Opening night is the date the reviews land and the date the cheap tickets change. Previews are when a new show is most likely to have seats it needs to move; after the reviews, a hit tightens up and a miss starts discounting for real. So here is the fall calendar the way I actually use it: each opening night from now through Halloween, what it means for the box office, and the least expensive door into each show as of this week. Prices and programs come from the show pages and our lottery hub; the dates are from the productions and Playbill.
September 20 — Titanique closes
Not an opening, but the first date on the calendar that matters. The Céline Dion musical at the St. James plays its last performance Sunday the 20th. The $49 Lucky Seat lottery runs to the end, with the weekend entries closing Friday morning, and I wrote the full playbook in Titanique's Final Nine Days. After the 20th, the St. James goes dark for its next tenant.
September 26 — The Cherry Orchard closes at the Armory
Off-Broadway, but it is the biggest room in the city and the run is short. The Park Avenue Armory production started previews September 16 and closes the 26th. The Armory's own programs are the cheap door: tickets from $45 including fees, a member discount, and a standby line an hour before curtain on sold-out nights. Details and the rest of the big-room fall are in The Big Rooms That Aren't Broadway. Show page: The Cherry Orchard.
September 28 — School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play opens
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, previews since September 8. Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway transfer of Jocelyn Bioh's comedy opens on a Monday, which is MTC's habit. Cheap door: a $49 TodayTix digital rush the day of, and MTC's $35 tickets for 35 and under. No lottery, and with those two doors I do not expect one. Show page: School Girls.
October 18 — Other Desert Cities opens
Hudson Theatre, previews from September 29, closing January 17. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery and Lily Rabe in Jon Robin Baitz's play, which is the kind of cast that sells previews without help. The production's tickets page says rush and lottery options "will be announced at a later date." If a lottery appears, expect it around this date, not before. Show page: Other Desert Cities.
October 21 — 860 opens
Imperial Theatre, previews from October 1, closing January 2. Billy Crystal, alone on stage, in a show he wrote. Telecharge is selling it and nothing discounted is posted: no lottery, no rush, no age program. My read is that a thirteen-week solo run by Billy Crystal at the Imperial does not need to discount, and the cheap door here may turn out to be the rear mezzanine at face value. I will update the show page the day that changes. Show page: 860.
October 22 — The Imaginary Invalid opens
Todd Haimes Theatre, previews from September 25. Roundabout's Molière with Bill Irwin as the hypochondriac and Rachel Bloom as the maid who runs the house. Cheap door today: Hiptix, $30 including the facility fee for ages 18 to 40, free to join, two per production. Roundabout put a $30 TodayTix lottery on Rocky Horror at Studio 54, so a lottery here is plausible after opening; nothing is posted yet. Show page: The Imaginary Invalid.
October 29 — A Few Good Men opens
Vivian Beaumont, previews from October 8, thirteen weeks. Lincoln Center Theater's revival with Bradley Whitford, Tom Blyth and Krysta Rodriguez. LCT does not run lotteries; the door is LincTix, ages 18 to 35, $37 at the box office or $40.50 online, a limited allotment for every performance. The Beaumont is a thousand-seat thrust stage where the cheap seats are good seats, which is not something I can say about most houses on this list. Show page: A Few Good Men.
Also in previews by Halloween
Wanted starts October 15 with a Telecharge rush link posted and no price attached yet. Downstate starts October 17 with nothing posted. The Fantasticks starts October 22 at Second Stage with the house's 30 Under 30 program already listed: $30 tickets with code 30UNDER30 for anyone 30 and under, no sign-up, and your guest can be any age. Opening dates for these three are not yet confirmed to my standard, so they get a line here and a full entry when they are.
How to use the calendar
Buy previews if you want the room and do not care about the reviews; that is when the age programs have the most inventory. Wait for opening if you want to know what you are seeing; that is when lotteries tend to appear on the commercial shows. Either way, join Hiptix and LincTix now if you fit the brackets, because both take a day or two to activate and the first previews are next week. For the running shows that already have a lottery, the cheapest board is in The Cheapest Broadway Lotteries Right Now, and the full fall first-preview list is in Broadway's New Season Starts Now.
