TDF Stages

This morning, Sharon Lee Lau (pictured above) became a TKTS trendsetter. She became the first person to buy her Wednesday matinee and evening tickets at the same time at the TKTS booth in Times Square.

Beginning this week, on two-performance days, matinee and evening tickets will be sold simultaneously at the Times Square booth. For example: on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, when the Times Square booth opens at 10am (or 11am on Sundays), patrons will be able to purchase matinee and/or evening performance discount tickets for that day. Previously, matinee tickets were sold only from 10am to 2pm and evening tickets sold only from 3pm to 8pm.

For a theatre lover like Ms. Lau, this service means she has more time to enjoy New York City. She hails from Santa Cruz, California, but she makes an annual trip to see theatre in New York City, and she buys most of her tickets from TKTS. "It was incredible to be able to get both matinee and evening tickets simultaneously," she said, because that left her more free time during the day to visit the Museum of Modern Art.

(In case you're wondering: Ms. Lau saw the matinee of Evita and will catch Nice Work if You Can Get It tonight.)

But the matinee/evening overlap isn't the only new feature at the Times Square Booth, which is celebrating its 40th year of service.

Additionally, Window #1 will serve as a "Full-Price Ticket Window," which will allow TKTS ticket buyers to purchase full-price tickets to all shows for future performances or same day full-price tickets to shows that are not available at a discount at any other TKTS Booth windows.

"We're exploring these options to see if it is feasible to give our customers the flexibility to get their tickets to matinee and evening performances simultaneously, as well as give them the ability to purchase full-price tickets to future performances at the same time they are purchasing their same day discounts," said Victoria Bailey, TDF's Executive Director. "Our colleagues in Great Britain at the Society of London Theatres, who operate the discount booths for the West End, have been doing this successfully for many years. We're curious to see if the Broadway and Off-Broadway ticket buyers who come to Times Square will also find these services beneficial."