Pay Less for Plays in NYC, Part One

Editor's Note: This is the first entry in a multi-part series on saving money on Broadway and off-Broadway tkts. Enjoy!

In NYC, the play's often the thing, but unfortunately not when the cost of tickets upstage the contents of your wallet. Never fear, the cheap chick is here with a variety of suggestions to save money when buying theater tickets!


TKTS booths-At these NYC standards, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with tourists wearing hip sacks and wait in line to get up to 50% off ticket prices. http://www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx?id=56

Lotteries-Many Broadway and off-Broadway shows offer a lottery for discount tickets on the day of the show. Be sure to check the show’s website to see if they offer a lottery, and note the time you must arrive in order to be entered into the drawing. Lotteries are great, but often involve waiting in line and there’s no guarantee that you’ll get tickets, but if it works, you have attained the Holy Grail of theater-going.

Student IDs-I’m here to tell you that if you still have your college ID and bear at least the slightest resemblance to your picture, then I beg of you, please use it to get discount tickets. All you have to do is take your student ID to the box office (and cash-many of the theaters don’t take debit/credit cards for student rush deals) to purchase these tkts for about $20-$25 each. Generally you need to buy these tkts when the box office opens or a few hours before the show starts.

Show websites-Before you decide to stand in line at the TKTS booth, you may want to check the show’s actual website, many offer discounts and the option of signing up for email lists to keep on top of upcoming specials and deals.

Craigslist: You can find a job, love, and bookshelves on craigslist. Why not check it for theater tickets here? http://newyork.craigslist.org/tix/

Rush tickets-Got some time before the show starts? Wait on line at the box office 20-30-minutes before the show starts and see if there are any cheap tkts available from the no-shows. Their empty seat is your gain!

Stand and Believe!-If you don’t mind using your own two legs to earn cheap theatre tkts, you can buy standing-room only tkts for most Broadway shows. You can only get these tkts on the day of the show and only if it’s sold out, but the price ranges only from $15-$25 and you may get to view the show right behind the orchestra. Check with the box office for info on individual shows.

Cheap Chick NYC, Cheap and Free Weekend Event Picks, August 6-8, 2010

Friday August 6, 2010

Get ready for boozy bingo with the Underground Rebel Bingo Club! Be primed to yell B-I-N-G-O from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. at a secret location revealed when you buy tkts ($15), http://www.meanredproductions.com/current.php

The tale of star-crossed lovers unfolds under the stars in Hudson Warehouse’s free production of “Romeo and Juliet!” 6 p.m. at West 89th and Riverside Drive

Raiders of the Lost Ark screens for free on the Intrepid at 8:30 p.m.

Enjoy traditional West African music with Papa Susso at the Bartow-Pell Mansion’s First Fridays event, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., http://www.bartowpellmansionmuseum.org/events/calendar.php#papa

Sip cocktails at the Cooper-Hewitt garden from 6 to 9 p.m. (Free with museum admission, $15) http://events.cooperhewitt.org/ (cash bar)

What’s in box number two? Find out at Starbox’s free performance installation with more than 20 performers and a special surprise star hiding in a box! Bryant Park’s Fountain Terrace, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Doomed Love and the Devilles at Rooftop Films tonight, $10, http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/36-doomed-love-and-the-devilles

Don’t forget that Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors is still going strong this w/e! http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/lc-ood-2010

New York Classical Theater’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing” (is there such a thing as too much ado?) in Central Park (103^rd and Central Park West) begins at 7 p.m. tonight! (Runs through August 29, 2010.)

Visit the Middle East at the Queens Museum of Art’s Passport Fridays! Starts at 6:30 p.m. http://www.queensmuseum.org/tagged/passport-fridays-2010

Do they or don’t they? Prefer blondes that is…Find out during the Film Forum’s run of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes that starts tonight and runs for a week! http://www.filmforum.org/films/gentlemen.html

Saturday August 7, 2010

You too could channel Morticia and Gomez Addams (?) at tonight’s Argentine tango party! $15 gets you a group lesson during the first hour and light refreshments. 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the 92^nd Street Y. Buy tkts here: http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?productid=T-AD5DP01

Isn’t it romantic? Find love on the LES at the Museum at Eldridge Street’s Love and Courtship Walking Tour at 2 p.m. $15, make reservation here: http://www.eldridgestreet.org/calendar-newyork-events.html

Pretend you’re a hot child in the city with Summer Streets 2010, when area streets are temporarily closed on Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park!

There’s more to Coney Island than hot dogs! Learn the history of the historic amusement park from urban historian Joe Svehlak and even take a swim afterward if you want. Pay $15 at tour, meet at 10 a.m. at the NE corner of Stillwell and Surf

Aw shucks! Learn the art of shucking oysters from chef Nick Korbee, and then dig-in to a brunch including Penn Cove oysters and other treats all for just $18! 11:15 a.m., Smith & Mills, 71 North Moore St.) more info here: http://www.smithandmills.com

Together for Haiti is the theme at this month’s Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday party. http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php

Help decide who Mr. Cyclone will be in a contest hosted by Murray Hill and Miss Cyclone, Angie Pontani, taking place at, where else? The Cyclone! Noon to 3 p.m., free!

Sunday August 8, 2010

Keep on truckin’ at the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market with the Gourmet Food Truck Bazaar! Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, W. 39th St. (at Tenth Ave.) 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Celebrate Peace Prayer Flags in the World at the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art (on Staten Island, take the S74 bus to Lighthouse Avenue after leaving the SI Ferry) with a lecture on the history of the prayer flags from artists Joseph L. Vasile and Phagyab Rinpoche and the chance to make your flags. 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., $10 donation.

Free admission to Historic Richmond Town today as part of their Community Day Festivities! http://www.historicrichmondtown.org/component/eventlist/details/319

Saturday and Sunday August 7 and 8, 2010

This isn’t the Triwizard Tournament, so no dragons of the fire-breathing breed will be on-hand, but you can still cheer on the participants of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival Saturday and Sunday this weekend. More info here: http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/keyword+dragon+boat/

I don’t know if you’ll learn to make a dress out of curtains, but there will be soldiers and other re-enactors sharing the way life was lived in the Civil War at Governors Island, http://www.govisland.com/html/visit/this_week.shtml

Housing Works Bookstore is having another 30% off sale Saturday and Sunday as well! http://www.housingworks.org/events/detail/monthly-30-off-sale-all-day-august-7th-and-8th/

NYC Cheap and Free Weekend Event Picks, July 30-August 1, 2010

Friday July 30, 2010

Free Champagne and Wine Tasting at Drink, 235 E. 69th St. from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

See the Best of the Ottawa International Animation Film Festival at BAM, http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2376

Monsters vs. Aliens is screening at the Hudson River Park’s Pier 46 at 8:30 p.m.

Books through Bars: An Evening of Punk Reminiscences with Eric Davidson, talking about his new book We Never Learn, at Freebird Books (Freebird Books, 123 Columbia St, Brooklyn) 7:30 p.m..

92nd Street Y is screening To Kill a Mockingbird at noon today, http://www.92y.org/shop/event_detail.asp?productid=T-LC5JB08

I’m not afraid of no ghost! See Ghostbusters at Staten Island’s Coast Guard site (the former Lighthouse Museum site, next to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal) 8:30 p.m.

Draw your thoughts toward animation at Rooftop Film’s Animation Block Party tonight at 7 p.m. http://www.rooftopfilms.com/2010/schedule/32-animation-block-party

See 3D animation Victorian-style at 8 p.m. tonight! $5, http://www.observatoryroom.org

Gary Shteyngart (The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, Absurdistan) reads from his new book Super Sad True Love Story at Greenlight Bookstore, 7:30 p.m.

Travel to Taiwan with Target Passport Fridays at the Queens Museum of Art, http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2010/07/30/target-passport-fridays-2010-taiwan

Saturday July 31, 2010

Women’s brunch and clothing swap at Galway Hooker, 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. $18 inc. cost of brunch+two drinks, tax, and tip, for more info and RSVP, click here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/someofthegirls/

Sonic Youth, Grass Widow, and Talk Normal play a free concert at the Prospect Park Bandshell 7p.m.

Roam the bars of St. Mark’s at the Lunch Club’s Pub Crawl, http://www.thelunchclub.com/clubhouse/calendar.php?do=viewlcevent&e=2423

Check out Repo Man at the Coney Island Museum with a pre-show at 8:30 p.m. http://www.coneyisland.com/films.shtml

Watch out for that whale at Staten Island OutLoud’s Moby Dick Festival. Events start at 6:30 p.m. at Fort Wadsworth’s Harbor Scenic Overlook and the Staten Island Philharmonic performs. http://statenislandoutloud.org/upcomingevents.aspx

Rick Marz, writer of Star Wars, Green Lantern, and Witchblade comics visits Midtown Comics (200 West 40th Street) from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. to sign exclusive Midtown Comics copies of his latest work, Artifacts # 1 from Top Cow.

Gaze at Greenpoint’s stars tonight, http://www.aaa.org/fortgreenepark

Sunday August 1, 2010

BOMB magazine is throwing a summer featuring art and music bash at Glasslands Gallery on the Williamsburg Waterfront at 8 p.m., cost $10.

See the real Five Points with the Museum at Eldridge Street’s walking tour at 2 p.m. http://www.eldridgestreet.org/calendar-newyork-events.html

Eat for a good “claws” at Black Rabbit’s (91 Greenpoint Ave, at Franklin St., http://www.blackrabbit.com) Lobster Roll and Maine Beer Fest from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.! Tkts are $20 in advance ($25 at the door) Call 718-349-1595 to purchase tkts.

Celebrate Jerry Garcia’s b-day at the New York Historical Society with free Cherries Garcia ice cream, raffles, and 2-for-1 admission to their Grateful Dead exhibit, https://www.nyhistory.org/web/.

The Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Festival (http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/lc-ood-2010), Poet’s House Showcase (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/books/09poets.html?_r=1), and the Latino Cultural Festival (http://www.queenstheatre.org/web/frontends/program/3/13) are happening over the w/e!

Cheap Chick NYC Summer Movie Guide

Summer in the city can mean only one thing: it's summer movie season, when picnicking in the park and feeling those soothing sea breezes (well river, but you get the point...) can melt all those stresses away and you can take a deep breath and realize that summer is finally here.

Enjoy all the movie options at these cheap and free movie festivals during the rest of the summer and into the fall!

Outdoor Cinema at Socrates Sculpture Park:
http://www.socratessculpturepark.org/programs/outdoorcinema.php

Bryant Park
http://www.bryantpark.org/plan-your-visit/filmfestival.html

Movies With a View
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/go/programs-/-events/movies-with-a-view

Hudson RiverFlicks (for kids, grown-ups, and the kid inside you!)
http://riverflicks.com/RFgrownups.html,

Riverside Park
http://www.riversideparkfund.org/calendar/?c=movietheater-event

Movies on the Elevated Acre
http://rivertorivernyc.com/events/ (use the search function for The Elevated Acre, and select
Film as event to see the schedule.)

Coney Island
http://www.coneyisland.com/films.shtml

McCarren Park Film Festival
http://www.mccarrenpark.com/film.html

Movies on the Intrepid
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/Summer-Movie-Series.aspx

Reel Harlem Film Festival
http://www.historicharlemparks.org/Site/Film_Festival.html

Red Hook Films Summer Movie Series
http://redhookfilms.org/

Rooftop Films
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/

Staten Island Summerfest
http://dsic.weebly.com/

Central Park Film Series
http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/things-to-do/family-community/the-central-park-conservancy.html

Cheap Chick NYC, Cheap and Free NYC Weekend Event Picks, July 23-25, 2010

Friday July 23, 2010
Carol Channing reads from her new book For Heaven’s Sake at the Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle, 6 p.m.

Watch the Muppets solve a string of high-profile jewelry thefts in The Great Muppet Caper at Movies for Kids on Hudson River Park's Pier 46. Movie starts around 8:30 p.m.

The Goonies is being screened on the flight deck of the Intrepid and Madgascar is showing at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center. http://www.snug-harbor.org/special.html

Mix and mingle while enjoying summer cocktails and light fare at the Cooper-Hewitt garden, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., free with museum admission, $15.

Will they or won’t they meet at the top of the Empire State Building? Find out at BAM’s screening of An Affair to Remember. http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2359

Get a kick out of the free Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater program from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Central Park's Rumsey Playfield.

Monthly Yoga Dance Party at Abhaya Yoga, $10, at 8 p.m. in Brooklyn. http://abhayayoga.com/

Saturday July 24, 2010
Maybe this is where Bravo got the idea for their show Work of Art…watch artists practice their craft during ArtBattles: King of New York at Le Poisson Rouge, 7 p.m. http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/view/1370

Big Onion leads walking tours of the Gramercy Park/Union Square area. See where laborers protested and where the other half lived, all on the same day! Stops may include Tammany Hall, the Players Club, and the homes of George Templeton Strong, Stanford White, and Theodore Roosevelt. Meet at The George Washington Statue located on the 14th Street side of Union Square at 5 p.m. Tour is $15.

Slip and slide at the park’s City of Water Day Festival, http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2010/07/24/city-of-water-day1

Field of Dreams outdoor music and art festival at the Prospect Park West Bandshell at 3 p.m.

See Hitchcock in high-definition at Symphony Space (those neighbors never looked so spooky…) Starts today and runs through August. For more info check here: http://www.symphonyspace.org/series/151

Zack+Kelly 4-ever! Party like it's 1990 at The Bell House's Saved by the Bell House Party! Just don't wear your Valley t-shirt! http://www.thebellhouseny.com/calendar.php

Free walking tour (with trivia!) of Lower New York Saturday at 2 p.m. led by Chronicles of Old New York author James Roman! Meet at the Hangman's Elm, NW corner of Washington Square Park.

Sunday July 25, 2010
Mad Men’s season four premiere takes over Times Square with a dress-up contest and trivia starting at 7 p.m. and the world premiere on a BIG screen at 9 p.m.! http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/newyorksgonemad/

Open the Muppet vault and learn the truth about Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog at last! Well maybe not, but perhaps you’ll make a “rainbow connection” at this Muppet Vault event with an afternoon of rare footage from the Jim Henson Hour and other shows, a sing-a-long, and Muppet/Jim Henson trivia at the Knitting Factory from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. http://bk.knittingfactory.com/event-details/?tfly_event_id=12903

Learn about "The Central Park You Never Knew" with Discovery Walking Tours. Tour starts at 2 p.m. and is $18 ($5 off if you attend the group's Event Horizon tour earlier in the day). Stops include Strawberry Fields, The Ramble, Literary Walk, The Arsenal, Wagner Cove and Bethesda Fountain. For more info on both tours, reservations, and meeting space, call 212-465-3331!

If you're just dying to see NYC's marble cemeteries, then check out this tour! http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/events/upcoming.htm#evill

Soak up Native American culture all weekend with an authentic Pow-Wow at the Queens County Farm Museum! http://www.queensfarm.org/events.html

Get some sand between your toes and build sand sculptures on Saturday at Coney Island (http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2010/07/24/astella-development-corps-sandsculpting-contest-unity-day) and sandcastles at Far Rockaway on Sunday! (http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2010/07/25/sandcastle-contest)

Don't forget other summer picks here: http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2010/07/cheap-chick-summer-guide-2010-part-one.html

http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2010/07/2010-nyc-summer-guide-part-two-cheap.html

http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2009/06/cheap-chick-summer-guide-2009.html

Thursday's the Write Time, Free NYC Writing and Journalism Events

Two great events are starting Thursday for writers and journalists:
Meet and Mingle With the Deadline Club (the NYC chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists)
Curious about the Deadline Club? Always wanted to join but haven’t had a chance? Or are you a current member who wants to socialize with colleagues over drinks? Then join us at the Playwright Celtic Pub and Restaurant's (8th Ave. b/t. 45th and 46th) outdoor terrace on Thursday, July 22, from 7 to 9 p.m., to mingle with media professionals and have fun.
Food will be available and there will be a cash bar.

The mixer is FREE for current Deadline Club members and $5 for non-members, but join at the mixer and waive the $5 fee. All guests are eligible to win some great raffle prizes! RSVP at rsvp@deadlineclub.org.

At the event, we will also raffle off tickets to Upright Citizens Brigade’s “ASSSSCAT 3000” show, which features acts from Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart; to a preview performance of Lisa Kron’s “In the Wake” at The Public Theater; and to Comix Comedy Club, as well as other items!

Free Writing Classes With Gotham Writer's Workshop
Take free classes outdoors in Bryant Park through the Word for Word program. You can select from these sessions:

July 22 - Free Screenwriting Class with Michael Eldridge
July 29 - Free Humor Writing Class with Sara BarronAugust 5 - Free Fiction Writing Class with Alexander SteeleAugust 12 - Free Creative Writing 101 Class with Michael Leviton

Classes are held on Thursdays (starting July 22nd, 2010) from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and though they are free, each session requires advance registration, which is available here (scroll down for the date/session you want: http://www.bryantpark.org/plan-your-visit/wordforword.html#

Curious About George? Monkeying Around at the Jewish Museum

According to the Jewish Museum's "Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey" exhibit, that little red monkey you know from the children's book series was actually rescued from the Nazis by his creators H.A. (Hans Augusto) and Margret Rey who escaped Paris by bicycle to Spain, taking their stories and illustrations of the monkey then-known as FiFi, with them.


When you visit the exhibit, you don’t enter via a bicycle, but rather a charming replica of the hotel where the Reys stayed while living in Paris as refugees from Nazi Germany. The exhibit features the evolution of George, as a minor character, Fifi, in the story Cecily G and the Nine Monkeys to his solo adventures with the man with the yellow hat (possibly inspired by Rey’s time in the Amazon, where he had two pet monkeys), as well as the story of the Reys’ marriage (their wedding invitations showed Rey as an easel and Margret as a camera.)


Playful illustrations of George stories are interspersed with pictures and characters from other books like Whiteback the Penguin, inspired by a 1937 World’s Fair illustration, and other memorabilia detailing the couple's careers (they worked together on stories including the George books) and home life (they sent out illustrated Christmas cards every year-my favorite was one featuring the Statue of Liberty, created after the couple settled in NYC.)


Fun facts abound (if you look closely, you’ll see self-portraits of Rey and Margret in many of the George books-often Rey with a pipe in-hand, and Margret with their dog Charkie) and the museum has incorporated whimsical elements like little cutout mice hovering in front of a faux fireplace into the exhibit.


Before leaving, relive your favorite George moments by sitting down with a child (or the child in you) and reading the numerous George books in varying languages that the museum has thoughtfully supplied. I know there’s not much time left to see this exhibit, but for a dose of nostalgia, or to introduce a child in your life to George, this exhibit "saves the day!" (bonus points if you recognize the nod to one of the George books!)


There are two Saturdays left in July to see this exhibit for free (otherwise pay $12)! For info on admission and hours, check here: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/HoursAdmission (remember it's free on Saturdays.) and for info on the George exhibit, click here: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/curiousgeorge (it runs until August 1, 2010.)