Discount Broadway tickets

Shawn, on last week's show you lamented the high cost of Broadway tickets. Discounts are available.

In June my wife mentioned that she was getting emails offering discount Broadway tickets. The then current offer was "Frost Nixon" for just $50 each. We bought the tickets and enjoyed the show. Last month we saw "Inherit the Wind" (with Christopher Plummer & Brian Dennehy) for $39.25 each.

We have no idea how she got on these mailing lists. One way might be to purchase tickets from a discount web site like nytix.com or (if you have an American Express Gold Card or a Visa Signature card) broadwayoffers.com. The mailing lists seem to exist to quietly get rid of excess tickets without depressing the official box office price.

Also, late in the year, theatres sometimes run local ads for advance discounted performances in, say, January or February. These seem aimed at attracting local people to fill seats during a slow tourist season. They usually involve a special phone number or mentioning a special offer code.

There is also the discount TKTS booths for same-day shows (but then you take the risk of coming to Manhattan for nothing and you have to wait around all day--TKTS works best for Manhattan residents or workers).

Tom Durkin
White Plains, NY