This summer we went to NYC. And you know what they say – seeing a NYC Broadway show is a must. There’s nothing like Broadway in NYC (that’s very true)!
So my younger daughter, Kiara, was very excited about the trip. After doing an awful lot of research, she had her eyes set on Wicked. The show we never got a chance to see in Chicago. The previews and story line captured her heart like no other. She found the perfect seats online for a very reasonable price. We could get four tickets for about $650.
She asked me almost daily about those tickets. “Mom, did you get the tickets yet?” seemed to always be coming out of her mouth. But I wanted to make sure that was the show everyone wanted to see. So we all did a little more research as a family. I found other popular Broadway shows like the The Lion King for over $200 a ticket and Hamilton for more than $400 a ticket.
Seeing these types of prices made me start to look into other options available to get the best price.
That’s when I found out about the NYC Broadway show lotteries. You may not believe this, but you can get rock bottom prices on Broadway shows when you enter and win the lottery. I haven’t seen any tickets lower than these anywhere.
Broadway Direct Lottery
These official Broadway show lotteries are connected to the Box Office. Each lottery has its own rules and process to participate. Let me explain.
For example, Hamilton has a lottery that gives you a chance to win up to two tickets for $10/each. You enter online. As of today, the rules are that you can only enter once per performance. They select 46 lucky winners for each show. The winners must buy their tickets before 4:00 p.m. the day prior to the show. And of course, these special discounted tickets are not transferable and your seats are at the discretion of the Box Office.
Other shows Like Aladdin, The Lion King, Tootsie and more also offer online lotteries through Broadway Direct. Tickets range from $10 – $42/ each.
After learning about these lotteries I decided to give it a try and entered daily for Hamilton and The Lion King to see if I could win. We were in NY for five days and I never won any of the online lotteries. Given the fact that you may enter online and NYC is one of the most populated cities in America the odds were stacked against me. But I tried anyway.
I felt like entering these lotteries was playing a game of roulette with my daughter’s feelings. Because she wanted the comfort of knowing we had tickets to the show and great seats. But I told her we’d try to win the lottery and if we didn’t we’d still go to see Wicked (fingers crossed that they’d have tickets). Kiara gladly accepted the offer.
The Wicked Lottery
Not all Broadway lotteries are created equal, so do your research. Some are in person like Wicked. According to the website (See Tickets FAQ – “How does your lottery work?”), you come 2 ½ hours prior to the show. You enter your name and the winners are drawn out of a hat 2 hours before show time.
Those are the rules. Yet our first night in New York, we went to enter the lottery about 1 ½ hours prior to show time only to be told it was already over. The gentleman I spoke with was rather nice, so I decided to ask him more about it. He told me about 50 people usually show up for the drawing. Now that’s the type of odds I’m talking about. They give out 26 tickets for the lottery. And each lottery winner can buy up to two tickets for $30 cash/ticket.
The next day we were sure to arrive a little earlier than 2 ½ hours. While we were waiting I met a woman named Teresa. She and her daughter were visiting to celebrate her daughter’s college graduation. They had been in town for a few days and had managed to win four show lotteries already. Can you believe that? I sure couldn’t.
The biggest show they won tickets for was Aladdin. In fact, she told me the competition is fierce for some shows with about 15,000 people entering a day to win Hamilton tickets. And if you think New Yorkers don’t bother, you’d be wrong. There was a woman in line for the Wicked lottery that loves the show so much she enters in person every week.
The time came for us to enter our names. All four people in my family entered. That gave us a chance to win up to eight tickets.
The crowd was about the size of 50 people, so I liked the odds. I was very hopeful we’d win at least two tickets. And wouldn’t you know it, my husband’s name was drawn in the first five. I must have been the only one clapping with excitement. Yes!!!
And about 10 – 12 names later yours truly was called up to join the winners line. We got all four tickets with great seats for $120. Unbelievable!
We won the Wicked lottery!! If “seeing is believing,” check out the cute pin they gave us for winning it.
The people on Broadway are absolutely wonderful. Did you hear them singing when NY had that power outage and the shows were cancelled? I really appreciated the opportunity to participate in something like this.
The woman next to me from Vancouver told me without this lottery she and her family would not have been able to afford the show. They were absolutely elated to have won the lottery. And her son couldn’t stop smiling.
Wicked was absolutely amazing and definitely worth the watch. The storyline, music, actors and special effects were all top notch. While I have not seen any other shows on Broadway, I believe Wicked is truly one of the best. It was one of the major highlights of our trip and we did a lot.
A special THANK YOU to the Wicked Box Office for doing what you do! We appreciate you sprinkling a little extra magic on our trip to NYC.
