So there I was, standing out in the rain looking for last minute theatre tickets to see a Broadway show. This wasn't how I had pictured spending my vacation. When I took a train into New York from Jersey City, my friend had promised me we would have the time of our lives. Apparently, he was a big shot now. He knew how to get cheap theatre tickets to all of the Broadway shows. He had been working as a production assistant at one of the big Broadway theatre companies, and he presented himself as better connected than he probably was. Although his attitude was a little bit irritating – he made it seem like he was making a big sacrifice by taking the time to spend with his best friend – nonetheless, I was glad to be catching up with him.
Needless to say, the cheap theatre tickets never materialized. Finding a cheap theatre ticket on Broadway is a pretty impressive task – so impressive that the very fact that he claimed to be able to do it meant that he was probably telling the truth. You see, it would be a pretty audacious lie to tell. What I had not taken into consideration was how people in musical theatre are. I wasn't just dealing with my friend who was saying he would get cheap theatre tickets for us, but rather with a whole series of people exactly like him. All of them wanted to look like big shots and appear connected. One would tell the other that he had connections for tickets, the other would pass it on to the next, and soon everyone would be promising their friends tickets that they couldn't furnish. It was incredibly stupid, but somehow believable.
You see, if you want to get cheap theatre tickets through connections, you have to be pretty well-connected in New York. Don't get me wrong – there are ways to see cheap Broadway shows. If you buy the tickets at the very last minute, you can see it for cheap. If the show is not selling that well, they might offer discounts. In general though, it is hit or miss. There is no way to guarantee that you'll be able to secure cheap theatre ticket at the last minute. You just have to be willing to risk it and see something else If you can't find a way to get in to the show.
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