Broadway shows entice travelers from around the world. They are a great excuse to escape hot, summer days or chilly, winter nights. And the star-studded casts, Tony Award-winning choreography, and finger-snapping music turn girls getaways, family reunions, bachelor parties, and vacations with friends into more memorable occasions.
Theatre entertainment is no different from the travel industry on defining groups, in that there's no real consistency. Yet when you travel with friends or family, you're a group, no matter your size. With that, I researched several popular Broadway show theatres to get the skinney on what constitutes a group and what your group should know before booking that Manhattan trip.
1. Most theatres for major Broadway shows had a range of minimums for group discounts to apply, and if your group happens to be smaller than 10 (even 8 or 9 people) you likely can't get a group "deal." However, there are many other ways to bargain hunt for shows, you just need to be a little flexible (see #5 below). Here are group minimums for some of The Great White Way's hottest shows:
- Avenue Q plays at Golden Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 10 tickets - Hairspray plays at Neil Simon Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 10 tickets - Phantom of the Opera plays at the Majestic Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 10 tickets - Rent plays at Nederlander Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 10 tickets - Les Miserables plays at Broadhurst Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 12 tickets - Chicago plays at Ambassador Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - Beauty and the Beast plays at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - Mamma Mia plays at Winter Garden Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - Spamalot plays at Shubert Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - The Lion King plays at Minskoff Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - The Color Purple plays at Broadway Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - The Producers plays at St James Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 15 tickets - Wicked plays at Gershwin Theatre, NYC
Group minimum: 20 tickets
2. Often, group tickets are available for a more limited time than individual tickets. The closer to the show date, the less likely you are to get group rates. Plan to get a head count and tickets early. A couple months in advance is preferred.
3. Group tickets can be purchased online at the theatre's Web site, or at a consolidator site such as Best of Broadway or via phone.
4. Group discounts vary from show to show and theatre to theatre, but can be sizeable. Beauty and the Beast tickets as listed on Best of Broadway, for instance, are currently discounted $25 - $40 per ticket, depending on the seating section.
5. Last minute individual tickets are also available, but not guaranteed. If you didn't plan ahead to get group discounts or were unable to plan that far in advance (perhaps the head count wasn't finalized until one week prior to the trip) then there are a few options. You can always walk up to a TKTS box office the day of a performance to check on last-minute tickets. Or look at last minute tickets from Broadway.com a few days in advance. And there are other Broadway bargain ticket ideas from About.com.
For trip organizers or those responsible for ordering/buying group Broadway tickets:
You can discuss which shows your fellow travelers would like to see on TripHub's trip blogs, then communicate final details (date, location, money owed) via the event schedule and by using the money tracking tool.
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