I'm Jen your local New York City guide and welcome to Broadway one of the top
attractions is to see a Broadway show here in New York City but you're probably
wondering how do you find those affordable tickets what are the hacks
and secrets to get budget tickets... I am about to share all of that and more
check out the blog post linked down below subscribe follow me on Instagram @jenniferscamera and let
the show begin!
First let's start with Broadway history, secrets, and fun facts. There are 41
Broadway theaters but only four are located actually on Broadway the street.
To qualify as a Broadway theater there must be 500 seats or more and it must be
located between 40th Street and 54th Street between 6th and 8th ave. All other
theaters outside this area that are 99 seats to 499 seats are considered off
Broadway Broadway. In the 1890s was originally known as the Great White Way
because it was one of the first streets ever to be fully illuminated with white
electric white light bulbs. Most theaters do not have an I row many people were
disappointed when they found out that their row number 1 was actually I and
they thought it was the first row it ends up being the ninth row so a lot of
theaters have actually just skipped I altogether. The longest-running Broadway
show isn't the highest earning I'll give you one hint (Phantom of the Opera sign behind me)
The longest-running show is the Phantom of the Opera from 1988 until today and
the second longest-running show is Chicago. 60% of Broadway audiences are
female and 60% say they purchased their tickets online. So you're probably
wondering where is the best place to sit? The orchestra of course is the closest
to the orchestra but I would say that the first couple of rows can sometimes
be an angle looking up so I really like the middle of the orchestra if you can
afford it I also love the aisle rows which has a little bit more leg space
because some of the seats can be a little bit cramped for especially tall
people you have a little bit more space in the aisle to tilt your legs which is
really nice I also really like the mezzanine level which is definitely more
affordable but the first couple of rows of the mezzanine give me that best
perspective oftentimes unobstructed with no one in front of you and you really
get to see the whole perspective of the stage and everything going on. Timing two
things: the cheapest tickets are usually matinees during the middle of the week
and they're usually during winter. 2. Timing duration:
double check all on the show is because some shows can be an hour some can be up
to three hours so you want to make sure that you plan ahead and you have enough
time for parking or dinner reservations make reservations ahead of time many of
these restaurants right before the show or after the show will be super crowded
so you really do need a reservation and sometimes they'll even ask when your
show is to make sure that you have enough time to eat and have plenty of
time to get to this theater. At a TKTS booth you can wait in line for same-day
tickets which are really highly discounted
some of the cheapest tickets to Broadway shows although they do not have the most
popular shows you will find a lot of shows for about 50% off. A couple of
quick tips: first of all there are three locations
there's the location behind me here in Times Square which is the most popular
and it opens earliest but it is the only location that doesn't have next day
matinee tickets so if you're looking for that you might want to check out the
other two locations, which will also have a shorter line walking distance from
this Times Square location you can go up to the Lincoln Center location which is
sometimes a 20-minute long wait when this line is an hour long so you can
definitely save some time walking up there getting into in line there it's
shorter and then enjoy the rest of Central Park or I also recommend if
you're staying downtown to check out the downtown location in South Street
Seaport there used to be a location in Brooklyn but just note that is now
closed. Tip number two next day matinee tickets
I cannot stress it enough it is really awesome that the other location is not
the time square location with the Lincoln Center and a downtown South
Street Seaport location have next day matinee tickets so if that's what you're
looking for I highly recommend you go to those other two locations. Tip number
three there is a separate line for plays so if you want to see a play and not a
musical get in that almost empty line to go see a play there's a 7 day fast pass
line if you've already purchased tickets from a TKTS booth
you can actually skip the entire line show them your sets and then purchase
your next discounted ticket. Tip number five bad weather if there is
bad weather for example a rainy day a lot of times there will be almost no
lines so if you're willing to wait out in the rainy cold I highly recommend it
because you'll get better tickets quicker. TodayTix app if you don't want
to stand in line I highly recommend that you download the really helpful TodayTix
app and that is something where you can get discounted tickets the same day or
even a week in advance. Lotteries if you're feeling lucky check online for the show
you want to see and the lotteries that they have available there are also a
number of discounts for youth student and seniors I've been super fortunate to
see about 10 shows in the last year alone I really love Broadway and there's
so many great shows and they're constantly new ones opening and closing
so some of them have already closed but I'm going to share my top five all-time
favorite shows that I highly recommend you see if you're super lucky to be one
of the 46 people given a $10 tip that is in the orchestra for Hamilton but there
are so many people that enter online digitally it is very hard to get it I
know people who have tried for months and still not back yet so just in case
worst case scenario you can always just fly to Chicago because people actually
do that if you fly to Chicago you can get $100 ticket in a very good seat
compare that to sitting in the very back of this theater if you can get those
tickets far enough in advance.
Now the longest-running show on Broadway, you have to check it out it is about the
Phantom that haunts the Paris Opera stage and falls in love with the soprano. Don't
forget to look up at the Paris Opera House chandelier replica which has 6,000
beads and weighs one ton. The Lion King is the first show to hit 1 billion dollars
in revenue and it is super family-friendly I saw it as a kid I
highly recommend it there are six African languages that are spoken or
sung in this play and 232 puppets some are five inches and some are 18 feet
tall. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, this is not a musical it is at play and it is
two very long parts that are spaced out so there are about two hours and 40
minutes each but sometimes depending on when you see it they have a long break
in the middle where you can have a full dinner or even they show it the next day
it is amazing it is truly a magical experience if you are a devout fan you
will not like the plot it is not about the plot that is not why you see it you
definitely come here to see the familiar faces to enjoy the amazing magic and to
really honestly revel and how they can even make
some of the things happen but they make happen I am NOT going to share all of
the details because they do have a hashtag hashtag keep the secrets so I'm
not going to tell you all the secrets but come and enjoy it because it feels
more like a magic show it is absolutely stunning I really seriously loved it I
was in awe the you know it was a long show but it definitely went really
quickly highly recommended so come here see it yeah yes that's all I can say cuz
there's a bunch of secret that I'm not supposed to tell you so come see it! Frozen this new
musical shares a beautiful story between two princesses and sisters it made
history as Elsa wore pants not a dress in the beginning of the second act.
The magical icicle scenes and familiar music make it a great show for kids and adults.
And now what you've all been waiting for and interview with two Broadway stars
yes I put on a little extra glitter a little extra glam because these guys are
killing it they are so cool oh my gosh I cannot wait to see them on
Broadway again I actually met one of them in a Broadway show so I was
watching a Broadway show I noticed that there was this one guy he like knew what
was gonna happen next you could tell like he's watched this many times
he knows the routine I was like oh I bet he's in the show to my friend I was
like I wonder if he's in the show and he ended up asking you I was like hey like
I noticed I feel like you know you know what's gonna happen next and he's like
yeah actually I'm gonna be in the next show so he was actually in the show
right after that performance and it was so cool to meet him and meet his
significant other they are both so amazing I I honestly they are goals they
are hashtag goals because they are killing it on Broadway they're a
beautiful story and you know what I'm not gonna give it away you just need to
keep watching because this interview is like one of the coolest things ever they
are killing it and yet okay let's just cut to the interview... I'm Clay Thompson
and I'm Christopher Rice and I just closed King Kong on Broadway and I just
closed the musical Pretty Woman on Broadway on the same day and up next I'm
choreographing a production of Matilda in Boston which he was a part of the
original Broadway cast of Matilda so that's pretty fun and I'm currently
working on an upcoming Christmas special that's the Christmas musical that's
gonna be playing at the same theater near Boston called taffy Christmas live.
I'm from upstate New York and I'm originally from Oklahoma but now we're
both Manhattanites yeah past like seven years yeah when you qualify
someone does in New Yorkers when they hit the point of like wanting to yell at
somebody on the subway or like being like oh the city smells great the first
day of spring within like the next day having to deal with it smelling like urine...hot trash
and yeah that's kind of what I when I get to New Yorker mark yeah that's a so
auditioning in New York can be crazy there are thousands and thousands of
people that are in New York City that want to be on Broadway
so my first audition for Newsies which was my broader debut I there were
hundreds of boys and we danced and we sang and we did scenes from the show and
at the end of the day the next day and I started rehearsing for Newsies so it can
be months long and it can also be happened overnight
I made my Broadway debut in the Book of Mormon here in New York and there's one
song at the second song of the show it's called two by two and for like 30 pairs
of people and I was a swing so I covered seven different roles in the show and I
kind of forgot who I was on for and I wound up in the final pose with three
guys living my partners to be one guy so there's almost called two by two and I
guess that night it should've been called three by one because I messed up
a couple nights before I made my Broadway debut hurricane sandy hit New
York and I did not get a put in which is your rehearsal for someone who's
replacing in a show so I never did the show in my costume so the first time I
did that was during my Broadway debut and I ripped my pants open in the one of
the big dance numbers and it was so embarrassing but the show goes on live
theater a lot of Broadway theaters are rather small backstage even though they
seem huge from where the audience sits, backstage they're really small so a set
pieces that you'll see on stage when they come offstage to the wings with the
audience can no longer see them you usually hook them up and they fly
them up so when you walk up stage is huge like thousands and thousands of
pounds other set pieces are hanging above you at all times my favorite place
to sit when I see a Broadway show is definitely in the front of the balcony
or the front of the mezzanine so you get like a bird's-eye view of this stage and
it's you could see all the formations and the dance numbers and you're still
close enough to see the actors faces so what every Broadway show is a little
different so the best seats made to pay on the show you're seeing we can always
ask the people to box office I feel like center of the orchestra is
like probably my favorite spot also the front of the balcony people sometimes
are afraid of because they feel like the balcony is really far away
often the balcony or the mezzanine are really close so front in front of the
mezzanine is a great spot I think my favorite show on Broadway right now is
called Come From Away it's a show that is about 9/11 and the small town that
all of the planes were diverted to and it's so heartwarming and it's funny and
it's an incredible piece of theater everyone in the show plays like four or
five people the whole show and you really care about every single character
they play it's it's a really good piece of theater one of my favorite Broadway
shows of all time is the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie and the guy who
was the lead in that his voice is unlike any other voice in musical theater today
or ever really it seems Gavin Creole and we actually got to do the Book of Mormon
together in New York and he keyed on the tour and other show in London and they
announced he was coming to New York to you know play the role on Broadway and I
was so stoked it turns out he's the loveliest guy because the he's a leader
on stage off and it was just one of those experiences when you're so glad
you get to meet your heroes because he just exceeded all my expectations ever
since I was a kid I knew I wanted to be a performer I went through a little bit
where I wanted to be in the Olympics as a gymnast but from day one I was like I
be on stage and that's all I wanted to do so I feel so lucky to get to it now I
feel like everybody has a really unique path to get to you know where they end
up on Broadway and I feel like mine had a few more roadblocks earlier on and
some I auditioned for colleges for musical theater and I got in like
nowhere so it was really tough for me cuz all my friends I was studying with
in high school had scholarships like great schools and I didn't even get in
so if that was one moment where I had to say do I want to keep doing this and I
chose to you know risk it all and keep pushing so eventually I have wound up at
a school musical theatre and I was really happy there I'm getting to study
what I love and it all paid off because my very first week in the city well I
moved to New York on a Friday and then Monday morning I auditioned for the
Broadway first national tour of West Side Story along with Clay touring that
we both got it and with my first New York audition and I finally had my big
break so we met in auditions for West Side Story and we got put into the show
together so we both were placed with pre-existing actors that were playing
the roles at the same time so we got to know each other in rehearsals and then
we let our put in city then were about to open in Dallas Texas and sparks flew
kind of early and we'd actually been together ever since
so when we were on the national tour of West Side Story we were actually playing
Newark New Jersey and there's a scene in the second act right before the song
officer Krupke if you know the show and officer Krupke didn't come on stage when
he was supposed to so the next song is called officer Krupke so it's just the
two of us on stage and we had to improv an entire scene about why we were about
to sing the song officer Krupke it was so stressful and it felt like it was
like 45 minutes when it was probably like maybe 45 seconds. We're getting
married on the 11th so we're getting married on our eighth year anniversary
which is so exciting we're gonna get married in Palm Springs California which
is / we did a concert of West Side Story out in Palm Springs so we're gonna like
revisit our old stomping ground and get to get married. So I proposed to clay
actually last May with a full flash mob proposal with all
of our friends dancing it was so cool saying his parents came in and surprised
him and do all the choreography - we'll send you a link to check
it out thank you so much for watching don't forget to check out the blog post
a link down below for more details on getting the best tickets and all the
links I also have a ton more videos all around New York City follow me on
Instagram click that subscribe button if you have not already and as always say
yes to new adventures and I'll see you next time!
Bye!