Friday Favorites: Travel to an Enchanted Place – Broadway
Posted in Family Fun, Theater, Travel | By Shelley Gillespie | Tags: Theater, US Domestic Travel
Except for my home, I have rarely spent as many hours anywhere as I did in one particular place in New York City. That one place is known as Broadway.
Beyond the physical place, New York City, where theater is the center of the universe and 40 theaters are in a concentrated area, Broadway is a state of mind. Once you’ve been treated to a Broadway show, you’re hooked for life – at least I was.
My very first Broadway show, a special occasion with my grandmother, was The Sound of Music, starring Mary Martin. Dressed up, as people used to be to attend the performances, I settled into my plush seat. The house lights went down. Then, the enchantment began. Acting, sets, the orchestra, songs – they all combined magically. I left the theater singing one of the tunes and a confirmed theater-lover.
My husband prefers movies, because he says that movies can show many locations and real scenery. To me, the imagination is what it is all about, so I prefer to have the actors create the world. Theater sets work well to create a backdrop so the actors can make me laugh, cry, and identify–or not-with their world.
Modern Broadway
Tickets to theater productions have gotten expensive. A ticket can cost as much as $125. However, if you are visiting New York and don’t mind standing in line, you can snag as much as a 50% discount on a ticket for that day by heading to the TKTS booth. There is a booth in Times Square, plus two others (one in lower Manhattan and one in Brooklyn), where you can pick up whatever seats are not sold for that day and save money. Note: You must pay with cash or traveler’s checks – no credit cards or checks are accepted.
See hours and details of the three locations of TKTS –
http://www.nytix.com/Broadway/DiscountBroadwayTickets/TKTS/hoursofoperation.html
If you get in line at the TKTS booth hours before the performance, you can land seats for some good shows. My experience was that the “hot” tickets of the time were not on the list, but everything I saw was still a great performance.
If you have a connection to a theater class, you might be able to get reduced price student tickets.
If you “know” someone in a production, you might get “comped” –offered free tickets.
There are also online locations, where you can reserve ahead of time. For instance, the following online source offers a discount code so you can buy your discounted tickets in advance, a nice timesaver.
http://www.nytix.com/Broadway/DiscountBroadwayTickets/TKTS/
And, last resort, if you can’t get to Broadway, see shows in your community. Local theater companies need support and touring companies often have Broadway actors out on tour. I have seen Rent, Spring Awakening, Wicked and other great plays or musicals where I live in Arizona.
So, even if you’re a movie fan, which I am, too, see a show. Watching the actors work up a sweat, sing, dance and perform their hearts out right in front of you is an experience you should have. If you have children, take them, too. (Make sure they can sit still for two hours before you attempt this!) Everyone should be part of the theater world. It has existed for most of the history of mankind. Shakespeare was the Broadway of his day in England. People thronged to be entertained. And, if you go to a play or musical, you will be entertained.
That’s worth a lot these days!
(Sorry not to have photos to share. Take a look at this link if you’ve never seen Broadway. They do not let people take photos in the theater. I wouldn’t think of trying to take photos during a performance – it could totally rattle an actor and ruin an actor’s hard work.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_theatre
Tags: Theater, US Domestic Travel