Living on a campus with such close access to the city is great, but can be overwhelming. For many students, everything seems really expensive and accessing all that the city has to offer can be confusing. The great thing about New York City is that there are many opportunities for affordable expenditures outside of normal tourist activities, including for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows.
Here, I detail the many ticketing opportunities under $50 that students and people who live close to the city can access to be able to experience the amazing world of the arts, featuring my different experiences using these programs and ticket access methods!
Student/Under 35 Ticketing Programs:
Many Broadway and Off-Broadway organizations provide the opportunities for students and young adults to access cheap theatre tickets.
The Manhattan Theatre Club has a 30 Under 35 program that is free to sign up for. When they start a new show, either on or off Broadway, they send an email to all of their members with a link to buy $30 tickets (not including a small online fee). Additionally, sometimes they’ll sponsor in-person student rush tickets for shows that are not under their organization, which I’ll delve into more later. These MTC tickets always become available as two tickets per 30 under 35 member.
The Lincoln Center has a program called LincTix in which students can purchase tickets for $25 to any of their theatre productions.
New York City Center has a student program for their Encores! Series Performances amongst other dance and theatre performances they offer throughout the year.
HipTix is associated with Roundabout Theatre Company, and you can buy $30 tickets as a part of their student program, via their app.
All of these ticket programs tend to sell-out fast, though they will sometimes release more tickets for additional performances, so make sure you mark your calendars when they send out their initial communications about when tickets will go on sale.
My favorite experience I’ve had with these programs was getting LincTix to Floyd Collins. When we went to pick up our tickets at the theatre, my group got moved to the 2nd row in the center of the orchestra, and the show was amazing!
Rush Tickets:
Many people living in and around New York City also love to take advantage of affordable tickets through rush tickets.
What does getting rush tickets mean? It means that you stand in line outside the box office for a specific show, and when it opens, you can buy 1-2 tickets for under $50 for that show. Prices vary depending on the show, and the time you need to wait in line to guarantee your tickets depends on the popularity of the show and the time of year.
Theatre box offices for typical shows open at 10am every day there is a performance, with the exception of Sundays, in which they open at 12pm.
Typically, it is recommended to go 1-2 hours before the box office opens depending on popularity in order to have a better chance at getting tickets!
Websites like broadwayrushreport.com and the reddit account – Broadway Rusher (u/BroadwayRushReport) provide updates on how many people are typically in line for shows. The former is good for seeing the number of people typically in line as an estimation, and it’s good to use the latter to check the line numbers from the week before and see about what time you might want to arrive to get tickets.
One of my favorite experiences with rush was when I went with a group of friends, seven people total, to see The Notebook at the beginning of our Sophomore year. We waited in line on a Sunday from 9 am until the box office opened at noon so that we could guarantee we all got tickets. In the end, all seven of us were sitting together in the side boxes in the mezzanine!
Student Rush:
Besides purchasing student tickets online, many of these companies also have in person rush for students, which is just like normal rush but requires proof of membership or a student ID. These are first come, first serve day of, but avoid the online fees of the student pricing.
Other shows also offer unique student rush or young theatre-goer discounts, such as The Outsiders, The Great Gatsby, and SIX!
Lincoln Center Student Rush is different from regular rush because it starts 2 hours before the performance time, instead of opening in the morning like regular rush.
MTC 30 Under 35 Student Rush is usually for extra shows that MTC chooses to offer tickets for that are not members of their season and online sales. A past example includes Water for Elephants – these shows will also be announced as being on sale for in-person student rush through the MTC mailing list!
Some great experiences with Student Rush I’ve had include getting $30 under 30 tickets for The Outsiders last spring, student tickets for Othello, and $30 under 35 tickets through Manhattan Theatre Club my freshman year for Water for Elephants!
Lottery and Online Rush:
Some sites/apps, including TodayTix, Telecharge lottery, LuckySeat, and more have a lottery and online rush for sale. These tickets also tend to be more affordable, and you can get 1 or 2 tickets through these sites. For the lottery, you enter the day or two before and if you’re drawn, you’ll be messaged asking if you want to purchase. For online rush, you can sign up when the rush portal opens, at 9am or 11am typically depending on the site; if you get tickets, you’ll be taken to the check out screen. Be sure to check policies on these sites and for these shows in advance to see the specifics.
An easy way to check all student, lottery, and rush policies for shows include the Playbill article on rush/lottery and bwayrush.com!
When I’ve done the lottery in the past, I’ve tried to have whoever I’m planning to go with enter as well, for twice the chance of getting tickets. One time, my friend and I both won for two different shows, so we had a two show Lottery day where we sat in the Orchestra for both shows!
Looking to buy tickets in general, but want cheaper tickets?
The Theatr App is a good resale ticketing app, where you can set notifications for specific shows under a set price to get resale tickets.
Additionally, TodayTix offers a lot of sales and the Broadway 2-for-1 Weeks in September and January tend to have more affordable tickets!
Finally, any group of 10+ can buy group tickets through Broadway.com/groups, where you can sometimes get discounted student tickets and general tickets. All you need to do is fill out an inquiry form to be assigned an agent, and you can pay via credit card or transfer.