and the experience was amazing. I returned to New York City for New Year's ringing in 2010, and saw Wicked again on Broadway, a suggestion from my then-boyfriend who felt that Wicked was the most approachable of all the musicals. Moving to and living in Connecticut has been rough and undesirable, to say the least. But the proximity to Broadway and the frequency with which we've had the opportunity to see Broadway shows can't be beat. I am certain that our proximity to Broadway will be what I miss most about our short time in Connecticut.
It's almost surreal that something people wish to do once in their lives - that I, at one time, hoped to do once in my life - has become almost routine and familiar. I'd be remiss if I didn't feel and show gratitude for the opportunity we've had here. We've seen stars, award-winning shows, surprises, on-stage magic, and absolute wonder.
We learned that there are a number of ways to get Broadway show tickets on the cheap. Many shows have same-day or next-day lotteries that you can enter entirely for free, so there is no risk or down-side. If you win, then you have just an hour or so to pay for the tickets. This was the most economic way we found, ticket prices 
were $10 for Hamilton ("the ten dollar founding father") and maybe $20 or $30 for most other shows. Then you have to get your butts down to Broadway to see the show. We utilized this a lot, although it made for some disruptive and hurried days when our initial plans were to veg or do things around the apartment.
Obviously, this method only works if you are able to get to NYC quickly, within a couple hours, and can try repeatedly until you win. Otherwise if you're only visiting for a few days, the chances of winning are pretty slim. If you want to guarantee you'll see a show, Broadway Roulette, priced just a tough higher, around $40 per person, guaranteed a show for the day and timeframe you wanted, you just didn't know what show it would be! For shows that I was adamant about seeing, I would fork over the face value ticket price.
Here is a complete listing of the shows we've seen, and how we acquired the tickets.
- Cats - won the lottery the day of
- Miss Saigon - bought tickets in advance
- War Paint - won the lottery the day of
- Waitress - played Broadway Roulette (won the lottery for Dear Evan Hansen the same day, but the primary lead was off that day, so we stuck with Waitress)
- Groundhog Day - won the lottery the day before (actually I won five days in a row, maybe a marketing gimmick?)
- Hamilton - won the lottery the day before
- The Play That Goes Wrong - bought tickets in advance for Christy's visit
- SpongeBob - won the lottery the day of (won one other time and didn't notice in time - whoops!)
- Hamilton - bought tickets at face value before we even moved
- Elf the Musical - bought tickets in advance
- Radio City's Rockette Christmas Spectacular - bought tickets in advance
- Spamilton (off-Broadway) - bought last-minute tickets for the show's last day
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - bought last-minute tickets for the show's last week
- Lion King - won the lottery the day of
- Aladdin - bought half off tickets in advance
- Dear Evan Hansen - bought tickets in advance
