Video from Don't Quit Your Night Job

A few posts ago, I talked about Don't Quit Your Night Job. We'll they've put some video from the show up...and this is the most family friendly one I could find. Enjoy!

CHEAP: the new off-Broadway

Everything is moving to New World Stages these days. Avenue Q was the first to make the leap from Broadway back to off-Broadway, and many other shows are finding their 2nd, and 3rd lives at New World Stages......which is conveniently next to my gym.

Yes, I was the girl in workout clothes at the 3pm matinee of Toxic Avenger today. I know what you were thinking....damn, she looks good in spandex.... I digress.

How does one describe Toxic Avenger? Best run-on sentence ever: A tongue-in-cheek farcical re-telling of a bad movie about a dork in New Jersey who gets toxic waste spilled on him and becomes a mutant superhero who is in love with a blind nymphomaniac librarian and tries to save his town from the evil mayor and her toxic waste accompanied by two male actors who repeatedly dress in drag and have better legs than I do. Starring American Idol's Diana DeGarmo. With a Helen Keller joke. or two.

With songs like "Thank God She's Blind" and "Choose Me, Oprah!", it's a comedy for the whole dysfunctional family.

CHEAP: A Pot o' Gold

A few weeks ago, Gina and I saw Finian's Rainbow in previews. If you are unfamiliar with the original show or movie with Fred Astaire.....anyone? Anyone? Didn't think so. Let me give you a brief and simple plot summary:

A mysterious Irishman, Finian (Jim Norton), and his beautiful daughter Sharon (Kate Baldwin), arrive one day in Rainbow Valley, a small Southern town of tobacco sharecroppers in the mythical state of Missitucky. The town has its own resident dreamer, Woody Mahoney (Cheyenne Jackson).

Finian's come to the town because he's stolen a leprechaun's crock of gold and plans to plant it in the ground so it'll grow faster (or else why would the Americans have rushed to dig the gold out of California only to plant it back in the ground at Fort Knox?). But trouble arrives in the form of Og (the hilarious and charming Chris Fitzgerald) the leprechaun, who has followed Finian to America and is bent on retrieving his gold.

Meanwhile, the bigoted Senator Rawkins plans to take the remaining parcel of land needed to stop the project - Woody's, which Finian has purchased to save from the auctioneer's gavel. But then the government's geologists reveal to the Senator that gold has been detected on the property! Rawkins and his men confront the sharecroppers to seize their land using as an excuse an obscure law making it a felony for blacks and whites to live together, but when Sharon, outraged at this bigotry, cries out while standing right over the pot of gold, "I wish to God you were black ..." all hell breaks loose as wishes come true.

Then the Senator turns black.....and did I mention that Woody has a sister named Susan the Silent who speaks through dance?

OK. OK. The plot is...awful. It's hokey and contrived, and I can't believe that The New York Times gave it such a glowing review. (Ever since Charles Isherwood raved about Rock of Ages, I've been wondering about his mental health.) However....I love the cast, there are a few iconic songs sung beautifully by the equally beautiful Kate Baldwin and Cheyenne Jackson, and Christopher Fitzgerald steals the show as the leprechaun whose pants get shorter as he becomes more mortal.

If you can get a cheap seat, and really, who can't during this time of the year, go see Finian's Rainbow. Have a drink or two before, it's a "Necessity". (That was my cheesy allusion to the show-stopping number sung with sass by Terri White.)

CHEAP: Famous People Making Idiots of Themselves for Charity

Forgive my absence......it's called graduate school.

Lots to catch up on. But since I'm awake at 2:23 on a Friday morning (that's Thursday night), I want to let you know why I'm up so late.

It's called Don't Quit Your Night Job, and it's the shizzle. Don't Quit is the brainchild of B'way all-stars Steve Rosen, David Rossmer, Sarah Saltzberg, and Dan Lipton. They invite all their fabulous and talented B'way friends for an evening of improv. Huh-larious. It's only $20, and the proceeds go to TDF Open Doors program.

With games such as "Musical Madlibs" (where Finian's Rainbow star Kate Baldwin had to sing "How are Things in Glocca Morra, with the lyrics altered by us, the audience), the party game (where Richard Kind from Spin City and Mad About You and everything else.. had to guess what musical each party guest was representing), and my personal favorite, You Sing So Awesome (where Montego Glover from Memphis had to sing the iTunes agreement, instructions for feminine products, and "Where the Wild Things Are").

Below is my favorite clip from DQYNJ

OCCASIONALLY EXTRAVAGANT: Moving

Moving is a &itch. Not going to lie.

FREE: Talkbacks

Last weekend, I went and saw Oleanna with Gina and Teresa. This David Mamet play is making it's way to Broadway with stars Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman. (It received good reviews at the Mark Taper Forum in LA earlier this year.)

The plot in a nutshell: Slightly pompous and distracted professor (Pullman) is meeting with a failing student (Stiles). And basically, I can't tell you anything else without giving away the major plot device. (Sorry!) But.... it's all about political corrected-ness and what words mean. And it's intense!

A bonus (and the free part of this blog entry) was the talk-back after the show, starring the NY Post theater critic and all around smarmy person, Michael Riedel. (Normally, I'm not a fan of his reporting, but it might be because if I was a critic, I would match his sarcastic barbs and raise him a "that's what's she said".) Riedel came out and was asked questions about the show from a moderator and audience made comments. One guy in the audience was craaazy and had the complete opposite view from the rest of the audience (and the way that Doug Hughes staged it) and accused Riedel of being sexist. I normally avoid looking at crazy people on the subway or walking down the street, but the entire audience was trying to get a better look at this guy. And to top it off, I actually enjoyed what Riedel had to say. Upcoming and past panelists include: Kathryn Erbe (The Mighty Ducks, Law & Order CI), Montel Williams, Tovah Feldush, Pia Lindstrom, Fred Duritz (??). For the complete list, click here.


Bonus points, to anyone who can tell me why this play is called Oleanna, because I don't know and it's bugging me.....

CHEAP: New York Institution

The Shake Shack is totally worth the line.

Started in 2004, the Shake Shack is basically a burger joint. With fries, wine, beer, ice cream cones, hot dogs, concretes (think Sheridan's) and milkshakes. The lines have been know to wrap around Madison Square Park. I met my friend, Gina, there to celebrate "Shacktoberfest" where they brought in German beers, and my choice, the German Chocolate Concrete. Bliss.....

CHEAP: Drinks and Princess Leia

Tori and I had tickets to see Carrie Fisher's one-woman Broadway show, Wishful Drinking, based on her book of the same title. Obviously, any show with "drinking" in the title, deserves to be pre-gamed.

Blockheads on West 50th (behind New World Stages) offers $3 margaritas all. the. time. Grabbed some good Tex-Mex food... and walked to Studio 54.

We show up at like.. 7:12, thinking we'll grab our tickets and then get some PinkBerry (fro yo). And the usher tries to take our tickets, and we're all confused. The show has already started!!! For some crazy reason, despite the fact our email says 8pm, the show started at 7. We are mortified!

I've never been to Studio 54 in this life, or a previous disco-dancing one... so I did NOT expect such a HUGE space. We were up in the mezzanine and it was cavernous. So of course, we have to troop waaaaayy up to the cheap seats, and we hang our heads to show our remorse for being tardy.

The show in general? I don't think we missed much in the first 20 minutes. However, I DIED when she put on the Leia buns wig. The Hollywood Inbreeding 101 was funny, Eddie and Debbie, Eddie and Elizabeth, Eddie and 8 other wives.... Compared to JLo, this people were Olympic medalists in marriage. She dishes on everyone.... for example, George Lucas told her she couldn't wear a bra in the white Leia dress.....because there was no underwear in space.

Grade: B- Despite my Star Wars appreciation (some call it obsession), this show didn't float my boat. I applaud Carrie Fisher for using comedy to deal with her crazy past, bipolar diagnosis, and alcoholism, but the jokes seem worn. She's been touring the show long enough, that she know where the jokes are, and "throws" the sarcastic bits away. (Theater speak for whispering the biting remark after a serious statement) And if you're in the balcony, you can't hear it.

FREE: Theater Round-Up

Seen a lot of free theater lately and have a lot more on the ole' schedule...

Let's Re-cap!

Vigil is the off-Broadway two-person show starring Malcolm Gets (TV's Caroline in the City) and Helen Stenborg. This hilarious little show is about a lonely, slightly crazy banker who gets a letter from his aunt whom he hasn't seen in thirty years. He quits his job and rushes to her death bed. Only... she's taking her sweet time. Grade B- not because of the actors, but the direction and material

After Miss Julie on Broadway. Roundabout's fall season begins with a re-invention of Strindberg. Because we all know Strindberg isn't depressing enough.... Starring Sienna Miller ( you know, the girl that Jude Law cheated on with his kid's nanny....), Jonny Lee Miller (of the canceled Eli Stone on TV) and Marin Ireland (of last season's Reasons to be Pretty). First of all, the set is AMMMAAAZIING. If you've ever toured an English estate and been lucky enough to see the staff kitchen with the long wooden table, copper pots hanging from everywhere, and the extensive bell system to ring the staff....it's an amazing replica. I digress. Patrick Marber (Closer) wrote this adaptation and after you trudge thru the first scene where Sienna Miller is acting "drunk".... (It's one of those times, where you'd think the director would be like...let's go method) the play kicks into high-gear and you are on a passionate rollercoaster for the next 90 minutes. Special kudos to Marin Ireland for stealing all the funny lines. Grade: A-

I included the promo photo for....well, to help the sex appeal on my blog.

OINY: Singing Happy Birthday to Sweeney Todd

I've decided I need a new category- OINY: Only in New York. This applies to random occurrences that were not premeditated, expected, or even dreamed after eating Mexican food. These posts can only happen on an ordinary day, in ordinary circumstances in New York. And they are priceless.

Tonight, I attended a reception at the Friar's Club. I am the grateful recipient of a Friar's Club scholarship this year and dutifully attended this little gathering. The Friar's adopt performing arts students across the city- because they actually believe and put money on actors, dancers, singers, designers, and managers.

I digress. Guess who else was in the Friar's Club enjoying his birthday dinner? LEN CARIOU. Tony award winner for Sweeney Todd. Nominee for Little Night Music. They brought Len into our room and we sang Happy Birthday to him. Only in New York

CHEAP: Broadway Flea Market

Today, I give over the blog, to Amy, who was able to attend the BC/EFA Broadway Flea Market.

Hello readers! To accurately describe the experience of attending the BC/EFA Flea Market I'll invite you to close your eyes and picture salmon swimming upstream. Then take that mental picture, and compress the size of the stream to about 1/4 of what it was. Not for the faint of heart, or the claustrophobic, the Flea Market is an experience. Definitely worth checking out, even just for the amazement factor that this many people are willing to arrive two hours early to stand in the rain.

That was what Tori and I experienced yesterday morning on 52nd st. Normally, the Flea Market is held outside, but because of the rain the PTB (powers that be) made the decision to move it into the Roseland Ballroom on 52nd St. So I imagine that my experience this year would have been very different if it had been held outside.

Folks, I've been in some crowds (the Inauguration Day in DC? I was there, on the Mall, elbow to elbow with everyone else). But this was insane. Rows and rows of theatres/arts organizations were selling memorabilia, Playbills, costumes and props from shows ranging from Hair to the Little Mermaid for cheap. Now, I'm what Whitney kindly says is "pixie" sized, so trying to find stuff to buy was a challenge, especially when you can't see over the person wearing the "Throughly Modern Millie" shirt they had purchased at the Flea Market in years past.

I did, however, end up front and center at the Shrek table, where after a small dialogue with Christopher Sieber (Excuse me a fangirl moment... I LOVE him.) I ended up purchasing two awesome red hoodies that were opening night gifts from Christopher to the Shrek cast. Bright red, with the Farquaad crest and opening night date, I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing this hoodie every day when I get back from work.

The total for these completely practical and amazing sweatshirts? $10, with proceeds going to Broadway Cares. Definitely worth it.

So next year I may be back at the Flea Market (which, God willing, will be outside) to find more stuff- posters, Playbills, and props. All for cheap, and all for a good cause.

OCCASIONALLY EXTRAVAGANT: New Apartment!

Ok, dear friends, I sincerely apologize for my lack of posts....because I got a new apartment!!!! This is an extravagant (not in NY terms) but completely necessary endeavor. Pictures to be posted in spurts.

CHEAP: Home Cookin'

Lots of free stuff this weekend, which is unfortunately not free for you in general, dear reader, but start getting to know people who know people and it can be you, too!

Friday night I went to a place I have dreamed about…. S’MAC in the East Village. S’MAC serves macaroni and cheese….in a skillet….any way you want it. It was heaven. And it was cheap. When it gets cold, I'm planning on getting take-out there all the time. And if you come to visit me, and I serve you "homemade" mac and cheese, I might be lying....

Later, I went to Joe’s Pub for a concert. It’s an excellent intimate cabaret-style venue at the Public Theater. Honestly, I had no idea who the songwriter was, but his guest stars included Alan Cumming and Cheyenne Jackson. I had a friend with connections, and we watched the show from the light/sound booth. It's all about networking!

CHEAP: 20 at 20

We went and saw Ken Davenport's hilarious off-Broadway show, Altar Boyz and paid only $20 for our second row seats! It's off-Broadway's way of filling the summer/fall gap. Show up 20 minutes before curtain, pay 20 bucks, and get the best available seat.

Really, I'm quite impressed with the amount of theater I have seen in the last month and all for less than $36.50 each time.

Altar Boyz is hilarious, and I got serenaded during my favorite song, "Girl, you Make me Wanna Wait". And yes, it's about what you think.....

If you've been eyeing an off-Broadway show, you have until 9/20 to take advantage of this offer. Click here for the website.

CHEAP: Hippies, Free Love, and Box Seats

A trend that you will see here on the Frugal New Yorker, is all the ways I see off-Broadway and Broadway theater for dirt cheap. Saturday was a prime example!

On my second try at the HAIR lottery, I hit the jackpot. $25 for box seats at the Tony-award winning revival.

A bit sad that Gavin Creel was not at this performance (but we did walk past him on 9th Ave with his dog Wally the other day and his foot was still in the boot, so I guess his sprain is still bothering him), but his understudy was great. Will Swenson, whose performance is freakin' amazing, injured himself and his standby went on for Act Two. I hope to see the show again with both of these actors, because I felt that the show, especially Act Two was only a B-.

But we danced onstage with some hippies and let the sun shine in on a rainy New York Saturday...

FREE: Fashion's Night Out

Mayor Bloomberg and Anna Wintour wanted us to shop. So stores stayed up late and had celebrities work the open bars...

I tagged along with my fashion blogger-extraordinaire roommate, Kristin. (Check out her blog here) We hung out at Scoop, across the street from where Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, was exploiting his celebrity status. After a long day at class, a free drink and photobooth were welcome. (The skinny people make me nervous...)

FREE: Back 2 Broadway Month

The Broadway League has declared September "Back to Broadway" month and has a TON of free events. Today was the Broadway on Broadway concert (which I did not attend, but I try to stay away from the crazies as much as possible.) But yesterday, I partook in a fabulous freebie: Broadway Open House theater tours!

The Broadway Theater, home of Shrek the Musical, was one of the three theaters open yesterday. I was interested in seeing what kind of special treats we might get, if any. I happen to have a friend who works for the producing company, and as we are making our way to the theater, she texts and informs me that we will be getting a one-on-one Q&A session with two of the principal actors. Not going to lie....I almost don't go out of fear. However, it was incredible. Our tour group of about 15 people sit on the first couple of rows while BdJ and Ryan Duncan answer any and all of our questions. Knowing that I would mumble like an idiot if I tried to talk, I simply listen and enjoy every second.


There are more tours each Saturday! Check out the website and schedule here

CHEAP: Coney Island

Hope you had a good Labor Day Weekend. Friday night, I went out to Coney Island. Coney is one of those places where it's what you make of it. And with a bunch of friends or a date, you can make a lot of fun!

Ride the F train to the end of the line and head on up the boardwalk. Start of slow and walk towards the Brooklyn Cyclones side (on your right). Leave the crowd and slightly messier beaches for some nice isolation on the beach. When you're ready to join the masses, head back towards the noise.

$3 Photobooth by the wonderwheel. 50 cents to find out what kind of lover I am. (The machine said nympho, Amy was just desirous.) $6 to scream like a little girl on the Wonder Wheel. (You think it's just a ferris wheel, oh no, it moves!) $4 Nathan's hot dog and cheese fries. $1 for two glow-in-the-dark necklaces. Firework show on the beach=free.

Good, good day.

CHEAP: Travel

The visual/olfactory connotations of bus travel are not positive. Years of choir tour being stuck on the yellow bus (Bellevue Choir Tour Colorado- you know what I'm talking about!)have jaded me to the joys of bus travel. Not any more!

Recession travel is here in the form of MegaBus, BoltBus and its spin-offs. These delightful double-decker tranport devices are CLEAN and have WI-FI and if you book early, it's like... a DOLLAR. No joke- We booked the night before and it was only $20, but if you book ahead it's really, really cheap. And I know, you're all still thinking about noisy, annoying people and vomit smell. It was silent and I slept through Jersey, Philly, Wilmington, and Baltimore.

Thumbs up from this traveler.

CHEAP: Indian Food

A big shout out to Minar Indian Restaurant at 136 W 46th St.

If you are hungry and killing time around Times Square and don't want Applebee's or Olive Garden, I highly recommend this little hole in the wall that serves on cafeteria trays. I ordered chicken korma for 6 bucks, and Amy tandoori chicken. We were served huge portions of rice, and I'm pretty sure Amy got a whole chicken. Delicious, dive-y and they deliver.

Picture of food posted tomorrow.

A Perfect Sunday

Cheap good coffee (Connecticut Muffin). Church (Redeemer). Wandering through Central Park. Stumbling upon Madison Ave street fair.....priceless (and delicious!)

Exhibit A: Authentic lamb gyro cooked by actual Greeks (Natalie!)
Exhibit B: Reliving a 2005 experience with Alana on this actual street at a street fair eating chocolate covered strawberries on a stick outside of Carnegie Hall. Deja vu in the best, most serendipitous since of the word.
Exhibit C: My first New York girly shopping purchase. I love everything from the KT Collection of Handmade Jewelry. Love it. Love it. This is where you can shop for me for Christmas. I got an amazing silver ring.

Then. . . laundry.

CHEAP: A Trip to Washington Heights

Third time's the charm. I stood in line at In the Heights, and Amy stood in line at Avenue Q. Put your name in the hat, wait thirty minutes, and voila! You are normally NOT selected for one of the front row seats at the mere price of 26.50 or so.

But not tonight! I am about the 4th name called...which translates into dead center of the front row. So close in fact, we have a conversation with the conductor and can see craft services below in the hallway to the pit.

The show is amazing. Amazing. Amazing. The tour starts soon, so if you can't make it here to visit me, catch it on the road.

A.Ma.Zing.

CHEAP: Always Save your Student ID

Being a student in New York can get you some really great perks. Namely really cheap theater!

Last Friday, Amy and I got ticket to one of my favorite shows- Shrek! We got amazing seats for less than half of their face value. If you divide the cost of our ticket by the talent of Sutton Foster, Brian d'Arcy James, and Christopher Sieber- it's less than 12 dollars per Tony Award winner/nominee. Now's that's a bargain.

FREE: Federer & Shakespeare

I am very much behind with all the free and cheap frivolity I have been having.

Today, I attended Nike's Game.Set.NYC event at 23rd St and Broadway. Nike set up a tennis court and bleachers in the middle of the Flatiron District. But I saw FEDERER!!!! To anyone out there that has an extra US Open ticket, I would like to buy it from you.

The Nike event gave $10,000 to NYC School Tennis programs of some sort, and a really cute kid got to play tennis against Roger to "win" the money. Oh, and John McEnroe was there.

Also, on this luck of the Irish good day, I won tickets to see the Public Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park. Don't be confused, the show was the Bacchae, which is not by Shakespeare. But it is free and in Central Park. I have been signing up every morning on the "virutal line" on their website for lottery tickets. (You can also wait in line all day at the theatre, but I thought I'd save myself the heat stroke). Thank you Ben Brantley for the bad review in the Times which is why I believe we won tickets. Plus, I was standing behind Mandy Patinkin (My name is Inigo Montoya. You kill my father. Prepare to Die). A good day.

CHEAP: Deep Fried Goodness

There is a magical, magical place in Brooklyn called The Chip Shop. In this magical place (that only takes cash. boo.) there lives fried: cheesecake, twinkies, snickers, reeses, cherry pie, mars bars..... There is also a painting of Hermione eating fish and chips.... but I digress. In fact, the Chip Shop will deep fry anything you bring in- sushi, cupcakes, grapefruit...

I'm kind of full from my deep fried Mars bar sprinkled with powdered sugar and a raspberry reduction sauce, so I'll just leave you with a picture. (to be uploaded in morning)

FREE: Meeting Semi-Celebrities

This is why living in New York can be a giant time-space warp slap in the face.

So I'm hanging out in Williamsburg with Hannah and her roommates. Fashionistas that they are, they wanted to watch the premiere of Project Runway. Poor as they are, they had no cable. Wandering down Graham, they were determined to find a restaurant/bar that would willingly let us watch it. We hit up the nice Italian place. Basic idea: Dear Mr. Italian man, if 6 cute girls come in and order, would you be willing to change the station from the Mets game to Project Runway?

Any logical solution to this would include the nice, big Italian guy laughing at us, but possibly giving us a few drinks and telling us his undying love/hatred for the Mets. Oh no... not in New York giant time-space warp.

Led to the back of the restaurant, we see a table with Kenley Collins. For those less informed, Kenley was a finalist on Project Runway Season 5. The annoying voice/Katy Perry look alike/retro headbands/ girl. Remember? The one who was in the news for throwing her cat at her fiance's face and getting arrested for assault? Click here.

So we were in an Italian restaurant watching Project Runway with a crazy person who was on Project Runway. And charged with assault for throwing a cat....

Only in New York

Cheap Tourist Day

Laura and I had a full day open, so we decided to embrace our poverty and play tourist.

CHEAP books: The Strand in Union Square (www.strandbooks.com) claims to have 18 miles of books and I believe them. You could easily spend half a day trolling the four floors of books that are stacked higher than Yao Ming. The Strand was recently featured in "Julie and Julia" and "Gossip Girl". We both walked away with books. I spent a total of $5.

FREE boat ride: The Staten Island Ferry is a 5-mile, 25 minute boat ride from the southern tip of Manhattan to Staten Island (obviously). It was built to transport Staten Islanders to their jobs in Manhattan, for our tourist purposes (and for the bajillion other tourists today) it gave us a great view of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan (and provided a breeze in the 95 degree heat- bah!).

CHEAP pizza: Starving and sweating, we grabbed lunch at Pranzo (34 Water Street). For less than $5 I got a coke and a delicious eggplant pizza roll and Laura got two slices that were bigger than her head.

FREE shade: Waaaaay uptown (105th and 5th Ave) is the entrance to the Central Park Conservatory Garden. At six-acres, it is the only formal garden in Central Park. We took our books and a blanket and found some shade..... And I found a nap.

This picture is from the South English-style garden. What you can see is the Burnett Fountain: based on characters from The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett the fountain was designed and constructed in 1936 by Bessie Potter Vonnoh. It is surrounded by a reflecting pool upon which float hundreds of water lilies

CHEAPish....boring theater

Hung out with an old friend from college tonight. She's in town performing in the NY Fringe Festival- which I will be attending next week as it is $9 (cheap!).

Alas, tonight, we went to a show called "The Perfect Crime" ($30). It is advertised as the longest-running non-musical blah blah blah. It shares the Snapple Center with The Fantasticks. My spidey sense should have gone off when I read in the playbill that the woman playing the lead had played the role since 1987 missing ONLY 4 PERFORMANCES. (I feel this bears repeating). This actress has played the same role every week for TWENTY-TWO YEARS. That's almost as long as I have been alive. That's like as long as Herenton was mayor of Memphis.. then some. That's longer than Kate Gosselin's grocery list and I don't know WHY you'd play the same role for 22 years.

Anyways, I'd give the show itself a C. I wasn't bored, but I just didn't like it. And I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

The New York Times Follows Me!

Ok.... not really. Well, at least, not yet. Check out today's ArtsBeat about.... the TKTS booth. Click here.

CHEAP: Theater with Less Tourists

Yes, we all know about TKTS. It's a wonderful thing to stand in line with all the tourists at 10 am on a lovely Saturday morning and listen to them ixnay In the Heights because they were told it was "all about hip hop and family interaction"..... Or the mom taking her two kids to their first Broadway show (Mamet! Sondheim!)....and.... Lion King. Whatever, let them go see chandeliers and dancing queens, we'll get better seats (Mamet! Sondheim!) And we'll get our second row seats for 1/2 price!

However, the less-tourist-laden option? TKTS has two alternate locations! Thank you dear baby Jesus, at the South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn. Now most tourists I know have possibly not even heard of Brooklyn, much less know where it is. And the seaport? That sounds sketchy and their fanny packs could be in danger. Haha, Frugal New Yorkers.... we know better.

And the icing on the cake? You can subscribe to a daily email update from TKTS with a listing of the day's tickets. Plus, these alternate locations sell matinee tickets for the next day!

Hope to see you in the teeny, tiny lines at TKTS South Street Seaport and Downtown Brooklyn.