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Climates change, empires rise and fall, but the quest for cheap Broadway tickets is eternal. We’ve recently offered you a comprehensive guide to Hamilton’s digital lottery and told you of Sunday in the Park with George’s preview rush policy. But those are not the only great theater deals in town. In fact, nearly every show on Broadway offers some form of less expensive access, either through digital lotteries or day-of-show rush and standing-room tickets. Here are five that are especially tempting right now.
Dear Evan Hansen
This sold-out musical smash offers $40 tickets to all performances except those on Saturday evenings. To enter, visit the Dear Evan Hansen lottery page after midnight on the day of the show. The lottery closes at 10am for matinees and 3pm for evening performances; you’ll be notified of the results within five minutes of the drawing, and if you win you must buy your tickets within the hour. To participate you’ll need to log in through a social network: Facebook, Twitter or LinkinIn.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812
Like Dear Evan Hansen, the $39 digital lottery for Dave Malloy’s groundbreaking Russian party show is administered through Social Toaster, and the same rules apply: Use a social network to enter the lottery after midnight on the day of the show—by 10am for matinees and 3pm for evening shows—and respond to a winning message within an hour of the drawing. The Great Comet also offers $39 rush seats, which you can buy at the box office of the Imperial Theatre starting at 10am (or noon on Sundays).
Significant Other
We enjoyed Joshua Harmon’s relationship comedy a lot when it was Off Broadway in 2015, and have high hopes for the Broadway transfer, which began previews on Valentine's Day and opens on March 2. A limited number of $35 day-of-show rush tickets can be purchased at the box office of the Booth Theatre, starting at 10am (or noon on Sunday). Go early, because like all rush programs this one is first come, first served.
Jitney
The Broadway revival of August Wilson’s drama offers tickets via an idiosyncratic digital rush program. You’ll need to use the mobile app TodayTix, and to gain access to the rush tickets you’ll have to share your plan on Twitter or Facebook. But once you’ve jumped through those small hoops, you’ll be able to buy $30 rush tickets on the day of the show (starting at 10am, or noon on Sundays) without having to line up at the box office in person.
The Book of Mormon
Six years after taking Broadway by storm, The Book of Mormon is still playing to packed houses. Live lotteries for $32 tickets are held at the theater two hours before at each performance; go to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre two and a half hours before curtain time to enter. Unbeknownst to many theater fans, the show has also quietly introduced a digital lottery for $50 tickets. Unlike most digital lotteries, this one can be entered up to a week in advance; you’ll find out if you won at noon on the day before the show, and you’ll have up until midnight to purchase your tickets. (And you can double or triple your chances of winning by talking about it on Twitter or Facebook.)
For information about other current Broadway deals, consult the handy listings at Playbill or Broadway for Broke People.