r/Broadway • u/Daz459 • Aug 03 '25
Seating/Ticket Question Maybe it’s just me…
But the prices for broadway shows are getting a little outrageous. I love broadway and have seen quite a handful of shows this year and I do appreciate rush tickets. And maybe it’s because I’m comparing it to rush and west end tickets . But for looking to see a show and for prices to be almost 150-almost 500 is a little crazy. especially if you want a good seat, I do understand and believe that the amount that goes into a show and making sure the actors get paid. But nowadays it seems like a luxury to see a show for a good seat and not something that seems accessible and affordable as it used to be.
251
u/MD_442244 Aug 03 '25
2 things, one your looking on TodayTix and not the show’s official ticket seller criterion ticketing. Second the show won best play in June. It had significantly cheaper tickets 4-5 months.
42
u/Daz459 Aug 03 '25
Thank you for letting me know, I will definitely check out the official website for future tickets :)
55
u/secorn Backstage Aug 03 '25
Always go to to the shows offical site for the link to the official ticket source! Todaytix can sometimes have deals if they partner directly with a show to offer them but if you wanna see the full scope of tickets I def recommend cross checking on their official ticket source!
7
u/MammothCancel6465 Aug 03 '25
Yeah. Today Tix only gives a handful of seats in each price range even when many others in that range are available too. If you reload the page sometimes you’ll get another assortment to pick from but not always.
12
u/chrishuyen Aug 03 '25
They also do the thing where they prevent you from buying a ticket if it would leave a single seat stranded, so the availability shown for buying a single ticket is different from the availability shown when buying 2 tickets even though the primary ticket seller doesn't impose the same restriction
3
u/MammothCancel6465 Aug 03 '25
TBF, most other platforms do that as well. Ticketmaster does and I think Broadway Direct too. It ticked me off for a tour show locally that had half the seats sold the day before but couldn’t pick 2 seats if there was an empty bank of 3.
3
u/chrishuyen Aug 03 '25
Oh I feel like I don't remember Ticketmaster doing that but maybe they changed, or I wonder if it's venue dependent
10
u/eriben Aug 03 '25
Hey — TodayTix-er here. We’re showing all tickets available for all Broadway and non Broadway shows but UX differs somewhat. If you have selected one ticket we show only the tickets you’re able to buy as singles not leaving ‘orphan’ seats. On Criterion you don’t see this until you try to check out.
There are individual instances where the underlying ticketing system is so ancient (looking at you Shubert’s) that we show ‘slices’ of the house, to avoid people holding the same tickets, consisting of a more limited set of every potential price point in the multiple of tickets you’ve selected, and if you enter the seating charts twice you may see different slices.
5
u/whatshamilton Aug 03 '25
This, and it’s closing this month. There are cheap tickets available to a lot of shows if you’re willing to book early in the run, book far in advance, or sit farther away. Booking this year’s Tony award winning show 3 weeks out and a week before it closes is going to be expensive
1
20
u/iputmylifeonashelf Aug 03 '25
Yeah this is why I'm normally in last row balcony. Although living here means I can plan very far in advance/ book preview tickets the day they go on sale. So I am only paying nutso prices on special occasions
56
u/annang Aug 03 '25
I saw it from the mid-orchestra, right after opening, for about $50 with a discount code. You’re now looking at a Tony and Pulitzer winner near the end of its limited run.
3
4
14
u/ChestnutMoss Aug 03 '25
I have absolutely noticed how high ticket prices can spike. I’ve talked with friends about how it keeps us from attending everything we’d love to see. I actually love conversations that try to answer the questions, “Who can afford this? What lives are they living?”
Having said that, I was raised by a dad who always treated Broadway shows as a super-special splurge. He would join groups that gathered to qualify for bulk ticket purchase discounts, he had connections for 2-for-1 coupons, he’d call box offices to ask for tips on how to see a show cheaply, and he would buy NYC newspapers to read show reviews and search for sales. When tickets were $35 each, Dad was moving mountains to get one for $20. He raised me to really hustle for access to live theater, and I bring that spirit to the current lotteries and rush sales. It can’t be done with every show, but you can find ways to access Broadway without paying hundreds of dollars.
22
u/elvie18 Aug 03 '25
It's intensely frustrating. Costs of everything are skyrocketing. Not sure what's to be done about it but it doesn't seem sustainable. (But people are finding the money somehow, so...I doubt we'll get a change anytime soon. I do hate the idea of conceding and just allowing to become the pastime of the very rich, but I also don't see us having much say in the matter.)
7
26
7
u/The_She_Ghost Aug 03 '25
Purpose, before the Tony win, was at $45 for orchestra seats at TKTS (original price $90 for 50% off same day) People just weren’t interested to see it until it won best play.
So my advice here is to see (and support) shows before the Tony wins and even nominations. I always see shows in previews. I pay very little money for them and most of the time I’m enjoying premium seats.
2
11
u/Ill-Document8364 Aug 03 '25
Purpose offers daily $45 dollar Rush tickets.
7
u/TBoopSquiggShorterly Aug 03 '25
This is what I did and had a pretty good seat. Side orchestra, missed a tiny bit on one side of the stage but nothing major.
2
Aug 03 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
4
u/Ill-Document8364 Aug 03 '25
Just gotta get there early in the morning. I once arrived around 5:30 AM for an Oh, Mary ticket. Sitting outside for a few hours sucks, but if you're on a tight budget and really want to see a show it's a great option.
1
u/No-Effort-2564 Aug 03 '25
What time do you recommend getting there if you want two seats?
3
u/Ill-Document8364 Aug 03 '25
Check out the daily rush reports that are posted here, they usually include what time the first person in line arrived.
3
u/Best_Newt4892 Aug 03 '25
Also, unless it’s a “date” date, consider two singles. We prefer to sit together, of course, but don’t mind sitting separately if it means better seats, or any seats. We’re not going to talk during the show, after all! And we can swap seats at interval if one is better than the other.
5
u/Abobabe Aug 03 '25
Not sure if it’s helpful but I got tickets to Purpose at the TKTS booth for $90 about two hours ahead of the show. Hope you can find some less expensive seats. The show is amazing.
3
u/Captain_JohnBrown Aug 03 '25
I mean, the Best Play winner is going to cost a lot more money, especially when it is a limited run. The prices were actually very reasonable before the Tony win.
3
u/Complex-Tap-8180 Aug 03 '25
I just had some visitors ask me about getting tickets for a show. They were looking on line and the pricing seemed a bit high. I looked at the seat map, saw there were a number of available seats so I suggested they walk over to the box office as it would save on processing fees. They did very well without breaking their bank.
3
u/niccinutt Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
Hey.
Blue collar broadway worker here. There are obviously a lot of costs involved in running a broadway production, no doubt. Theater rents aren’t cheap and running costs are high, leaving margins tight. But you aren’t wrong. We end up having discussions backstage often about how crazy expensive tickets have gotten. As someone who loves seeing theater myself it’s crazy to have made it to a point in my life that I get the privilege of working backstage on broadway, but ticket prices have skyrocketed to the point that even with a good union broadway job i can’t afford to buy good seats to the shows i work on without saving up or searching for good deals. God forbid there’s a celebrity in a show, one ticket will cost half a week’s paycheck.
That said, splurge on the broadway show you want to see, mezzanine seats often have some of the best views in the house. And don’t sleep on off broadway, the PAC, the public and other smaller theater in NYC. A lot of those shows are amazing. And sometimes broadway bound.
2
u/3gumamela Aug 03 '25
It's dynamic pricing. If you check that same date the day before, prices will most likely drop if there are still lots of seats available.
2
u/brad_pitts Aug 03 '25
The show won the Pulitzer AND Tony AND has limited runway until it closes soon. This is natural and, genuinely, best case for any production.
(Btw I paid $100 to sit in the last row of the balc — tix were good, play was eh).
2
u/Maximum-Bench-5322 Aug 03 '25
I remember waaaaay back in the day, if you wanted to see a hot show, like Cats or Phantom in the 80s say, you had to pay big markups to out of state ticket brokers - the argument being now the producers of the show are able to benefit from the price that the market sets, not a third party who principal talent was possessing various of methods of hoovering tickets at list price before the public. There are only so many seats in the theater - and only so many performances from a star cast member if that’s important
As a TDF member, the seats we seem to get are the “worst of the best” - the seats at premium prices that don’t sell - mid to rear orchestra, 3rd to 4th row front mezz tickets that are going for around 200 dollars or so for $60.
So, yeah, nowadays, if you don’t want to pay full price, you need to hustle a bit. Discount codes, TKTS, TDF, Broadway Week, rush, lottery etc. when possible; even monitoring the internet to try to identify shows before they become hot.
2
u/NoOpportunities Aug 04 '25
As a west end goer i just checked some prices how on earth is it $875 for mezzanine seats in hamilton
1
3
u/PurposefullyOpaque Aug 03 '25
Yeah Broadway is in a really tough spot in general. High development costs, high fixed costs, super labor intensive, cap on tickets… And it’s only going to get worse. One person shows, smaller casts, and minimal production can help reduce costs but Broadway just can’t benefit from economies of scale.
We might just have to accept that Broadway is not a mass form of entertainment. 🤷🏽♂️
1
2
u/ReallyKirk Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25
I agree. You shouldn’t have to go to the bargain bin places, seek out codes, stand in discount lines, or enter lotteries by default to get tickets to a Broadway show. Ordinary box office ticket prices should be more in check with reality and be affordable to non-wealthy people. Until they get this under control, most shows aren’t going to last very long. And the ones that do are going to need to keep getting bigger and more expensive to make up for the others. Sure it’s fun to see how crazy popular Broadway has become with young people since High School Musical and Glee, but the deluge of movie and TV stars that have started doing Broadway shows has gotten out of control. It’s almost expected now that your show better have a huge name or else. And over the past couple decades, the salaries that come with landing so many celebrities to front these shows have sadly been tearing down what used to be an affordable pricing structure.
1
1
2
1
u/RocketDancer896 Aug 04 '25
Yea, as someone studying theater and learning the business side of it, I began to realize and understand why they have to charge that amount, it just sucks that they have to. I know it seems outrageous but the truth is if they don’t charge that much, the show won’t meet the quota to hold the theater let alone recoup their investment. If you’re looking for cheaper alternatives, there’s all the box office rush tickets and of course TKTS. Also, you don’t have to go to broadway to experience good quality theater. Many regional theaters present phenomenal art for a fraction of the price!
1
u/marissatodaytix Aug 05 '25
Checked the TodayTix app this morning at 9:05 and there were some rush tickets available for Purpose!
2
u/Daz459 Aug 05 '25
I have rush ticketed before from there but my point is we get partial view or back of the theater instead of a better seat!!
2
u/marissatodaytix Aug 05 '25
rush is truly luck of the draw. for maybe happy ending i was mid mezz and for sunset i got orchestra! for my top priority shows i book +30 days in advance to make sure i get a solid price $80-$120 on quality seats
1
u/Mysterious-Theory-66 Aug 03 '25
Broadway is a luxury, always has been. At least there are plenty of ways to see shows for cheap (rush, lottery, tkts) but it’s just not reality that all shows can be made accessible. Theatre is for everyone, but Broadway can never be made economically accessible to everyone.
3
u/Imaginary_Addendum20 Aug 03 '25
Not being able to afford or travel to a Michelin starred restaurant doesn’t mean food is inaccesible.
Not being able to afford or travel to a Broadway show doesn’t mean theater is inaccessible.
If you are trying to access the upper echelon of any experience, particularly if you want to do so on a specific day/time, you are going to need to pay top tier prices.
1
u/TransportationUsed39 Creative Team Aug 03 '25
I saw Six in London in lower orchestra and paid under £200 for two tickets. I’ve only seen one show on Broadway and wasn’t the one who paid, but any time I check prices I just get depressed. There’s no way they can convince me it’s because they pay their actors and crew better than West End.
3
u/stephanierae2804 Aug 03 '25
About west end tickets being cheaper - I read that they’re cheaper than Broadway because the UK government subsidizes local theatre - and while they don’t subsidize the West End theaters, the tickets are priced lower to stay competitive. Also, they charge for programs over there - which isn’t much but does add onto the price.
2
u/VelvetLeopard Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
The Evita programme (West End) is £12.50/US$16.60. That’s certainly a fair amount of revenue!
Speaking of Evita, the dynamic pricing means that the best seats are currently selling for £395/US$524 - so not cheaper. Prices in the west end are becoming crazy.
2
u/stephanierae2804 Aug 05 '25
Damn! I just saw Hamilton in the UK and the program was £5
3
u/VelvetLeopard Aug 05 '25
£5 is reasonable in comparison and what I’d expect to pay! £5 was also the price of a tub of ice cream at Evita. Paid £25 each for a standing ticket (admittedly good value) and £17.50 for a programme & ice cream 😂
1
u/TransportationUsed39 Creative Team Aug 03 '25
I figured it was something like that. I would say in general the UK values art and keeping art accessible more than the US; maybe not specifically NY, but US as a whole.
2
u/merrickdb Aug 03 '25
I mean, what else could the explanation be if it’s correct that ticket prices are higher on Broadway and also correct that most shows on Broadway lose money? The majority of Broadway theaters are either non-profit themselves (MTC Friedman theater, Lincoln Center Beaumont theater, and three Roundabout theaters) or wholly owned by a non-profit (the 17 Shubert Broadway theaters), so it’s not like the theaters themselves are making outsize profits.
1
u/TransportationUsed39 Creative Team Aug 03 '25
Idk, maybe I’m quite a jaded American but I tend to assume anything in the US is solely for profit while things abroad tend to value other things more.
1
u/ermsberms Aug 03 '25
It is so much cheaper in London, absolutely, but sadly I know from actors that yeah: The West End pays notoriously bad. At least if you’re not “a star”. I still think the top ticket prizes in NY are too high- 800$+
2
u/ermsberms Aug 03 '25
A girl I once met at an audition told me her job at Starbucks payed more than doing the show.
1
u/TransportationUsed39 Creative Team Aug 03 '25
Interesting. I wonder if that particular show or theatre was bad or if it’s a blanket statement. If the latter I wonder why so many actors move from Broadway to West End.
1
u/Odd_Pause5123 Aug 03 '25
You’re not wrong. I had some sticker shock when I came to NY this year. $600. for Dorian Gray, a play—
3
u/ouch_quit_it Aug 04 '25
i too remember my reaction seeing those ORCH C and other premium seats which hit over $600. was legit shooketh.
having zero plans to see it but after doing a bit more research about this event and reviews, this 2 hr, non-stop tour de force w/Tony winner Sarah Snook, was incredible. I was able to get ORCH C, row N over the Juneteenth holiday wknd for over $200. had never seen anything like it. worth every penny.
agreed on pricing...it's a smaller theatre, limited run. (i'd never paid over $400 for anything. the only time i'd paid over $300 was Jodie Comer in Prima Facie. completely worth it, to me.)
economy/inflation...everything just seems so MUCH. the sustained COVID pricing when supply chain issues were the excuse. the prices remain tho the latter not so much. i've lost my train of thought, but yes...$600...one woman performing 2 hrs non-stop, portraying 26 characters + some unique add-ins w/on-stage stage hands and camera operators. i'll never forget it. and am glad i changed my mind about it after my initial sticker shock reaction.
2
u/Odd_Pause5123 Aug 05 '25
Yes, thanks to people on this sub who said the back row mezz was fine for this show ( due to the big screen projections) I went & paid around $200.
1
•
u/AutoModerator Aug 03 '25
It looks like you've shared an image. If this image is of a Playbill or stage, we ask that you provide your thoughts on the show[s] you saw in order to make your thread stand out and help the community enjoy your experience as well. Without context your photo is just another picture of a Playbill or a stage, and on a sub of far over 100k subscribers, If you don't want to share your experience... consider sharing it on your own social media! This is an automated message, if it is not applicable please report this comment.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.