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Archive-name: theatre/part3
Last-modified: 1995/09/19 See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge [followups directed to rec.arts.theatre.misc] TABLE OF CONTENTS FAQ Part 3: Broadway and London Ticket Information # = new or significantly revised 9. BROADWAY INFORMATION [AK] 9.1 How do I find out what's playing? 9.2 Buying Regular-Priced Tickets 9.2.1 In Person Purchases 9.2.2 Telecharge/Ticketmaster 9.2.3 Mail Order 9.2.4 Cancellation Lines 9.3 Discount Tickets 9.3.1 TKTS (Officially: New York City on Stage) [MB/AK] 9.3.2 Bloomingdales [MB] 9.3.3 Standing Room 9.3.4 Twofers 9.3.5 Student Tickets 9.4 Premium-priced Tickets 9.4.1 The Actor's Fund of America 9.4.2 Scalpers 9.4.2 Brokers 9.5 Returns/Exchanges 9.6 Size of Bway theatres and Floor Plans [AK/DF/DP] 9.7 Additional New York Information 10. LONDON INFORMATION [DF] 10.1 Venues 10.1.1 The West End 10.1.2 The RSC and the RNT 10.1.3 The Fringe 10.2 How to find out what's playing 10.3 How to get tickets ************************************************************************* ** 9. BROADWAY INFORMATION *************************** ** [AK,comments: aku@leland.stanford.edu] *************************** ************************************************************************* 9.1 How do I find out what's playing? Check out Joseph Geigel's "On Broadway" WWW homepage. It lists all the shows currently playing on- and off-Broadway (as well as upcoming productions) with prices, schedules, and theatre locations. It is updated very regularly. URL: http://artsnet.heinz.cmu.edu/OnBroadway Also check out Playbill Online's Web site. URL: http://www.webcom.com/~broadway More traditional sources for finding out what's playing on Broadway (and off-Broadway) are the Sunday New York Times Arts and Leisure section, New York Magazine, and The New Yorker. All three have capsule summaries and list a phone number for ordering tickets. Better bookstores and newsstands may carry TheaterWeek, which also carries detailed listings. If your site subscribes to the clari.news hierarchy, a weekly posting entitled "Broadway Boxscore" in clari.living.entertainment lists current Broadway and off-Broadway attractions, and ticket availability. The League of American Theatres and Producers has a telephone line with recorded information: 212-563-2929 BWAY 9.2 Buying Regular-Priced Tickets 9.2.1 In Person Purchases Many people prefer buying tickets in person at the box office: there are no service charges; you can refer to a floor plan in front of you; and you are handed the tickets on the spot. The major drawback, of course, is that you have to be in New York to buy tickets this way, or at least have a friend do the schlepping around for you. If you are visiting from out of town, you can always gamble and wait until you arrive in NY to do your ticket shopping. If you only need singles and don't go after the monster smashes (PHANTOM, SUNSET, SHOW BOAT) you may be pleasantly surprised by the (full price) seats you can get a day or two before the performance. The manner in which ticket inventories are maintained has always been shrouded in secrecy, but some have felt that the quality of seats sold via the telephone agencies weren't as good as those sold in person. That perception may have been largely shaped by the refusal of the phone agencies, in the past, to reveal seat location, thereby allowing them to stick phone purchasers with poorer seats that would have been refused by an in-person ticketbuyer. Now with both Broadway ticket agencies (Telecharge and Ticketmaster) giving out seat locations over the phone, this perceived disparity may no longer have any basis. 9.2.2 Telecharge/Ticketmaster TELECHARGE sells tickets to shows playing at Shubert and Jujamcyn houses (PHANTOM, THE TEMPEST, LES MISERABLES, MOON OVER BUFFALO, etc.) as well as Lincoln Center Theater (THE HEIRESS), Circle in the Square, and selected off-Broadway theatres. Telecharge now gives out seat locations over the phone, but usually only during daytime hours. For books that contain floor plans to Broadway theatres, see section 9.6 of the FAQ. (212) 239-6200 (800) 432-7250 outside NY/NJ/CT The 800 number is a relatively recent addition, and only gets advertised with some shows, notably the more tourist-friendly shows like CRAZY FOR YOU. If you are out of town and the show you are interested in lists the 239-6200 number, try the 800 number instead if you want to save on long distance charges. TELECHARGE has a service charge of $4.75/ticket --- TICKETMASTER sells tickets to shows playing at Nederlander houses (SUNSET BOULEVARD, SHOW BOAT, VICTOR/VICTORIA, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, etc.) as well as selected off-Broadway theatres. Ticketmaster now gives out seat locations over the phone. (212) 307-4100 (800) 755-4000 outside NY/NJ/CT TICKETMASTER has a charge of $5.50/ticket plus an overall transaction fee of $2.50 for the order. 9.2.3 Mail Order In this age of instant gratification, people often overlook snail mail, a slower, but far cheaper means of buying tickets. There is no service charge involved, and you can request seats in a particular area of the theatre and for a particular date or range of dates (but if you are overspecific, you'll get your check returned and a "no can do" note). I have found that I have always gotten better seats via mail order than through phone orders, but now that seat locations are available over the phone, this point may no longer be valid. Some shows will offer mail orders weeks or months before telephone orders are accepted. Payment: By check only. >>> Include a self addressed stamped envelope. Turnaround: 2-3 weeks, but this is ballpark Address: You can find the address to send your payment and SASE in the alphabetical listings in the Sunday New York Times, OR you can call Telecharge/Ticketmaster (make a note of which agency your show uses) and they will tell you an address to send mail orders to. 9.2.4 Cancellation Lines Cancellation lines sprout when a show reaches sellout status. The term "cancellation line" is a bit of a misnomer, because most of the tickets sold this way are actually house seats reserved by producers to give to VIPs, and are only sold to the public at the last minute, just before the curtain rises. These seats can be very good indeed, but the possibly of not getting in (the number of available seats isn't announced until the last minute) can deter many. Tickets are full price. 9.3 Discount Tickets 9.3.1 TKTS (Officially: New York City on Stage) [MB/AK] These are the well-known "1/2 price" ticket booths that sell day-of-performance theatre tickets to Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Starting in mid-1992, TKTS started offering 25% off tickets to more popular shows (under pressure from producers) in addition to 50% off tickets. Keep in mind that some shows are almost never available at TKTS, like PHANTOM and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. TKTS adds a $2.50 surcharge that goes to the Theatre Development Fund, a non profit agency that runs TKTS and does a lot of work in promoting and supporting the theatre community. TKTS accepts cash or travellers cheques *only*. No personal checks or credit cards. Recorded information: 212-768-1818 LOCATIONS: ** Duffy Square (Times Square: 47th St. at Broadway) Right in front of the ticket windows are electronic LED signs listing all the shows with discount tickets available. As a show sells out, its name is removed. "Runners" from the various theatres may drop off new ticket inventories during the day, so the selection continually varies (although it is almost certainly the best when the booth first opens). By the time one gets close enough to the see the boards, one has only about a minute before having to step up to the ticket window. It is always good to wait at TKTS in pairs, so that one person can walk to the front of the line at regular intervals to check on what's available so one isn't caught making a snap decision. The ticket sellers can be pretty surly at times, so don't dawdle. A nice addition in the past year or so has been a table that features flyers, discount coupons, twofers (see below) to shows (primarily off-Broadway). These coupons can be used to buy advance, discount tickets at the boxoffice of the show in question. Some date and/or seat location restrictions may apply. While standing in line, you may be approached by people selling tickets to hit shows (LES MIZ, CATS, etc.), often at significant discounts. DON'T buy them!! There will certainly be the occasional person who is legitimately trying to unload an extra ticket or two, if someone cancelled on him (most shows don't allow refunds), but it is more likely that the tickets were purchased with stolen credit cards or obtained by equally shady means. It's probably not worth the risk. Hours: Monday thru Saturday 3pm-8pm for evening shows Wednesday and Saturday 10am-2pm for matinees Sunday noon-"closing" for Broadway matinees and off-Broadway matinees and evening shows ** World Trade Center (2 World Trade Center Mezzanine) Matinee tix are sold 1 day prior. This booth also sells full price Broadway advance tix. Reopened: April 5, 1993 Hours: Monday thru Friday 11am to 5:30pm Saturday 11am to 3:30 pm ** Brooklyn (Court and Montague (sp?) Streets) THIS BOOTH CLOSED ON NOVEMBER 27, 1993, AND WILL NO LONGER BE OFFERING DISCOUNT TICKETS. 9.3.2 Bloomingdales [MB] Bloomingdales has a Ticketmaster outlet on the third floor by the Credit Office, supposedly open store hours which are 10-6:30 on Saturdays. They sell discount tix on a sliding scale for day of performance only. 9.3.3 Standing Room A sellout show does have a potential silver lining: the theatre may begin to sell standing room. Provided that the theatre can accomodate standing room (for example, the Broadway Theatre doesn't) and the day's performance is expected to sell out, standing room is usually sold first thing when the box office opens at 10am. Unfortunately, not many shows sell out these days; PHANTOM and HAMLET are among the recent ones that have and thus offered standing room. If you can get standing room, they are an excellent buy: typically, they are $15 or $20 for spots at the rear of the orchestra section (where seats cost $67.50 for most musicals). To find out what time you should start standing in line, ask the person in the ticket booth the day before, and get there 1/2 or 1 hour before the time he gives. 9.3.4 Twofers "Twofers" is now a bit of a misnomer as well; formerly, these ticket-shaped coupons allowed one to buy 2 advance tickets for the price of 1 at the boxoffice, but now they now offer widely varying discounts to both Broadway and off-Broadway shows (and you can buy only single tickets). Usually seat and date restrictions apply, but the nice thing is that you can buy them in advance (but not *too* far in advance, at most maybe one month ahead of time). Twofers are distributed around New York (hotel desks, recreation centers, the table at the Times Square TKTS booth), but if you live out of town, you can send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Hit Shows, 630 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10036 and they will send you some for assorted shows. Usually only older shows that are slipping financially will offer twofers. 9.3.5 Student Tickets Some Broadway shows sell student tickets; often these shows have run awhile and use these offers to attract business. [Notable exceptions to the rule were Cameron Mackintosh shows, which sold student tickets (albeit in the rear balcony) to shows like LES MISERABLES and PHANTOM from the very first performance. Since revamping the ticket scales to $15-$65 for everyone, student discounts for the CM shows have been eliminated, but student discounts may still be available for his touring productions.] One often has to inquire about these tickets at the boxoffice, as they are not posted to the "Scale of Prices" sign outside the boxoffice. Student tickets are only sold in person at the boxoffice, and require a student ID. They usually aren't prime seating. Student tickets are more readily available off-Broadway, especially at the non-profits like the Public Theater. Some offer only student/senior rush seats (ie. 30 minutes before showtime). 9.4 Premium-priced Tickets These are only options that the most wealthy or fanatical would use. Choice seats to popular shows may be snapped up by scalpers or brokers and resold at a premium, often at several times the face value of the tickets. 9.4.1 The Actor's Fund of America Broadway producers assign a few seats to every performance to The Actor's Fund of America to help raise money for the Fund's charitable work in the entertainment industry. Seats are double the box office cost (1/2 is a charitable donation). Tickets are on a first-come, first-served basis (subject to availability) (212) 221-7301 ext 133. 9.4.2 Scalpers You can sometimes find these people loitering around the front of the theatre of a "hot" show just before the performance. Keep in mind that you are taking a chance when buying a ticket from an unauthorized dealer: even if the ticket looks authentic, it could have been purchased with a stolen credit card and have been invalidated. 9.4.2 Brokers These are essentially legalized scalpers and typically, as in their ads, they offer seats in the first 12 rows of the orchestra to the hottest shows (PHANTOM, SUNSET, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) for a substantial premium. You can find their postage stamp-sized ads among the theatre ads in the Sunday New York Times. 9.5 Returns/Exchanges It says right on the ticket NO RETURNS OR EXCHANGES, so you will have a tough time getting either from a Broadway show. If the show is a sellout, there is a slim chance that this will be allowed, but the transaction has to be done in person. If the show you attend features star who gets billing above the title in the advertisements, and the star doesn't show, you *may* be eligible for a refund. Check at the box office before the performance begins. 9.6 Size of Broadway Theatres and Floor Plans [AK/DF/DP] Theatre total orchestra address seats seats Ambassador 1125 602 215 W 49th St Brooks Atkinson 1090 608 256 W 47th St Ethel Barrymore 1096 620 243 W 47th St Belasco 1018 532 111 W 44th St Martin Beck 1302 686 302 W 45th St Biltmore 948 520 261 W 47th St Booth 783 515 222 W 45th St Broadhurst 1157 702 235 W 44th St Broadway 1765 909 1681 Broadway (at 53rd) Circle in the Square 681 681 1633 Broadway (50-51st) Cort 1089 506 138 W 48th St Criterion 499 499 1514 Broadway (at 45th) Gershwin 1933 1298 222 W 51st St John Golden 805 468 252 W 45th St Helen Hayes 499 311 240 W 44th St Imperial 1452 755 249 W 45th St Walter Kerr 949 541 219 W 48th St Longacre 1220 523 220 W 48th St Lunt-Fontanne 1478 858 220 W 48th St Lyceum 938 411 149 W 45th St Majestic 1629 895 245 W 44th St Marquis 1601 1016 1535 Broadway (at 45th) Minskoff 1621 1039 45th & Broadway Music Box 1010 539 239 W 45th St Nederlander 1216 592 208 W 41st St Eugene O'Neill 1077 711 230 W 49th St Palace 1686 807 47th & Broadway Plymouth 1077 660 236 W 45th St Richard Rogers 1342 802 226 W 46th St Royale 1058 622 242 W 45th St St. James 1636 702 246 W 44th St Shubert 1483 697 225 W 44th St Neil Simon 1334 683 250 W 52nd St Virginia 1220 744 245 W 52nd St Winter Garden 1513 989 1634 Broadway (50-51st) Vivian Beaumont 1050 723 150 W 65th St (at Lincoln Center) Books of floor plans to NY theatres are available: 1) The New York Theatre Soucebook by Chuck Lawliss ISBN# 0-671-68870-7 Fireside Book, published by Simon & Schuster Inc. 2) STUBS is a booklet with seating plans for about 100 Broadway, Off-Broadway, and other theaters in the NY region. It is available at some theatre souvenir shops in the Broadway district and is also available by mail order. Send a check for $12.20 payable to STUBS to: STUBS Magazine 226 West 47th Street New York, NY 10036 The price includes shipping and handling (the list price is $9.95). 9.7 Additional New York Information To keep the size of the FAQ manageable, further New York tourist information has been archived. A "New York Survival Guide" was compiled by Paul Goldsmith in preparation for the 1993 RATcon in May. This document has been combined with hotel listings, and archived by Elizabeth Lear Newman at ftp.std.com as: /archives/RAT-archive/NYCguide.Z It has also been archived by David Pirmann at quartz.rutgers.edu as: /pub/theater/nyc-info.gz (gzipped) /pub/nyc/nyc-info.gz (gzipped) While you are connected to this archive, check out the NY information that David has been writing and saving from other newsgroups. Located in the directory /pub/nyc/, there are files on restaurants, clubs, and book and record stores in NY. The quartz archive is available via gopher. ************************************************************************* ** 10. LONDON INFORMATION ****************************** ** [DF,comments: davidf@world.std.com ****************************** ************************************************************************* 10.1 VENUES Just as theatre in New York can be divided into Broadway and Off-Broadway (and Off-Off-Broadway ...), theatre in London can be divided into the West End and the Fringe. 10.1.1 THE WEST END The West End corresponds closely to Broadway; it is the home of big, commercial theatre. Like Broadway, it is dominated by large, long running musicals such as LES MIZ, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, MISS SAIGON, CATS, etc.. And like Broadway, critics keep writing its obituary, but you can still find quality theatre here, often revivals of classic plays (Shaw, Wilde, etc.) with top British actors (familiar to American audiences from Masterpiece Theatre), or transfers from the Fringe or the RSC or RNT. Prices are comparable to Broadway, or perhaps a bit cheaper depending upon the current exchange rate; top prices range from almost 30 pounds for the big musicals down to around 20-25 pounds for plays, but you can pay much less if you aren't choosy about where you sit. 10.1.2 THE RSC AND THE RNT The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Royal National Theatre (RNT) are the real jewels in the crown of British theatre. Although often lumped together with the West End, the RSC and RNT are different from the other, commercial theatres, in that they are subsidized, which allows them to mount more adventurous productions with less attention to the bottom line, and both present plays in repertory, with several different shows being mounted over the course of a week. Although the RSC does, as it's name implies, concentrate on Shakespeare, both theatres perform plays from all periods, including new works. The RSC's home in London is the Barbican Centre, with two theatres -- the large Barbican Theatre and the smaller Pit. The RNT is based in the South Bank Centre, with three theatres -- the large Olivier, with its unusual fan-shape, the more conventional Lyttleton, and the small, flexible Cottesloe. Both the Barbican Centre and the South Bank Centre are huge, concrete, post-war architectural monstrosities, but the theatres themselves are quite nice. Ticket prices range from a high of 22 pounds down to 5 pounds; the top ticket price for weekday matinees at both the RSC and RNT is only 10 pounds. The RSC has a second home in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it has three more theatres, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Swan, and The Other Place. Many RSC productions start in Stratford and run there for a season before transferring to London. Stratford is less than two hours from London and is well worth a trip; the RSC even runs a shuttle which allows you to visit for a day and catch a show. 10.1.3 THE FRINGE The term The Fringe covers all the other theatres in and around London. It is of wildly varying quality, but much of it is quite good, and the prices are generally lower. Some Fringe theatres are run as clubs, which means they are covered by somewhat different regulations than normal theatres. In most cases, this just means that if you aren't already a member you have to pay an extra pound or two to join the club when you buy a ticket. Many of the clubs have reciprocal memberships, so if you go to several different Fringe theatres you may only have to join once. 10.2 HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT'S PLAYING I maintain another document, The London Stage Gazette, which is currently being updated monthly. It lists what's playing at all West End theatres, the RNT, the RSC, and selected Fringe theatres, with box office phone numbers and in some cases capsule reviews. It also reports news on upcoming productions. The latest version of The London Stage Gazette is posted to the Usenet group rec.arts.theatre.misc. It can also be found on the World Wide Web at "http://www.tiac.net/users/davidf/london.html" as well as the London Home Page at "http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/misc/uk/london.html". Finally, you can also get it by e-mail by sending your request to davidf@tiac.net. I also have a mailing list which is sent the latest version every month (as well as new versions of this document when major changes occur); if you would like to be added send mail to the same address (makes sure you specify whether you want to be added to the list or just want the latest update). In London, the weekly magazines TIME OUT and WHAT'S ON have complete theatre listings, including all the Fringe theatres not covered in my listing -- I always pick up the latest issues in the airport when I arrive in England. They can occasionally be found in larger newsstands in the States; in Boston TIME OUT can usually be found at both Out Of Town News in Harvard Square and the main Tower Records on Newbury Street. Another thing to pick up once you are in London is the Theatre Guide, a free brochure put out bi-weekly by the Society of West End Theatre and available at most theatre box offices. London newspapers are also a good source for current listings; many of them include information on ticket availability so you can check which shows are selling out. Again, in the Boston area you can find London papers at Out Of Town News. In the States, the monthly newsletter London Theatre News reviews recent productions and has a listing of West End theatres. The only drawback is that it often doesn't review shows in time to help with advanced planning (and the reviews are not always worthwhile in any case). For subscription information, write London Theatre News, 12 E. 86th Street, Suite 620, New York, NY 10028, or call 1-800-779-0077. 10.3 HOW TO GET TICKETS If you are planning in advance, the easiest way to get tickets is by calling the box office and using a credit card; pretty much all the West End box offices, as well as the RNT and RSC, will be happy to take phone orders, and most of them can tell you exactly where you will be sitting (by the way, the ground floor seats that are called orchestra seats in the States are called the stalls in Britain, while the mezzanine becomes the dress circle). Another possibility is to buy in person at the box offices once you reach London; this allows you to look at a seating chart and see exactly where you will be sitting. If saving money is important, try the Half Price Ticket Booth in Leicester Square. Similar to the TKTS booth in New York, the Booth sells same day tickets for many West End shows at half price plus a small service charge, cash only, limit four tickets per person. These are tickets that the producers haven't been able to sell elsewhere, so you won't find the most popular shows or the best seats, but you can see some great theatre at a bargain price. The booth is open from 12 noon for Matinee tickets, and 2:30-6:30 for evening tickets, Monday through Saturday (although you should get in line early for the best choice). If the show you want to see is sold out, don't despair. First, check with the box office; if you are flexible about which performance you want to see (especially weekday matinees), you may get lucky. Second, most shows offer "returns" (in theory already sold tickets which have been returned, but often house seats or other held-back seats finally being released) for sale on the day of the show; ask the box office how early you should show up to get in line. Both the RSC and the RNT reserve a small number of tickets which only go on sale the day of the performance, at 9 am at the RSC and 10 am at the RNT, although depending upon the popularity of the show you may need to be in line well before that. If you don't have time to wait in line for a ticket and are willing to pay a premium, there are a large number of ticket agents in London who would be glad to sell you a ticket for a fee over and above the face value of the ticket; you can find them by checking ads or simply walking around the West End. There are also a large number of touts (or scalpers) outside the major shows, but it is recommended that you don't buy from them -- there is no guarantee that the ticket is legitimate, and you have little recourse if you discover you've been had. Finally, West End Cares' Charity Ticket Hotline can help you get into sold-out shows and help a worthwhile cause. Theatre producers donate house seats to their shows (which are usually good seats), and they are then sold for twice their face value, with the money being donated to an AIDS charity. It's expensive, but it allows you to do a good deed while you see a good show. The number is 071 976 6751. -- Andrew Ku | aku@leland.stanford.edu | andrew@chemeng.stanford.edu | "What to do? What to say?" http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~aku/ | -- Andrew Ku | aku@leland.stanford.edu | "And what are you that live andrew@chemeng.stanford.edu | with Lucifer?" http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~aku/ | User Contributions: |
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