A few years back, something revolutionary happened to me. I’m a fan of live theater but also tend to be on a budget. Outside of a select group of venues that I consider seasoned subscriptions for, I have to play my moves strategically. As one can guess, the more high-end the production is, the more expensive tickets will become. Want to trek on down to The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles? Along with the price of parking and gas, there’s a good chance that you’re looking at a fairly pricey evening. For those who tend to pinch pennies more, one has to wonder what opportunities are out there.
There’s a good chance that most theaters will do holiday sales and you can win tickets that way. I still remember a venue selling tickets to the 1776 musical for $17.76. Others may do it for a less modest percentage. Whatever the case may be, there’s a whole art to hunting down affordable tickets. They may at times be riskier, but that’s part of the thrill and uncertainty – so long as the show warrants it. If it’s a show like Hamilton which has popularized the lottery technique, then that’s half the fun. So long as you don’t care where you may end up sitting, the lottery technique is worth investing in (also, the Hamilton App is well built to keep fans happy in-between raffles).
So what about everybody else? How do you stand to get discount tickets on a show playing this weekend? Again, you can hunt for discounts that may better assure chances at decent seating. However, those who like to live dangerously may be happy to know about a few websites that offer them chances to get in on the fun.
The most well-known is Lucky Seat. The procedure is fairly standard. For most major venues across the United States, they hold lotteries on daily or weekly schedules for their current shows. If they’re generous, you can pick your date and usually 1-2 people to place into the lottery. After the deadline, they will draw names and usually contact via available contact services. As of 2022, there’s also the option to log onto the website and search through a handy toolbar at the top of the page. On the chance that you win, you will have to follow guidelines on how to pick them up, which is usually arriving at the theater box office and asking for personalized information.
I was reminded of this because of a recent lottery for Wicked. I have family who will be attending an upcoming show at The Segerstrom Theater in Costa Mesa, CA. Because they are holding weekly raffles, I chose the date and crossed my fingers. I had until Friday morning to enter before they announced the winners at 11 AM with a deadline to pick up by 3 PM. Long story short, I won’t be defying gravity anytime soon.
Overall my experience with Lucky Seat has been memorable. I first discovered them in 2017 after I got really into Dear Evan Hansen. As a big fan of the soundtrack, I wanted to do anything to see it live. I had to see this show that came to mean so much to me. Given that I didn’t have a season subscription to The Ahmanson (where it first played during its tour), it seemed like all hope was lost until I discovered Lucky Seat which not only got me tickets for one show in the balcony but would also later get me seats two rows back from the stage at another venue.
In their case, they put me on an e-mailing list that now keeps me updated with Dear Evan Hansen’s touring production. When I won, they sent out an e-mail congratulating me, giving necessary information to retrieve my tickets (they also sent the loser notifications, but that’s less exciting). What’s interesting about that era of Dear Evan Hansen’s lottery at least is that they also sent notifications via text and because it was a timed raffle, every “winner” had 15 minutes to log on and accept them before being passed onto the next person. It’s how my sister came to win.
Other shows that I’ve won for include Come From Away and Waitress. Like Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress was a time crunch one. Because it happened around Thanksgiving, there was also a surprise flash sale that followed where tickets were slightly more expensive but still affordable. Basically, if you lost the lottery you stood a chance of knowing about a discount that the general public wouldn’t find out about for a few more days.
From my experience, Lucky Seat tends to cater to major cities and venues across The United States. I don’t honestly know how it works outside of Southern California, though I can imagine that it works roughly the same. Another thing to note is that while this is discounted, there are often additional processing fees to take into account. Also, you don’t have to technically go to the show, but the winner is required to pick them up in person with legitimate identification.
My other reliable go-to is one that’s more open to smaller venues just trying to draw in more of a crowd. It’s also a great way to find shows that you didn’t know about. While the pandemic has made the options a little less diverse, they have been known to spread the wealth around, even having shows available for below $10.
Today Tix was designed as a website meant to give audiences more access to theater. What makes them a little more attractive than Lucky Seat is that whereas Lucky Seat is almost exclusively a lottery system, Today Tix also provides discount tickets you can buy right now. As of this publication, the L.A. + O.C. tab has a bevy of interesting options. For instance, they have the Tony-winning drama Slave Play which currently has tickets starting at $30 (a.k.a. 30% off) at The Mark Taper Forum. Elsewhere they have the Sam Mendes-directed version of The Lehman Trilogy starting at $39 (a.k.a. 64% off) at The Ahmanson. These are just two examples, but I encourage anyone in the area to search through at their leisure (there’s also Avenue Q, Next to Normal, and A Little Night Music) and see if anything interests you.
Again, those who like to live dangerously can take advantage of the lotteries. Upon downloading the Today Tix app, you can enter to win up to two tickets per show. The one that is currently catching my eye is Slave Play, whose raffle is currently going for $20. Given how high profile the show has been, I personally think that’s a steal.
In general, Today Tix for me has been more useful at getting tickets to smaller, more traditional dramas. For instance, I bought discounted tickets to see A Play is a Poem at The Mark Taper where I sat in the front row of the second section (still pretty good seats). I would also buy tickets to see Bill Irwin’s one man show On Beckett at The Kirk Douglas Theater. While my opinions on these two productions in particular differ wildly, they were worthwhile investments that raised my interest in two otherwise obscure shows that I’d never see otherwise.
I have had less experience using their service for lotteries, but I know people who use it regularly. From what I gather, their raffles aren’t unlike the Dear Evan Hansen story that I shared. The goal is to stay focused during key hours and hope that you get that welcoming message. Again, it’s not guaranteed but if you’re lucky it will lead you down a road of finding other worthwhile discounts. You may have access to special deals or even get put on mailing lists. So long as you want to continue hunting, there’s no downside to going all in.
While I am personally too busy with other projects at the moment to invest heavily in the lottery game, I do enjoy having the off-chance to enter and believe for an afternoon that my weekend could change. Maybe I will be sitting in a room watching Slave Play and experiencing art that consumes my soul. I love that uncertainty. With that said, for now, I’m mostly sticking to local shows and season subscriptions to get my fix. I’m sure summer will open up and things will change, but for now one show every few weeks will have to do.
To those who want to get into theater but don’t have all the money in the world, I say go for it. If you see a show on Lucky Seat or Today Tix that interests you, I say look at the price and determine if you think that it’s a steal. There’s probably going to be more great shows touring near you very soon. I understand if the idea of health and safety protocols concerns you, but I assure you that most venues I’ve attended have been diligent in checking vaccination cards and doing mask mandates for the time being. If an error comes up, they usually cancel. I don’t know that theater is back to its full potential just yet, but if you want to see for yourself, feel free to get on board and find a show near you!
Comments
Post a Comment