the deal: My mom is a snowbird and I'll be driving her car to Arizona. Usually when I do this I start the trip in NYC and do a Broadway weekend. This year, of course, New Years Eve is on Saturday, and I'm an introverted claustrophobic when not on stage so Times Square on New Year's Eve is the last place I want to be. Anyway, I thought I would start my trip on Tuesday with a show and then do a double dip on Wednesday, but my concern is whether or not the week after Christmas is a relatively normal schedule. (BTW, I've done the Radio City show and while entertaining once was enough.)

3) I anticipate not buying "star-driven" shows with stunt casting since the combination of the holiday week coupled with the shows being early in the week leads me to believe I'll be seing plenty of understudy action.

So how harebrained is my scheme?

Updated On: 5/6/05 at 09:41 AM

[peach]

Posted: 5/6/05 at 11:54am

Monday is dark for most shows (not all though) Tuesday is generally a night where most shows are on. Check the individual shows' Web sites for the "regular" schedule.

In terms of holiday week - it varies show to show. It seems most don't performa X-Mas Eve, and New Year's Eve (New Year's eve for obvious reasons). Other than that most have a limited schedule, but pretty full. The box office3 can tell you for sure.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 5/6/05 at 11:56am

Also, a lot of the shows are doing their Tuesday shows at 7 now, rather than 8.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 5/6/05 at 1:01pm

Playbill online usually publishes "holiday week" schedules. To make up for missed performances, some shows add extra matinees or play on evenings when they are usually dark. You can actually work this to your advantage if you want to see as many shows as possible.

Be aware though, that the week between Christmas and New Years is traditionally Broadway's busiest week and usually sets gross and attendance records, so you may have trouble getting last minute tickets.

[mikewood]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 4:25pm

Thank you all. I agree about buying tickets in advance....I'm actually looking to start buying next year's vacation piecemeal as I go as soon as I finish paying for this year's trip!

[eyeonbroadway]

Posted: 5/7/05 at 4:33pm

I was in NYC the week between Christmas and New Year's two years ago...and it was pretty busy. We're tourists so we had to do New Year's Eve in Times Square at least once...and I'd never do it again...but the rest of the week was great! We had all of our evening tickets in advance but took a chance and managed to get matinee tickets to Boy From Oz the afternoon of New Year's Eve. I think it was a fluke that we managed to get them, though. Hope you enjoy yourself!