Yes, You Can See That Show!
To quote AOTY Grammy Winner Beyoncé, this is a reminder.
Hi all! My lovely friend Sara (who now has her own Substack you ought to check out!1) and I were chatting about the Broadway play English, and she mentioned that it looked like it was too expensive for her to see, but that she was sorry to miss it! With utter glee, I shouted “No! You can see it for $30! Through HipTix! There’s an APP!” With that in mind, I figured it was time for a reminder of how to see cheap theater in New York. This is somewhat a copy and paste of the last time I did this, but I’ve also tried to note new shows that I’d recommend seeing.
Once again, apologies to my non-New York friends - this is not for you, but if you have relatives or friends (or enemies) who live in New York who like theater, send this to them! You can even go crazy and tell them to subscribe to get all my posts :)
The Non-Profits
Signature Theatre
Since last time I made this list, Signature has changed its policies (thanks in large part to my coworker Tori! Go Tori!), and now anyone under 30 can get $30 tickets to productions any time during the run, by signing up for the SIG30 membership! Signature also has a student membership that allows any student to get $20 tickets (and bring along a non-student guest for $30). As an employee, I’d recommend both shows we have coming up, Sam Hunter’s Grangeville and Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, but I know Eurydice in particular is a favorite of a lot of people, and it’s starring Maya Hawke! It’s gonna be a good one - get your tickets while they’re hot.
Roundabout Theatre Company
As mentioned above, Roundabout has a program called HipTix that allows folks aged 18-40 to buy $30 tickets to their shows. You can buy them on the website, or through the HipTix app. I cannot recommend their current production of Sanaz Toossi’s English enough. I am also quite excited about Pirates!, a new version of Pirates of Penzance.
Ars Nova
Ars Nova is still doing pay-what-you-can tickets for their productions (the lowest amount you can do is $15)! Ars Nova does really wonderful and unique work (think Great Comet or KPOP) and has a great breadth of kinds of programming (music, comedy, theater, etc), and bonus, the theater is in the West Village so you might not have to go to midtown.
Lincoln Center
If you’re between 18 and 35, you can sign up for LincTix and get $32 tickets to various Lincoln Center Productions. I would recommend that you get tickets to Floyd Collins, an Adam Guettel and Tina Laundau musical starring Lizzy McAlpine, but I fear the LincTix may be sold out (getting mine was a bloodbath).
Manhattan Theatre Club
MTC has a $30 under 35 deal, you just need to sign up for the free membership. The tickets also tend to be difficult to snag for their more popular shows - I’d recommend getting tickets to Old Friends (the star-powered Sondheim revue coming this spring), but also I want those tickets before they sell out and don’t want you taking mine!
New York City Center
If you’re under 40, you can get $28 tickets to NYCC shows by signing up for Access Tickets! I should note that these seats are very high up and at the way back of a very large theater, so they’re not for those with poor eyesight or a fear of heights, but I cannot WAIT to see Urinetown there next week, and I’d guess that tickets are still available, if you too want to see Keala Settle belt “Privilege to Pee.”
New York Theater Workshop
Tragically NYTW does not have a youth membership/discount, but “If you’re under 25, over 65, an artist, or a resident of the East Village and Lower East Side, you can snag a $25 seat via their CheapTix Rush at any performance.” I’m hoping to somehow get affordable tickets to Lights Out: Nat King Cole later this spring, because I love Dule Hill and want to see him tap dance live, but tickets aren’t yet available. This is another great downtown option, and A Knock on the Roof, playing now, is devastating and worth seeing.
Playwrights Horizons
At Playwrights, you have two options: (1) if you’re a student or 35 and under, sign up for a Young Membership for $10 or $20 tickets to shows, respectively. Or (2) sign up to usher in exchange for a free seat! I’ve ushered a few times, and got to see two of last year’s big hits, Stereophonic and Teeth, for free this way. They also don’t make you wear all black, which is huge.
Second Stage
You also have two options at Second Stage! If you’re under 30, get $30 tix using the promo code 30UNDER30. Or volunteer usher! I love ushering at Second Stage, and my eyes are currently peeled for the email with usher slots to Branden Jacobs Jenkins’ new play, Purpose (Note: this is not a 2ST show, but it is in their theater, and so I assume they’ll use 2ST ushers, as previous shows have in the past).
Public Theater
The Public has ok ticket lotteries, and if you win the lottery for their Shakespeare in the Park programming, tickets are free. I personally have only won the lottery once, but I’m sure it’s doable if you manifest enough (I am lucky, good things happen to me). This summer, the hottest (free) ticket in town is going to be Twelfth Night, starring Lupita Nyong’o, Junior Nyong’o, Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Moses Sumney. For non-Shakespeare in the Park, the Public also has $40 tickets available for students - you can get them in person or call the box office.
PAC
The Perelman Performing Arts Center’s programming often skews more towards dance or performance art than theater, but they too have an Under 30 program. This is how I saw Cats: The Jellicle Ball from the good seats! The website says you can use a promo code to get the tickets, but past experience leads me to believe it may be easier to just go to the box office. They also have discounts for educators and students!
Broadway, Baby
Warning, if you make a TodayTix account, they will send you So Many Emails. However, it is a good way to enter ticket lotteries or get discounted seats. For example, my lovely friends and I just got tickets to John Proctor is the Villain for $50. This is pretty good, but it turns out we could have gotten them for even cheaper, because they were on...
The best kept secret of Broadway, the Theater Development Fund does cost money to join - you pay a small fee for your membership, but once you’re a member, you can get tickets to Off-Broadway for ~ $40 and Broadway for ~ $60, and there are SO many show options. I’d highly recommend.2
I haven’t tried this because I like having power over what I spend my money on, and also because generally, I try not to spend more than $50 on a theater ticket, but basically, you give them a day, and they get you a ticket to a random Broadway show for $49-$59.
Rush/Lottery
Rushing a show = going to the theater’s box office day of, to see what tickets they have left. Generally between $30 and $50 tickets. Ticket Lotteries are generally done digitally now, on a variety of sites (TodayTix, Lucky Seat, Broadway Direct etc.) - just look up the show you want to see to figure out what site they use. These vary in cost: Hamilton’s lottery tickets are $10 if you win, most are higher than than this.
TKTS Booth
Self-explanatory. You go in person to Times Square and see what they’ve got.
That’s it! I have a couple other ways of getting free tickets, namely comps, press tickets, and friends, and if I ever have a spare ticket, I will cycle through my list of friends to find someone to give it to - that person could be YOU, if you’d like! With that, happy consumersisming!
This is what we girls in Brooklyn do :) we start Substacks!
There is also another form of TDF that is free for people affliated with CUNYs and other orgs. If you are curious about whether you can get these tickets, text me. Let’s discuss.