The Broadway League routinely offers discounted tickets to Broadway shows via their 2 for 1 and Kids Night on Broadway programs.
Now New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has entered the ring with the Theatre Development Fund to offer more than 2,000 free and low-cost tickets for Broadway shows for high school students in New York City.
Now through August 17 NYC high school students (grades 9 – 12) can enter a lottery to win tickets for a limited number of Broadway shows. All entries will receive a two month free membership to TDF where they can get discounted tickets to Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The TDF membership will also allow the students free and discounted access to many of the cultural institutions around the City.
The participating shows are:
“In the Heights”
“Buena Vista Social Club”
“School Girls: Or, The African Mean Girls Play”
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
“The Lost Boys”
“The Great Gatsby”
“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”
Winners will be announced September 1.
A smiling Mayor spoke at the official announcement saying, “it is a privilege to be here as the first mayor to have ever played Curly in an eighth-grade production of ‘Oklahoma’ on the Upper West Side. There are so many kids growing up in our city for whom Broadway feels as if it is a world away, like something that only belongs to other people. We are together today to prove differently, to make it possible for kids from Sheepshead Bay to Morrisania (no matter how much money their parents make) to enter that different world, to experience that magical moment when the lights go down, the curtain goes up, and they’re transported on the journey of a lifetime—one they will carry with them for decades to come. From the plays of ancient Greece to the public gardens of Mughal India to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, history teaches us that the best art has always been made accessible to working people.”
The participating Broadway shows donated the tickets themselves.
TDF Executive Director Deeksha Gaur spoke at the announcement saying, “driven by a core belief that experiencing art leads to healthier individuals and stronger communities, TDF has distributed close to 70 million free and deeply discounted tickets to New Yorkers and visitors to our city. There has never been a more important time to make sure young people get access to the arts, which is their birthright as New Yorkers, and we are honored that this administration has made their joy a citywide priority.”
Mayor Mamdani added, “one example of what is going to be a term-long commitment to the arts, to culture, and to ensuring that every New Yorker sees themselves in arts and culture.”
Since taking office, Mamdani has launched programs to make cultural events open to city residents.
When asked what his favourite Broadway show is Mayor Mamdani answered, “In the Heights” and “Fela”, adding”Broadway is something that you typically think of as a portal to another world, and yet when I went to go see In the Heights, it was a world that I knew. But to see it on stage, to see it with the depth, the fluency, the talent, the art—it was incredible. I still sometimes wake up singing ‘96,000,’ and I want that experience for every New Yorker. I want them to be able to see a world they didn’t know, and sometimes to be able to see themselves as well. I remember also watching Fela!, the musical. That was that was an amazing experience, to see an African icon and his life on stage right here in Midtown.”