Broadway Theater

Here are some more information for Broadway Theater:

Buying Broadway Tickets Within Budget

Of course, the most common way to buy Broadway tickets is through the box office of the theaters. Through the box office, you can either buy tickets in advance or for the day of the performance. If you purchase your Broadway tickets, by phone, or through the online resources of the theater concerned, you will still need to pick up your tickets from the ‘will call’ at the box office. This is all very fine, and you will have to pay the face value of the tickets.

For those who know, they have means to buy their Broadway tickets at slightly reduced prices than the face value of the tickets.

Below Face Value Tickets

Many shows on Broadway offer Broadway tickets at special prices for specific groups, such as for students and children. These special priced tickets are for specific locations within the theater. There are also certain programs on offer, where through an annual subscription, you have access to inexpensive or free Broadway tickets for a variety of shows. Take a look at some of the ways to avail Broadway tickets below face value:

Group Tickets – Most Broadway or Off-Broadway theaters offer tickets en bloc at a discount, which could be as much as 15 to 20 percent. ‘Group’ may vary from theater to theater as well as from show to show, but would normally be referred to as between 10 to 20 people. You can check the show’s website to find out whether group discounts are on offer or not. There are a number of ticketing agencies that deal solely in group sales of Broadway tickets.

Student Discount Tickets – Many theaters provide students’ discount Broadway tickets for particular shows, especially during the preview period. Details for such ticket sales can be obtained from either the theater’s website, or from the box office.

Lottery/Rush Tickets – A limited number of lottery tickets are sold prior to the show time. About 3 hours or so before the start of the show, lottery cards are distributed. The winners are announced about 2 hours before the show. These are Broadway tickets sold at reduced prices. There are certain discounted seats available that the producers are keen to sell. Not all theaters and neither do all shows offer such rush/lottery tickets. You need to check the show’s website or the theater’s box office. These Broadway tickets are available for cash only.

Standing Room Only (SRO) – For certain shows, certain theaters offer standing room only tickets. These are certain designated places in the theater, especially at the back of the auditorium, where one can watch the show, standing up. Such SRO Broadway tickets are only sold once the show has been completely sold out. These tickets also come highly discounted. You need to check the show’s website, or check with the box office to see if such tickets are available.

If you happen to be a senior citizen, certain theaters do offer senior citizen discounts for certain shows. These are some of the ways you can procure inexpensive Broadway tickets.

About the Author

Al is the webmaster for Reedstickets.net A Broadway Tickets, resource site with news, reviews and articles on all New York City theater shows.

What is a Broadway / Theater Workshop?

In Playbill, under actors names, it lists all the shows (Broadway/Off Broadway/National Tour) he or she has done, along with the workshops. What are workshops? Is it a type of rehearsal?

Workshop is when a show is under development. Broadway shows started as a workshop.

It is when they try out new storylines, a different ending, a new character, a new song, etc. It is also when they rewrite some scenes or songs or completely take out a scene or song. The actors try out the songs and lines.

When the producers feel like it's ready for broadway, they usually bring the show to a regional theatre and try it out on the audience. The "make it or break it" stage. They try out the effectiveness of the storyline, the lines, the songs. They can still change the songs and lines.

The reason why some actors have workshops on their credits is because not all actors make it to the Broadway Opening.

For example, Stephanie J. Block originated Elphaba in the Los Angeles Workshop of Wicked. But, I think the producers didn't want to risk headlining a rookie. So they held auditions and chose Idina Menzel who already starred in Rent. Kristin Chenoweth is the workshop's Glinda, and because she has a Tony under her belt, she retained the role.

Rent also started as a workshop in New York Theatre Workshop. With (I think) 5 of its original stars making it to the Broadway opening.

The new production of The Little Mermaid started as a workshop, with Kerry Butler as Ariel. But The Little Mermaid opened on Broadway with Sierra Boggess as Ariel. Kerry Butler now stars in Xanadu.

Legally Blonde The Musical had a workshop in Manhattan, had their pre-Broadway show at San Francisco and opened on Broadway with most of the workshop cast retaining their roles. I think the Paulette in the workshop was replaced before they opened on Broadway.

PHOTO CALL: Red Bull's Duchess of Malfi Opens Off-Broadway
Christina Rouner, Heidi Armbruster, Patrick Page, Gareth Saxe and the cast of The Red Bull Theater revival of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi celebrated their Feb. 27 Off-Broadway opening.

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