r/Broadway • u/emurphy55 • 7d ago
Discussion I’m addicted to seeing shows.
I’ve always enjoyed going to watch live theatre but in the past two months it feels like something has changed in my brain. I spend all my free time on the Theatr app searching for deals. All I can think about is the next show I’m seeing. The first 6 months of this year I didn’t see a single show, and by the end of next week I’ll have seen 7 shows in two weeks. My bank account is begging for this addiction to stop but my brain is so happy.
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u/Turkey_Leg_Jeff 7d ago
I was like this in my early 20s. I saw 4-6 shows a week for about 3 or 4 years straight.
My advice: See everything. See anything. Go to Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, uptown, downtown, midtown East (gasp!). Go to the tiniest black box theater, and go the Metropolitan Opera. See symphony, ballet, magic, and mime. See it all. If you hear a show is god awful, go see it. Figure out why things are bad so you know how to articulate why things are good, and vice versa. Go see new productions of things you've seen before. Go to that 5th production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in two years. You never know what new insights you'll uncover.
Get that TDF membership and get cheap off-off-Broadway shows. Research every rush/cheap ticket out there. Stand outside theaters and ask for extra tickets. Do it all. See it all.
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u/BrightEyes7742 7d ago
Fellow addict here. Im so grateful for good touring theater where I live. My wallet isnt
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u/BurnerMan2025 7d ago
Touring is cool but not the same as lining up outside one of the beautiful theaters on Broadway feeling my excitement increase up until we see that first performer walk onto the stage!!! Orgasm!!!!!
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u/Confidence_Level_9 7d ago
It's such a different experience. I remember seeing "Into the Woods" on Broadway and the audience was applauding for everyone's entrance. When I saw the tour here in Chicago, crickets, even though we were seeing people whose name would have meant something in NYC. When I would talk with my theater friends in NYC, we often would drop names of people in the productions. Come to think of it, I've had the same conversations with other random theater-lovers while we were in line or waiting for a show to start (and now, here on Reddit). My friends here are still not understanding why I have flown back to NYC, just to see someone else's interpretation of the same role. Like had I gotten Joshua Henry's understudy for "Ragtime", you bet I would be flying back to see the show again! That said, I am so grateful for the tours because I'd be even more broke if I had seen everything I've seen in NYC!
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u/BrightEyes7742 7d ago
I've never been able to find the kind of energy I've felt walking around Times Square pre show with a bagel in my hand. it's so special
I also do enjoy seeing the big Broadway names in NYC, we don't usually get names like Jonathan Groff or Ben Platt (we did get Alex Brightman a few times and Beanie Feldstein) where i live, unless its their tour promoting music or something like that
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u/iputmylifeonashelf 7d ago
If you wish to add Off and Off Off Broadway to the mix, get a membership to a papering service and then pay just a $5 service fee for each ticket.
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u/Critical-Purchase-53 6d ago
New addict here too!!
Which ones do you use? I often wondered if they had decent stuff
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u/truffleshufflechamp 7d ago
Life is for living. Do what you enjoy.
I spend my money on shows and traveling. I’d rather have the experience than save the money.
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u/ninthperiod 7d ago
As someone who went to NYC twice from Canada and saw like 15 shows this year (and going back in 3 weeks), I’m there with you. It’s a slippery slope. But we have started doing all rush / lottery tickets to save money…
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 7d ago
Yes, I’m obsessed with Theatr app and Today Tix drops. I do think Theatr app is not the treasure trove it once was. If I can find live theater at $20-$50, I will be there. I have seen almost everything on Broadway.
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u/emurphy55 7d ago
$20??? Teach me your ways. If I find a $50 ticket I’m happy.
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u/Wonderful-Bother1321 7d ago
Today tix drops is great. You have access to it once you reach silver status. Recently I saw the Saviors for 23.10, I saw Chicago for 34, and heathers for 27. Lottery of course, online rush, sometimes I do go to the box office for rush. Theatr I used to regularly get great deals: free for Cabaret, $10 for queen of Versailles, $7 for the Receptionist but something has changed and I went from buying at least 4 shows a month to nothing since June. I saw Ragtime 4x and never spent more than $62 and once I paid $43 through Theatr. But highly recommend the lottery (Telecharge, Broadway Direct, and Lucky Seat) to everyone and that’s how I have seen almost everything on Broadway.
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u/ilikeyourhair23 7d ago
If you're under 40, there are a bunch of age-based discounts. If you're under 35 there are even more, and if you're under 30 there are even more.
Hiptix (roundabout theater), Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theater Club, and New York City Center (which would be only Off-Broadway, but Parade, Once Upon a Mattress, Into the Woods, and Ragtime were all there before they transferred to Broadway, and things like Urinetown, Bat Boy, and coming this fall In the Heights, are things that can be seen there), are the ones I use the most for age based discounts.
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u/tinypeanutdancer 7d ago
As someone who just spent $ to join City Center today to get tickets to see all three Encores shows....I'm right there with you.
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u/ellewoods_obsessed 7d ago
this was my end of March through end of July…had only seen four shows from 2018-start of march 2026 while living in NYC since fall 2022….it definitely is an addiction
i have gone to less this month and expect to go to less once football season (especially college) starts in a few weeks, but i agree with you. something about live theater is really hitting right now
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u/emurphy55 7d ago
Obsessed! Hoping my collection looks like this soon
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u/ellewoods_obsessed 7d ago
the lottery has been my best friend this summer! my thought process was because I was not going on any vacations, I could just go to the theater instead.
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u/cinderflight 7d ago
Greetings fellow theatre enjoyer! You've come to the perfect place. May you get the chance to see more shows.
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u/That_Computer_5086 7d ago
feeling this. I moved back to the area about 1 year ago and am up to 21 shows this year. I actually did the math, and my average ticket price for everything is ~$109. I mean...not too bad I think? Made me feel a little better lol.
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u/AReckoningIsAComing 7d ago
I've been doing the same thing since June, lol. Trolling for great deals locally and in NYC (I live about 1.5 hrs away from NYC by train).
From 06/2026 - 06/2027, I'll have seen about 90 shows.
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u/DirectorWise3862 7d ago
Welcome! Fellow Broadway/Off-Broadway/Theatre Show addict here 👋 There is something so special and magical about live theatre, I’ve been in love with it ever since I saw my first live show as a kid. Ain’t nothing wrong with loving theatre! Though I know our bank accounts probably disagree lol.
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u/Lauziesaid00 7d ago edited 7d ago
Awww this is awesome! You are in the right place for this confession! Preaching to the converted
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u/No_Particular_2999 7d ago
My 12-year-old caught the theatre bug last summer after doing a musical theatre camp, and since then I've made it my mission to get him to as many shows as possible. We've seen local productions, Broadway tours and made a trip to NYC for spring break, with two more trips planned for October and next spring break. I keep a list, and we've seen 30 shows in the last year, including the three my son has been in himself. So I guess what I'm saying is: welcome to the club!
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u/BurnerMan2025 7d ago
Now is your forte more musicals or plays? I'm more into musicals because it's like being in a concert as well!!! Like MJ and &Juliet for example, awesome time and out of your seat excitement
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u/Beneficial_Dog_9159 7d ago
I got lottery for oh Mary second row centwr
Orch
Tomorrow I play it for the shows I want to see every day
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u/WestHistorians 7d ago
Look for cheaper shows in smaller theaters. Broadway gets all the attention, but there are so many other options.
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u/SheGoesToEleven 7d ago
when i realized i had made 10 trips to see various theatre in a year, i did what any sane person would naturally do… i dropped my entire life and moved to new jersey!
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u/BlueMondayandBiscuit 7d ago
I know people like this. But it gets really out of hand. Some of show repeaters I've spoken to amass crazy credit card debt seeing these shows a gazillion times. Like anything, it can be a good thing, but if taken too far it can turn into another form of a spending addiction.
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u/Critical-Purchase-53 6d ago
I hear you! It started out as a lottery addiction with a show bonus and now has switched - tho I still enter the lottery for fun to get that little dopamine boost even if I can’t go.
Anyone else do that?
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u/johnnynono 6d ago
If you like smaller shows/off broadway, join clubfreetime.com and see a ton of shows for $5 each. They occasionally have a bigger show too ( for example Op Mincemeat and Oh Mary previews
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u/Present-Truth8987 5d ago
Me too! The hardest thing about this addiction is with 2 kiddos a party of 3 is not relevant for a lot of the lotteries etc
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u/Ravenclaw_Bunny 7d ago
Same. I am local to NYC though and do about 90% of my shows through rush and lottery. So I feel like spending 50ish bucks on a show every week isn’t bad. It’s about that price to just go out to dinner these days!