I Can Finally Afford to See a Broadway Show

by Robyn McIlwain

“Economics is the study of limited resources and unlimited wants.” (Anderson 2007) If the resources in question are my own, nowhere is this study more relevant than in New York City, NY. Over the last five years I have made nearly ten trips to The Big Apple. My favorite trips are those taken with my friends in late November which last several days, but I have also driven up with friends for just one night or even for just twelve hours. Sometimes I’ve had a whole year to plan and sometimes I’ve had only a few hours to throw some things together, kiss the kids and hit the road. I love New York.

One thing that is the same with all of my trips to Manhattan is that I have a finite amount of money I can spend. With a year’s notice I can obviously better prepare myself, but I have gone with as little as forty dollars in my pocket. (That was fun.) I enjoy just being in the city and I can amuse myself pretty well with people-watching and window shopping. If I’m taking a more calculated venture, such as the trip in November, I usually try to see at least one Broadway show.

My choice for buying theater tickets is the TKTS booth in Times Square. Now housed under the illuminated red stairs at 47th and Broadway, TKTS was introduced to the public in 1973 by the Theatre Development Fund, a not-for-profit organization that supports and promotes live theater in New York City. TKTS offers drastically discounted tickets for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows on the same day as the performance. By purchasing my tickets through TKTS I have been able to see shows like Mamma Mia!, White Christmas, and Cirque de Soleil’s Wintuk with tickets that were discounted forty or even fifty percent.

As economists know, any decision that involves a choice between mutually exclusive options has an opportunity cost. This opportunity cost is the value of the next-best choice available. For example, if I am trying to choose between spending my last five dollars before catching the bus for home on a Starbucks Peppermint Hot Cocoa or a bag of glazed nuts from a street vendor, either choice will have an opportunity cost associated with it. If I buy the cocoa, the opportunity cost is the nuts and vice versa.

When buying my Broadway tickets at the TKTS booth there are opportunity costs in addition to the actual cost of the ticket. Most of these costs are non-monetary in nature. Perhaps the biggest trade-off, or sacrifice, associated with buying from TKTS is the time involved waiting in line. On average, you should be prepared to commit about an hour and a half to waiting for your turn at the window. Some may find this inconvenience enough of a deterrent to opt for full-price tickets from the theater. I don’t mind the wait, in large part because the wait is in the early afternoon. I’ve probably already had lunch with my friends in Little Italy and since I’m not a big spender, I’m done shopping for the day. There is certainly enough to see and hear in Times Square to keep one entertained for quite a while, so that cost does not outweigh the benefit.

Another opportunity cost to consider is the certainty of what tickets will be available. Not every show sends tickets to TKTS for discount sale. Many of the newest shows or most popular shows do not have a surplus of tickets and therefore they would not benefit by selling their “extra” seats for less money. If there is a particular show you’re dying to see, you would probably prefer to purchase your tickets directly from the theater. You can assume that most shows will run from about 8:00 PM to 10 or 11:00 PM, but the location of the theaters can vary by many blocks and may affect the rest of your plans for the evening. The cost of planning my theater experience in advance was acceptable for me because (1) I’m not too terribly picky about what show I see and (2) the rest of my life is so structured, I look forward to the spontaneity of my time away.

All things considered, and all costs weighed, TKTS is the best way for me to get my theater tickets. There are those that argue that the emergence of TKTS has, in fact, driven up the cost of a regular full-price ticket to a show, but that is a consideration for another time. Anything Goes in the city that doesn’t sleep and someone will always be looking for the best way to work the system. After my cannoli and sangria you can find me at 47th and Broadway taking in the sites and waiting for my turn at the window.

http://www.tdf.org/
http://www.nytix.com/Links/Broadway/Articles/TKTSChangedBroadway.html
http://www.thepersonalfinancier.com/2009/11/temple-restaurant-and-clearing-house.html