Whether it be a play or a musical, I’ve always enjoyed seeing a good stage performance! If you feel the same way and are a VCU student, boy do I have news to share with you! In case you haven’t noticed already, we go to school in the heart of Richmond, and what stands proud in the middle? The Altria Theater!
Dating all the way back to 1927 when it was known as the Mosque Theater, the Altria Theater has hosted a plethora of shows. From famous singers like Elvis Presley and the Supremes to well-known Broadway shows like “Wicked” and ”Les Misérables”, to hilarious comedians such as Adam Sandler and Kevin Hart, and so much more!
I remember seeing my first show at the Altria as a kid in 2016 when my Grandparents took me and my sisters to see ”The Lion King!” It was truly a remarkable experience that I’ll never forget! Since seeing “The Lion King”, I hadn’t seen a performance at the Altria Theater until I started my freshman year at VCU. When I first toured the school, I took note of the Altria as being a potential perk. When I made my decision to spend the next four years here, I hoped to get the opportunity to see a performance at the Altria at least once. However, those hopes quickly turned into a reality and exceeded my expectations after learning about their Student Rush Ticket offers!
The Student Rush Ticket offers at the Altria are a fantastic way for VCU students to see select performances at the Altria at an affordable cost! If a show has announced that it’ll offer student tickets, then students can use their student IDs to purchase up to two tickets max for only $25 each! What’s even better is the seating a student can get for only $25. If a student purchases the tickets before the day of the show, they’ll be offered any available seat up on the balcony. However, if the student purchases the ticket on the day of the show, then they could potentially get tickets anywhere in the theater!
I’d like to point out that in my experience, this has been the case for most of the shows I have seen, however, I recently learned that sometimes the seating doesn’t always guarantee options for anywhere closer than the balcony. Regardless of where I sit, all the shows I’ve seen thus far using the student tickets have definitely been worth it!
I’m currently a sophomore in my fourth semester at VCU and have seen a total of five Broadway shows using the student rush tickets. I’m hoping to see my sixth within the next couple of weeks! The first show I saw was “Frozen” towards the end of my first semester with my roommate. What was incredibly convenient for us was that it was no longer than a two-minute walk from our freshman dorm. We were able to avoid traffic and were able to walk straight to the theater. By living on campus, I’m still able to conveniently walk over to the theater from my apartment. Seeing ”Frozen” was fun and nostalgic, but the shows only got better from there! At the beginning of my second semester, I saw “Annie” with my mom by taking advantage of the two-ticket max per student rule. We enjoyed dinner at the “Get Tight Lounge” before heading over to see the fun-filled performance. In April of the same semester, I’d seen my favorite show by far, “Tina! The Tina Turner Musical”. It was vibrant and was a great time listening to songs that many know and love, all while learning more about Tina Turner’s life!
This past December, as I was finishing up my third semester, I saw ”Mamma Mia!” It was so incredible to see one of my favorite movies play out in front of me. All I wanted to do was run up on stage and dance along to “Voluez Voluez!” The most recent show I’ve seen, now in my fourth semester, was “MJ The Musical”. Similar to the “Tina Turner Musical”, this show played popular classics all while telling a story of Michael Jackson’s upbringing. I was hardly able to sit still in my seat!
I’m already planning out shows I’d like to see coming up, such as “Moulin Rouge”, which has already announced Student Rush Tickets available, and “Chicago!” All in all, I’ve always had a positive experience with the shows at the Altria, and those experiences were enhanced and made possible through the Student Rush Tickets!