It's the time of year when people think about visiting New York City for the holidays — and maybe seeing a Broadway show. It's an exciting season to do that, since celebrities are all over Broadway this year (Robert Downey Jr. is on stage until after Thanksgiving; George Clooney's coming this spring.
But there's also Jim Parsons, Mia Farrow, Daniel Dae Kim, Kit Connor...
). Then again — you may be scared away by stories about $800 tickets. As a former theater critic and a long-time arts reporter, the question I’m asked most often is: How can I get affordable tickets? I’ve steered friends, relatives and colleagues toward cheaper (if never cheap) seats.
Here’s my best advice: Be flexible, if you can. Do you want to see a particular show (you’re a Sondheim fanatic, there’s a celebrity you love) or is it just that a Broadway show is on your bucket list? Are you flexible on dates and times? Do you care where you sit? If you can be flexible, you’ll have a better chance at finding less expensive tickets. Not every ticket costs hundreds of dollars.
There are plenty of options below $100 each, especially if you’re open to seeing almost anything, or at least a wide variety of shows. Ticket prices change depending on the day, the capacity of the theater and the seat — pricing can be fluid and depend on weekly popularity of a show. If you can, check prices for a few days and compare.
The difference could be significant. And then there are the dead times of year: Januar.
