The arts are very important to me. I believe they are essential to our soul.
I grew up walking the art galleries of Soho. My parents took us to Broadway and Off Broadway shows and museums. I remember seeing Little Shop of Horrors at the theater where Stomp is playing today. I can still hear ‘Feed me Seymore…’
Back in 1998, I bought second row center mezzanine seats to Phantom of the Opera for $80 a ticket. That was full price and bought 4 months in advance. Now those same tickets can break the budget. I recently bought tickets to Wicked and Kinky Boots and it cost about $80-90 a ticket with fees included. Those prices are from the 2-1 Broadway ticket specials. I found that special through nycgo.com – email alerts. Tickets specials are a couple times a year.
Broadway & Off Broadway
Another site I use when I’m craving for theater culture is theatermania.com. Go to the discount tickets area.
There are quite a few services. I’m listing the few I use or ones that I know other people have used. My boss has used tkts booth. They offer tickets for Broadway and Off Broadway same day shows. You can get tickets for 20-50% of. They have 3 booths, one in Times Square, South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn. Read their website about how it works. I am not familiar with this service.
https://www.tdf.org/nyc/7/TKTS-ticket-booths
Wicked
Folks under 30, The Manhattan Theater Club has a program for you. It’s called 30 under 30. Entertainment for $30 and then some. Wish I knew about this when I was that age.
http://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/30-under-30/
Joyce Theater – $10-19 tickets
Every year I also like to see a couple dance shows at the Joyce Theater. It’s a small place so even if you are in the back – the view is pretty good. I use to pay full price for shows until I discovered the $19 tickets.
$19 tickets are awesome. Being short I usually have heads blocking my view. The $19 tickets are the first 3 rows so that solves my problem and for this price you can’t really go wrong. Fees will bump the prices up but if you buy them in person it’s a $1 fee.
They also have $10 tickets – I’ve never bought these so I don’t know where these seats are.
Museums
Museums have free days. If cost is an issue check the visiting hours and prices. Check when the free days and times are. I usually avoid them because they tend to be crowded but if budget is an issue go for it. Some places also have suggested admission (or pay what you wish). They don’t advertise it so look for the fine print or ask. Brooklyn Museum, the Met and Natural History are among the few with suggested admission.
Jebus Mews & Andrea 