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A CurtainUp Feature
Buying Good Tickets at the Best Price
By Elyse Sommer
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. TDF's handsome redesigned website and the botth's temporary location at the Marriott Marquis Hotel during the renovation of Duffy Square has eliminated the former handy on-line list of shows recently on the board and at what discounts to give you an idea what to expect. The same information can still be found at t http://www.entertainment-link.com/tkts.asp However, since these postings were 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
Until the Duffy Square renovation is complete, the main TKTS booth is in a kiosk mid-block on the ground level of the Marriott Marquis. Another boorh is located at the South Street Seaport, at the corner of Front and John Streets. Tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows sell at a 25—50% discount and are only available on the same day as the performance. The only exception is at the downtown location where matinee tickets are available a day prior to performance. Payment at both booths is by cash or traveler's checks only.
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.
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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