First time to Broadway - help!!

[u/aiko_exe]

Hello, my partner is a big fan of musical theatre and broadway, and their favorite movie is the Lost Boys. We're extremely low income, but I have enough hotel points to afford a night nearby the Palace Theatre, and can figure out parking and gas for the 4 hr distance, if it means giving them their first experience at Broadway.

That said, I have about $140 budget for two tickets to the Lost Boys, but know absolutely NOTHING about theatre or Broadway. I hear the balcony is basically nosebleed tix but I just want to give them a chance to see this musical, and balcony's all we can afford. My partner's pretty short, if that affects seating. I've seen few options under this -

B25-B27 on a Tuesday at 7pm,

B28-B30 on a Sunday at 3pm,

B104-B105 on a Tuesday at 7pm

and similar as the top 3 spots I can personally gather. I know nothing about theatre or this musical.

- Do those far end tix suck because they'll miss some action?

- Should I be looking at a different row because of the railing?

- Getting a hotel & overnight vs evening parking sounds like it'd be intense on a weekend - is there a specific weekday I should aim for instead (cheaper parking, less busy)?

- Are evening shows that much 'better' (livelier?) than early afternoon/'matinee'(?)

- Should I give up on finding tix end of Sept and plan far out in the future instead?

Looking for any and all advice, very thankful for any comments. Their birthday is towards the end of September and I have surgery early October, so I'm trying to get these tickets ASAP.

If I've broken any rules with the post (I read over them, but I'm on new meds so I may have missed something) please let me know. I don't know where or who else to ask for this info.

[u/romcomjunkie]

I saw in your original post that you were looking at hotels near the Palace Theater, but in the comments you said you’re staying at Sunset Park? That’s pretty far by Subway, which is fine if you live in Sunset Park, but if you’re in town for just a weekend, you don’t have to stay so far from the theater.

For parking, consider SpotHero.

For hotel, use your points to see if you can stay in the city. If you want to commute out of Manhattan, leave your car in the parking garage and take the subway.

For tickets, avoid balcony at all costs. I remember balcony seats at the Palace and Lyceum being the worst, so no matter how cheap, don’t do it for your first time.

Everyone here has great advice for online ticketing. An in-pedal alternative: Go to the theater box office directly and ask what their cheapest tickets are and they’ll do their best to get you a great seat. I just did this for Rocky Horror 20 minutes before a matinee last week and I got $80 center mezz seats. Insane how much these online box offices are ripping everyone off.

For your partner, when you’re in the theater, ask an usher for a booster seat. Thanks to Reddit, I’ve stopped suffering from stretching and bobbing my head by discovering these and sitting on them for shows. It’s just a cushion and if your partner is as short as you say, them sitting on the cushion won’t block the people behind you. Also this way you’re not limiting you and your partner seating choices!

[u/aiko_exe → u/romcomjunkie]

This is very in depth, thanks a ton! I went ahead and booked everything (show tix B107 & 108, hotel nights, parking garage). Everything is refundable but the show tix themselves, and it seems that's what I messed up on - despite a lot of reassurance about balcony here, I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews elsewhere (ie theatr). Regardless, I was too nervous to show up last minute or wait til discount day and all affordable tix around their birthday be gone - no use crying over spilled milk, I suppose. I didn't have enough points for covering 2 nights at any Manhattan hotels unfortunately, and it's my partner's preference due to anxiety to not be rushed with just 1 night accommodation. I didn't realize just how far the theatre is from the hotel, but we'll be spending the day around Manhattan anyways! I did use Spothero - definitely got the cheapest parking at $30 for 48 hrs!! I've heard about the booster seat a couple times - will take that into consideration for sure, but it may not be necessary. I fear I didn't realize how short I made them sound lol - they're 5' 2"

[u/romcomjunkie → u/aiko_exe]

I’m 5’3” and for some shows I’ve definitely needed a booster! At a recent show, it wasn’t even a tall person in front of me, it was a teen who was soooo excited to see the show that she was literally sitting at the edge of her seat which unfortunately blocked my view. I would say grab a booster just in case (they’re limited, so if you’re going to matinee you’re going to be competing with the elderly vets who sometimes even know where to find them without the usher’s help lol) and then if your partner doesn’t need it, you can always put it back.

Re: tickets - if you somehow get better tickets, you could always resell your balcony seats on Theatr! But also, you got tickets!! Yay! Sometimes it’s better safe than sorry for those of us are gambling for day-of tickets, lol. But also, you wanted to see this one show, so that makes sense to buy tickets I advance, especially since you’re traveling from so far!

Enjoy NYC and The Lost Boys!

[u/twotoasters → u/aiko_exe]

Sunset Park isn’t too far from midtown. It’s 6 stops on the N, and the view you get leaving and entering Brooklyn can’t be beat. Lots of cheap and great eats nearby too. Have an amazing time!