greg999

I'm planning a trip to New York at the end of August with my family (wife and two sons ages 5 and 7) and am researching seeing a Broadway show. Ones that seem age appropriate for our two kids are Spongebob squarepants, Aladdin, and the Lion King. I'm seeing rear balcony seats available for $49 per ticket with spongebob squarepants and was wondering whether it was worth seeing the show in these distant seats. Looks like discounted better seats at spongebob squarepants are currently available at broadway box for $99 through June (and I assume would be available in August if I check back later) and seems like bad seats at Aladdin or the Lion King start at ~$100 and up.

Still undecided how much I want to spend but definitely willing to spend $200 for 4 of us if the $49 tickets give a worthwhile experience. If I decide to spend more is it better to get better seats at spongebob squarepants or worse seats at one of the other shows? Neither kid is a fan of any of the disney movies or has watched spongebob so nothing pushing us to see a particular show. Also noticed that spongebox says minimum age is 5 but the disney shows says minimum recommended age is 6 so don't know if we will have a problem taking our then 5 1/2 year to the disney shows. Likely won't be back to New York after this trip for some time so this would be our opportunity to see a show.

Thanks for your help.

Out of my Element

See Aladdin and Lion King when they come to Portland. It's virtually the same show and tix are cheaper so you can sit closer for a reasonable amount.

If the kids are Spongebob fans, it's a relatively big theater for NYC, so cheap seats will be a distance away. The age limits are because they have learned that kids under 6 just can't sit still for that length of time.. There are off B'way shows that might be more appropriate (and cheaper) like Gazillion Bubble Show you could consider

themicah

Our kids love going to Broadway shows and we've generally started them at age 4 (with Lion King) seeing one or two shows each year. If your kids will consistently sit through a feature-length movie and they're interested in the show, it shouldn't be a problem. If your kids don't like to sit still for a long time, though, you might wait until they're a little older. Definitely make them pee before each act. I recommend getting the cast recording ahead of time and playing it a bunch ahead of time, although it's not crucial.

We usually avoid the cheap seats in the last row of the balcony, but if I'm buying I won't pay for "premium" tickets, either. Ultimately what's "worth it" is completely subjective. I know people who won't see a show unless they have the best seats in the house, and I know people who simply can't justify buying anything other than the cheapest seats.

themicah

BTW, we've also taken our 7yo to Hamilton, Wicked and School of Rock. Wicked and especially Hamilton are tough to get cheap, obviously (we bought our Hamilton tickets almost a year in advance and ended up with pretty lousy seats, and got the Wicked tickets through the Broadway Week promo). School of Rock isn't really geared toward young audiences and has some adult-ish themes that might make some parents uncomfortable, but our kids loved it and most of the adult-ish stuff went over the 7yo's head. I hope.

FlyerStef

Shows like spongebob are pretty tolerant of children's behavior, can give booster seats if needed for them to see over people in front of them, and are full of loud music & motion that kids should like. Lion KIng is still the champion of "shows to take kids too," but I hear Spongebob is really fun, as is Frozen, but neither are cheap. As long as the child is around 5 years old and capable of sitting (somewhat) still, it's definitely acceptable to bring them to a kids-oriented show. I might not bring a child that young to Hamilton, but I've totally seen it happen. (The worst was seeing an 8 year old at a night perfomance of Long Day's Journey Into Night. I could barely sit still for 4 hours, it was cruel to do that to a kid, especially when the play was hardly accessible story-wise to children).

If you want cheaper...as mentioned above, you also might want to consider off-broadway. Children's theater (off broadway) is very much a thing in NY. There's https://nycchildrenstheater.org/show...urrent-season/, the bubble show Home - Gazillion Bubble Show, PAW Patrol, the Very Hungry Catapillar - there are tons of shows specifically for children and they're much cheaper than anything Broadway.

AMflier

My first suggestion would be to look into the New Victory Theater on 42nd street. They specialize in performances for children that are reasonably priced. Unfortunately they look to be dark in August.
I think that your children would find attending a Broadway show an amazing experience no matter what seat they were in. For the parent's sanity, I wouldn't recommend Sponge Bob.

The suggestion of looking off Broadway is also a good one. In addition to the Gazillion Bubble show, I would also recommend Stomp. There are also some free children's programs at that time of year. Keep an eye on Time Out New York Kids

If you can be flexible I wouldn't book anything immediately. If a deal for a show that you and they want to see comes up, jump on it. Otherwise see what's available at TKTS when you get to NYC. Stomp and the Gazillion Bubble Show are regulars there. The other shows are sometimes there.

Enjoy NYC!

greg999

Thanks for the tips and the other show ideas. I didn't think about the traveling shows of the lion king but if they are basically the same as the broadway ones we won't try to see it in New York.

AMflier

Saying that touring shows are the same as on Broadway is a bit of an over simplification. A lot depends on how complicated the show is and what market the tour is playing in. A lot can be gleaned by how long the tour is staying in a particular city.

If it is a "National" company: Sitting in a city for an open ended run or at least a year the show is pretty much what you would get on Broadway. National Companies tend to only play very large cities such as Chicago or Los Angeles.

If it is sitting for a couple of weeks or more, it's one of the bigger bus and truck tours. You'll get most of what you would see on Broadway, but the tech may be reduced and a character or two may no longer be in the show, and the cast size has probably been reduced.

Staying for a week could either mean a bigger or a smaller bus and truck.

If it is sitting for less than a week, the show will most likely have been "reconfigured" or "re-imagined" from the original.

The road productions are great and pretty much the same, but if it isn't a National, it won't be equal to the Broadway or West End original.

controller1

Broadway in Portland (Keller Auditorium) will be bringing Aladdin to Portland March 27 - April 7, 2019. Buy tickets to it next year and save your NYC money for a different play....

themicah

We took a 6yo to Hamilton and he had a blast. But he has a marathon attention span and knew the soundtrack backwards and forwards beforehand (In the Election of 1800 when they sing "Well I'll be damned, well I'll be damned" he leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I'm not allowed to sing that part!"). We also made sure to take him to the bathroom right before each act started.

NYCRachel

I second the New Victory rec.

That being said, Spongebob is still a relatively new show (and it's actually supposed to be good?), meaning discounts are not as common.

There are discounted tickets via the TodayTix app right now, which only goes a month out: $79-99 Orchestra; $69-99 Mezz and $49 Balcony. It'll probably go lower as the year goes on. Shameless referral code: SXVKM.

The costumes are big, colors are bright. I think your kids will be fine. It's not a boring show.

You can also wing it with digital/in-person lotteries: BroadwayForBrokePeople.com

FlyerStef

Spongebob is on TDF - I always recommend people planning on going to shows see if they can qualify for a membership. Savings are enough that the $35/yr (cheaper right now since they're having a sale) will pay for itself within 1-2 shows max. https://www.tdf.org/nyc/10/TDF-Membership