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A CurtainUp Feature
Buying Good Tickets at the Best Price
By Elyse Sommer
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Due to the number of new plays just opened or currently in previews on Broadway, TDF For many visitors to New York, a visit to the TKTS booth operated by the Theatre Development fund is an experience in itself — a chance to get a hefty discount on a show and to chat with other theater goers. This season, with so many new plays opening, the snazzy redesigned Under the Red Steps booth has added "Play Only" windows #11 and 12 where theatergoers can buy their same-day discount tickets to dramas and comedies playing on and Off Broadway during regular TKTS hours. That means hardly any waits.
TDF's handsome redesigned website and the same information can still be found at http://www.entertainment-link.com/tkts.asp However, since these postings are never more than a guesstimate, it's best to just take your chances and heed some of these tips for using the booths (there's one downtown as well as in the Theater district ) and also take advantage of some of the other good deals available.
TDF & TKTS INFORMATION
To check out the redesigned website go here
News: As of Oct. 16, 2008, the TKTS booth is back on Father Duffy Square (Broadway and 47th Street, Manhattan). And ticket buyers will be able to make their purchases using major credit cards, in addition to cash and travelers checks, for same-day tickets to Broadway, Off Broadway, music and dance productions.
Times Square: Hours for evening performances: Monday - Saturday: 3pm - 8pm; Sundays: 3pm until one-half hour before the latest curtain time being sold. Wednesdays and Saturdays: 10am - 2pm for matinee performances only and Sundays: 11am - 3pm. Downtown: For evening performances: Monday - Friday: 11am - 6pm Sundays: 11am - 6pm (closed on Sundays beginning January 21st). Matinee tickets are sold the day before Monday - Friday: 11am - 6pm, Saturdays: 11am — 7 pm, Sundays (to Jan. 21st) : 11am - 6pm
TIPS
Straight playgoers can avoid long lines by heading for the Play Booth which usually has short or no lines since most TKTS liner-uppers tend to want to see musicals.
Tues and Thursdays are the days you're most likely to get good deals.
It's not always best to be first on line. The lines tend to be shortest after 6pm. What's more the most successful TKTS buyers know that tickets are released to TKTS by the producers who sometimes wait as late as 7pm to send over tickets. This doesn't always work, especially on weekends when a lot of the best shows get picked up fast.
GOOD NEWS FOR BROOKLYN RESIDENTS AND VISITORS TKTS Discount booth in Downtown Brooklyn in 1 MetroTech Center at the corner of Jay Street and Myrtle Avenue will be open from Tuesday - Saturday, 11am to 6pm. The booth has been open from Monday - Fridays. The Saturday hours (effective this Saturday, November 8) replace Monday hours, a day when most shows do not perform. "We're pleased to be open on Saturdays, thus giving Brooklyn residents and visitors the opportunity to purchase tickets for Saturday evening and Sunday matinee performances," said TDF's executive director, Victoria Bailey. "We opened in July with the assistance of the MetroTech BID and Congresswoman Joan Millman. They were instrumental in helping us work out with MetroTech how to allow us access on the weekend, when the building is closed for business. We know these new Saturday hours will make ticket purchasing much easier for all the theatre lovers in Brooklyn."
WHERE: TKTS DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – 1 MetroTech Center at the corner of Jay Street and Myrtle Avenue (across from Downtown Brooklyn Marriott) Booth.
HOURS & DIRECTIONS: As of 11/06/08: TKTS downtown will be open Saturdays for Saturday evening and Sunday Matinee performances Saturday - Friday from 11am to 6pm. TKTS will sell tickets to same-day evening performances and next-day matinee performances. TKTS Downtown Brooklyn will accept credit cards, cash and travelers checks.* It is located right outside of the Jay Street-Borough Hall station of the A, C and F trains and near the Court Street – Borough Hall station of the M, R, 2, 3, 4, 5 trains and the Lawrence Street station of the M, and R trains.
Savvy bargain hunters use sites like Broadway Box to print out discount codes (Broadway Box) and take these directly to the box office a half hour or an hour before curtain time when unused house seats (which are great seats) are sold.
People who live in New York and go to the theater often and are willing to take a chance on shows in previews or playing Off and Off-Off-Broadway, also do well by joining a seat filling club like the Theater Mania Gold Club, Play by Play or Audience Extras where the initial membership fee usually pays for itself once you see a couple of shows. If you don't know what to expect from a show on offer, check our annotated listings for Off Broadway and Broadway
A caveat excerpted from a letter from one of our readers: ". . . you should warn your readers about people who hang around the Duffy Square line hawking tickets which are cheaper than at the TKTS window and center of the orchestra. This is illegal and the tickets could be counterfeit which would mean a raw deal instead of a good deal. On the other hand, I've on occasion gone to a theater box office to purchase tickets and met people who were trying to return tickets they couldn't use. These kinds of arrangements tend to work out okay. Lee B. That's B as in Beware!"
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