There will be no more waiting in line for Playwrights Horizons' ticket discount on the first day of previews.
Off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons is introducing a new online lottery ticket system that will give theatregoers access — from home — to low-price seats for the first preview performances of its productions.
Replacing the old "Pay-What-You-Can" offer, the new initiative, "Live for Five," meaning $5 per ticket, starts with the troupe's first show of the season, Kate Fodor's 100 Saints You Should Know.
In the new initiative, part of the theatre company's "Arts Access" program, theatregoers will be able to enter the lottery via the Playwrights Horizons website (www.playwrightshorizons.org) approximately one week prior to the performance, with winners of the lottery announced two days prior to the performance via email.
100 Saints, a world premiere, will play its first performance on Aug. 24 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). Details for the lottery for 100 Saints are:
For each Mainstage and Peter Jay Sharp show produced by Playwrights Horizons, first-preview tickets will be available via the lottery (at least 50 seats for the Main Stage, 25 for the Sharp).
PH's "Arts Access" program "allows the institution to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theatre ticket."