Three Things to Know About Broadway Before You Go

Ready for the theatre? A Nielsen Scarborough survey done in 2016 showed that more than 47 million people had gone to a live event at a theatre in the previous month. It’s time you went! And if you’re going to the theatre, there’s no better theatre to visit than Broadway. Broadway remains the world’s center for some of the highest theatre performances you’ll ever see and can even rival premiere Disney shows.

If you’re going to go to a Broadway show, though, you better know something about what you’re in for! From the best site to buy Broadway tickets to finding out exactly what Broadway is, read on to learn info you need to know before you go.

1. 1. Broadway isn’t all one street in New York City. When you’re looking for the best site to buy Broadway tickets, you need to know that you’re hunting for tickets to shows in a collection of 40 professional New York City theatres. While all of them sell Broadway show tickets, only four of them are actually physically located on Broadway Street itself. To qualify as a Broadway theatre, a New York City venue must have at least 500 seat capacity.

1. 1. Know your biggest Broadway shows. The first Broadway musical to gross a whole $1 billion was Disney’s The Lion King . They needed that money, too, as it took over 37,000 hours to make all the puppets the musical used. That’s more than four years of just puppet creation! The longest-running show in Broadway history is The Phantom of the Opera . It has been performed more than 9,000 times. In fact, Broadway shows brought in a total of $1.37 billion just during the 2015/16 season.

1. Know the best place to buy Broadway show tickets. About 70% of Broadway tickets, according to some estimates, are bought by tourists. If you’re not from the area, it’s possible you’ll struggle to figure out just which website is the best site to buy Broadway tickets, or if there’s someplace you can go to get cheap show tickets. There are discount sites that can offer from 15% to 50% off, depending on the time of year and which show you want to see. Just be sure to look around and check prices on more than one site. If you’re not sure where to buy Broadway tickets, check out the advice from New York’s official tourist website on good places to score tickets.

It can be pricey to go to a show on Broadway, but it’s an experience everyone should enjoy at least once in a lifetime. Getting discount show tickets isn’t impossible with a little patience and care. Why not see what’s playing next month and plan a trip?