It might have been the acupuncture she just received, but our client Sharon Gordon was absolutely glowing earlier this week when she told us about her 19-year-old daughter Mollie. Mollie is currently serving as an understudy for Germont’s daughter at the Metropolitan Opera’s production of La Traviata, which is running through March 19. Sharon recently visited her dressing room backstage at the opera house, and was happy to share photographs.
Dressing rooms are spaces that Sharon is intimately familiar with. A musician since the age of four, Sharon is a trained pianist and a professional opera singer. Based in Carroll Gardens, she makes it a priority to go see live performances (even those not starring her talented daughter) as often as possible.
“I think the arts are an important part of my wellness regimen,” she says. “Being able to disconnect from my smart phone and all of the news and noise of the world is so crucial in helping to regulate my body’s rhythms and calm the anxiety and stress that this current world provides for all of us. It helps me to exhale!”
While she notes that tickets to performances in New York can be pricey, they are well worth the expense. “My husband and I find it to be so important to take a break from this constant world of work and experience live performing arts,” she says. “I think it’s an expense that we feel works as part of maintaining a healthy relationship as a couple!”
Sharon maintains a list of ways to find deals on tickets that she keeps for herself, and for friends and family when they visit from out of town. We’re lucky that she was willing to share the list with us! Below are her hacks for finding affordable tickets to live performances in New York.
- Take advantage of a promotion running now through February 9th on NYC & Company’s website, which allows you to buy 2-for-1 tickets to some Broadway performances. The site also has 2-for-1 Off-Broadway tickets available from February 10-23.
- Sign up for e-newsletters from Theatermania.com and Playbill.com, which send out notices of discounts to subscribers.
- Download the TodayTix app. Sharon notes: “They have the Friday Forty lottery once a week for Harry Potter And The Cursed Child tickets. (I won the lottery once in London, but not NYC yet – I’ll keep trying.)”
- Don’t only visit the tkts booth in Times Square for last-minute tickets —also browse the website and app for real-time discounts.
- Search for specific discounts offered to different age groups. For example, the Metropolitan Opera offers “Fridays Under 40,” a discount for people under 40. The next performance this applies to: tomorrow evening’s production of La Traviata. (If you go, say hi to Mollie for us!)
- Stay local. “BAM, Theatre for a New Audience and St. Ann’s Warehouse are alive with so many wonderful choices for theatre and music!” Sharon says. Also check out discounted tickets at these locations for younger patrons.
- And finally, check out fundraising auctions at local schools or religious sites. “With so many talented actors, singers and creative professionals living in this part of Brooklyn (and many being parents of school-age children), I have found some great deals for tickets and sometimes even annual subscriber packages for Manhattan & Brooklyn theatre companies,” Sharon says. Even if you don’t live in Carroll Gardens, you can sometimes find auctions on BiddingForGood.com.
As for Sharon’s recommendations for what you should go see with your fantastically discounted tickets? Everything! But in particular Sharon loved Hadestown, Come From Away and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
We were so thrilled to see Sharon, and to share in her joy over music and her child. She’s one of many people who make up our thriving community at Element. Come visit, we want you to be a part of it! And buy a ticket using the tips above. We promise, it will be good for your health.