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Help out Broadway – take the kids to a show
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Photo credit: Shrek the Musical
With this week’s news about the closings of such long-running Broadway musicals as Hairspray and Spamalot, there’s perhaps no better time to support the Great White Way than now. At the same time, you can find some pretty good deals on family-friendly shows during the post-holiday months, when the winter doldrums set in and the kids get restless.
Here are my recommendations for family-friendly shows, along with a few tips on finding good deals on tickets:
Shrek the Musical – This ogre of a show is already a hit, and if your kids are Broadway-savvy, you might want to spring for the tickets. You can find seats, even for January, but you’ll pay a pricey $111 per orchestra seat. Shrek is a sure thing for parents willing to splurge to entertain the kids after the holiday credit card bills have been paid off.
Billy Elliot – This gem of a show is suitable for all age groups and is the hottest ticket on Broadway right now. With Elton John’s music and dance numbers that will sweep you away, Billy Elliot is worth the wait in any line, at just about any price. With that in mind, tickets to this show are going for up to $126 for orchestra seats, $81 for rear mezzanine seats. You won’t find good seats in January, but some are available in February.
Mary Poppins – This one I’ve seen twice, and loved it on both visits. You’ll be enthralled by the dancing, the music, the fantastic sets, and the acrobatic feats of the cast. What’s more, the story line has surprising depth that was missing from the film.
Wicked – My favorite Broadway musical tells the real story behind The Wizard of Oz, from the perspective of Elphaba, better known as the Wicked Witch of the West. The sets, the costumes, the characters, the music and all the pyrotechnics one can expect from Broadway are wrapped up in this tremendous show. If you haven’t made it to Wicked, you just haven’t made it. You can find tickets on websites like eBay (Recent orchestra seats were being auctioned for $100 each) and at the box office. Full-price orchestra seats will run you about $125 on Ticketmaster.
The Lion King – Disney’s The Lion King is still going strong, and this show is a winner with young children. It was the winner in 1998 of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, for good reason. Tickets to see Simba, straight from box office or Ticketmaster, will run you $121 for orchestra seats and about $61 for rear mezzanine seats.
The Little Mermaid -- Still a relative newcomer on Broadway, The Little Mermaid is especially popular with younger children and features the same story line and musical numbers as the popular Disney film. Ticket prices range from $121.50 to $51.50.
A few helpful tips:
1. While you won’t be able to find many of these shows at the half-price TKTS booth in Times Square, you can find last-minute deals at the booth on many shows, including family-friendly shows. If your budget is tight, TKTS is worth the average one-hour wait, with ticket prices reduced by 40 to 50 percent.
2. You can often find Broadway show tickets on sale on eBay and the New York tickets list at Craigslist. Be careful about purchasing these from reputable individuals and vendors, of course. But both of these websites are treasure troves for Broadway fans who like to score good ticket deals. Look for tickets available from individuals who simply discovered they had a conflict and find they must part with their tickets. This is how I got hard-to-find tickets to see Kelsey Grammar in a limited run of My Fair Lady at Lincoln Center.
3. Take advantage of the Broadway Theater League’s Kids Night on Broadway program, now available each month. The League offers free tickets to Broadway shows for kids accompanied by an adult on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month. Check the website for details and a list of participating shows.
4. Join Broadway.com or Playbill.com to receive alerts about Broadway show ticket sales and to take advantage of their discount specials. I recently received an important alert, for example, from Broadway.com about the sale of long-awaited tickets to the revival of West Side Story and scored half-price tickets to the play August: Osage County through Broadway.com.
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