I Saw Over 60 Shows This Year—and Spent Less Than $25 a Ticket
Here’s how I did it.
Some people spend money on clothes. Others spend it on travel. Some really love a fancy dinner.
I like to spend my money on theater—but like, not that much money.
Seeing a show a week—or more than that, as I clocked in 62 shows before mid-December—could be an extremely expensive habit. I have made it my mission not to be.
Instead, I saw 62 shows. 34 musicals and 28 plays, 28 on Broadway, 22 Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, or other. For an average of $24 a ticket.
(I did get some freebies: gifts, plus ones to comp offers from my kind theater friends, and my first few press tickets. If we take those out, my average is still $33 a ticket!)
According to Broadway League, theater-goers paid an average of $145.70 a Broadway ticket this year. So how’d I manage an 83% discount?
Here are all the hacks. Because theater doesn’t have to be that expensive, with a mix of work, luck, and patience.
1. Get a TDF membership
If Theatre Development Fund (TDF) has no fans, I am buried in the ground, six feet under, dead. TDF is a non-profit organization that offers a yearly membership that gives you discount offers to arts performances.
Here’s why I love it:
The yearly membership costs $42, which makes up for its cost within a single ticket.
There are tons of ways to qualify: if you’re under 30, freelancing, teaching, working in the arts, a veteran, a student, working for the government, a part of a union....the list goes on.
The most expensive tickets are $60: That’s for a Broadway musical. It’s generally $50 for a play. Off-Broadway tends to be ~$40. Other shows can be as low as $11.
You can bring friends!: You can choose up to 9 tickets per show.
Seats are good: You don’t get to choose your seats, but nearly every ticket I’ve gotten has been in the orchestra or front mezzanine.
You can see more than just theater: TDF offers deals on all kinds of arts performances, including dance, concerts, and operas. There are even random events. I could have gone to watch the Off-Broadway version of the Tonys for $30.
I won’t stop shouting from the rooftops about TDF because it has enabled me to see so much more theater than I ever thought possible (a third of my shows this year!).
2. Look for theater-specific offers
If I want to see a specific show, I go straight to that theater’s website to check for discounts.
Many off-Broadway theaters offer age-based (up to under 40) and student discounts. Some of my favorites:
Manhattan Theatre Club
Signature Theatre
Playwrights Horizons
New York City Center
Second Stage Theater
Lincoln Center
Roundabout Theatre
The Shed
These offers may require a “membership,” but it’s free—just sign up with your email.
3. Try your chances at the lottery ...
There are so many theater lotteries you can enter nearly every day. If you win, they’re generally $40-$50, and you get tickets for the following day.
You can find lotteries on:
Annnd the Hamilton app, if you’re just feeling like trying your chances at “Hamilton” (that lottery gets you $10 tickets!).
If you can remember to click a button each day, there’s a good shot that at some point, you’re going to win. Quite literally everyone I know who consistently tries the lottery has won it sometime within a few months.
The lottery brought me good fortune this year: being a plus one to a “Maybe Happy Ending” win and winning the “Twelfth Night” Shakespeare in the Park lottery. The latter is a moment I will quite literally never forget (and will make sure no one in my life forgets either).
4. ... or digital rush
Rush tickets are same-day discounted tickets. Digital rush means you can snag them online instead of waiting in line at the box office.
Find them on:
The TodayTix app
Telecharge
Digital rush prices can depend greatly depending on the show, but if you’re looking for something last minute, this is a good hack.
5. Go during previews
Previews are public performances before a show’s official opening night. Depending on how early in previews you go, the production might still be tweaking things. Tickets are often cheaper, or the theater might offer a special previews pricing discount.
This is where it pays off to track shows you’re interested in that you think might get popular later. I saw “John Proctor is the Villain” before it was nominated for Best Play for $50—all thanks to a previews deal.
6. Become an usher
One of my favorite ways to see a show is to be a volunteer usher. You show up to the theater about an hour before, hand out programs, hold a sign, or direct people to their seat, then get to watch the show for free. Sometimes you get to see the actors on stage before they’re getting ready to go on (I’m sorry to the cast of “Purpose” who heard us giggling in the mezzanine while you were preparing).
You don’t need any experience to be a volunteer usher. Often, all it takes is sending an email, and the house manager of the theater will add you to their usher list. I’ve literally found these opportunities by googling the theater and then “volunteer usher.”
I’m almost hesitant to share this hack as volunteer ushering has gotten quite competitive—I’ve missed opportunities because I didn’t fill out the sign-up form 10 minutes after it was released.
But ushering is fun and helps the theater, and it’s a great way to get down your cost per show.
7. Don’t be picky about dates
If you live in New York City (or nearby) full-time, you have the ultimate cheap(er) theater advantage: you can go whenever you’ve available.
Tourist seasons, like right now, often have sky-high theater prices. If you’re willing to wait a week or two, you’ll see huge price drops. It pays to have flexibility.
It also pays to be able to hop on a subway and see a show last minute. One of my favorite apps is Theatr, a stoop marketplace where people resell theater tickets they can’t use for cheaper prices.
I was meeting my family for dinner in midtown when I decided to buy a “Glengarry Glen Ross” ticket less than an hour before curtain. Do I regret buying a ticket hundreds of dollars cheaper than those tickets were going for? No. Do I regret seeing that show? That’s another story.
My biggest lesson: it pays to do your research. See if it’s on discount sites, check the theater’s website, hunt for codes, try the lottery or rush. With a bit of legwork—and luck—you may never pay full price.
Happy cheap(er) theater-going,
Zoe
