a MY SO-CALLED LIFE musical!

After spending two decades in Hell, central character Ryan White transfers to Heaven and is shocked to learn his new celestial neighborhood has its own penalties: he's ordered to go back to school. In fact, everyone under the age of 18 is forced to attend Eternal High. In teacher Christa McAuliffe's class, White meets an unusual group of former earth-bound, but well-known students, including Edward VI, JonBenet Ramsey and Anne Frank. (Frank becomes the Angela Chase to Ryan White's Jordan Catalano.)

My So-Called AfterLife @ The Annoyance Theatre & Bar 

Thursdays @ 8 p.m. / runs until 4.18.13 / $8

THIS LOOKS AWESOME. I recently wrote about TV shows being the next generation of musical inspiration. My So-Called Life was one of the shows I listed as a good fit for a potential musical. I'd been envisioning a more serious take rather than a spoofy one, but both ideas could work well. The idea behind this musical is undoubtedly bizarre & seems very removed/loosely inspired by the show itself; but I'm betting it makes sense in the context of the actual show. It reminds of of Gorilla Tango Theatre's Attend The Tale of Danny Tanner, which married Full House & a vengeful, Sweeney Todd-esque storyline. It was also an equally bizarre basis but somehow really worked. I can't see how My So-Called Afterlife would be any less perfect. 

Thrifty Theatre-Goer: Part III

I have found that customer loyalty always pays off. 

Buying season tickets is a great way to save money, but there are other customer-loyalty incentive programs 

that can offer a greater amount of savings and/or bonuses that are worth exploring. Here are three such programs: 

Steppenwolf RED Card

If you are under 29, $100 will get you get a card worth 6 tickets to use however you'd like (that comes out to less than $17/ticket & a 78% savings). You can use the tickets for yourself and friends, but it can't be given as a gift. RED holders also get $1 off any drink at any of the theater's bars & will receive special offers such as social events & 2-for-1 ticket offers in the e-mail updates. You can visit the RED card member page for more information & check their Facebook & Twitter pages for updates. The card expires when the holder turns 29 & can be re-filled after seeing 6 shows. 

Broadway in Chicago Audience Rewards Network

Audience Rewards turns your ticket purchases into points like an airline frequent flyer program. This program offers more incentive for Broadway than Broadway in Chicago, but hopefully that will change as Broadway in Chicago continues to flourish. Once you join, you can earn ShowPoints by buying tickets, looking for bonus point offers, or getting (minimal) bonus points by playing theatre trivia games (my favorite part), telling friends about a show, or shopping at a variety of stores by visiting AudienceRewardsMall.com. The points can be used to earn free tickets, save on tickets, upgrade seats, & buy Broadway merchandise. 

Rogers Park FlexPass 

For $50, you get 4 tickets to any show at Theo Ubique, Lifeline Theatre, Raven Theatre, or  side project theatre company. Considering that 1 full-price ticket at Lifeline costs $40, this is a really great deal. The FlexPass also comes with year-round the following discounts @ nearby restaurants: 10% off @ Act One Pub,Charmers Café/Dagel & Beli, Gruppo di Amici, & Morseland AND 15% off @ The Heartland Café. The passes expire on August 31, 2013.

And a warning...

I love Broadway in Chicago. So far, I've seen FELA!, Les Miserables, The Addams Family, Bring It On, I Love Lucy: Live on Stage & never paid more than $25 thanks to rush tickets. For some strange reason, I was really drawn towards the recent production of Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth. So, I searched the Cadillac Palace on Saturday morning, saw a bounty of available seats, & called the theatre to double check that student and/or rush tickets were available. NOPE! Not for this show. WHY? Who knows. This decision was in very poor taste, but I blame the production & not Broadway in Chicago. Rush tickets are an awesome deal, but apparently inconsistent. Moral of this story: call the theatre if you are planning to buy Broadway in Chicago rush tickets. 

The Thrifty Theatre-Goer Series:

HotTix & Goldstar // Chicago Theatre Week // Thrifty Theatre-Goer Part II

The Thrifty Theatre-Goer: Part II *updated*

I love theatre, but it is an expensive obsession. I've written before on being a Thrifty Theatre-Goer by using HotTix & Goldstar, but there are so many other ways to save money. Here are a few tricks I've picked up along the way.... 

• Groupon usually has some theatre options. They are mostly for comedy shows (or shows in the suburbs), but you can find some gems. Instead of searching the Groupon-esque sites, I signed up for Yipit. Yipit is awesome because it consolidates all the deals from the Groupon-esque sites & emails you when you one of your deals pop up (personally, I get theatre & no-chip manicure notifications.) 
• SEE PREVIEWS. Seeing a show before opening night is a great way to save a few dollars & I have never seen a preview that seemed like it wasn't quite ready or a glorified dress rehearsal. Plus, sometimes a show just looks so good that waiting for Opening Night is not an option (hello, Metamorphoses). 
• Sometimes organizations sponsor a discount code for a particular production. These deals are usually not advertised very aggressively, but you can usually find them in newspaper ads. I recently stumbled across one in The Onion: they are sponsoring a discount code for Navy Pier's Four Star Comedy Fest [details: $11 off preferred area (code Imprv1); $11 off main floor (code Imprv2); $6 off balcony (code Imprv3)]. 
• When an organization links with a production, they also might offer perks that are not necessarily monetary. For example when you buy a ticket to The Blue Man Group, you can get an equal number of tickets to the John Hancock Observatory [code: ELVT] or The Willis Tower Skydeck [code: SKYDECK]. The offer isn't valid with any other offers/promotions, but it's definitely a cool perk. 
• If you love a certain theatre & have no problem with commitment buying season tickets will definitely save you money. I've only bought season tickets one time (for the 2001/2002 season at The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia); it was fun to know a show was always coming up, but make sure you actually want to see every show coming up or it's not really a wallet-padder. Some theatres also offer the option to buy season tickets mid-way through the season, so skim some websites in January if the second half of a season holds more appeal than the first half. 
• Student Discounts. Most theatres offer student discounts, but they only work if you actually are a student or if you have an ID with no date & don't age. I'm lucky enough to be in the latter group. 
• I hate having my in-box blown up as much as the next person, but selectively choosing a few mailing lists can be profitable (especially if you have a taste for certain theatres). My favorite mailing list is the Chicago TheatreGoers Meet-Up Group. Scott Cowan runs the group & is a Broadway in Chicago member. So, when there are pre-sale opportunites or discount codes, he shares them with the group. Broadway in Chicago is great & usually worth the cost of splurging; the luxury to buy tickets before they go on sale to the public is great because BIC shows don't necessarily have long runs, so they frequently sell out. If they don't sell out, BIC shows usually do offer Rush Tickets during the day of the performance, but the offers vary, so you need to call the specific theatre's box office to find out the details. 
• Speaking of The Chicago TheatreGoers Meet-Up Group, their mailing list's appeal to The Thrifty Theatre-Goer is two-fold: the point of the group is for like-minded people to see a play on the same night, eat, drink, & be merry. There are usually refreshments & sometimes a discount code if you are part of the group. The MeetUps aren't necessarily a huge money-saver, but it is a way to make your money go further. 
• Theatre Thursday has a similar mission as the Chicago TheatreGoers Meet-Up Group. There's always food before or after the show & it's almost always free. The last Theatre Thursday I attended was The Great American Trailer Park Musical @ Theatre Wit. After the show there was an open bar & unlimited White Castle. IT RULED.
• THE ORACLE THEATRE: Their tagline is FREE ART FOR ALL. Obviously, this is awesomely mind-boggling, so here is the explanation from their website of how this miracle exists: Everyone at Oracle believes that art is necessary to live a full life. So, we work with great artists to create great art to share with as many citizens as possible. And we give it to them for free. To fund this endeavor, we depend on The Forty 4 – a sponsorship program supported by members who contribute as little as $5 per month, to as much as $10,000 or more per year. 
• The Reader & TimeOut Chicago offer online discounts [both daily & on-going] for theatre as well as restaurants, services, etc.  

So, there you go: a few ticket tips & tricks laid out on the table by the Ticket Master herself. 

Now, forget about the silly economy & go get yourself some awesome tickets.

Chicago Theatre Week

This is awesome. 

Click HERE to join the mailing list.

Click HERE for Discounted Ticket Offers. 

The Thrifty Theatre-Goer: HotTix & GoldStar

I love a good deal almost as much as I love good theatre.

Chicago theatre offers some great money-saving opportunities that I happily taken advantage of,

so it seems only good & right to share my lessons learned in my thrifty theatre-going habits.

HotTix

Tickets can’t be bought over the phone: they must be purchased online or in person at one of the ticket booths.

You can call 312-977-9483 for assistance with online purchases,

but the staff won’t take billing information or refund/exchange tickets.

There are additional charges for purchasing online, so it really is in one’s best interest to go to the booth.

I found the online purchasing process very complicated. However,

I have found the ticket booth very convenient, especially for day-of purchasing.

GoldStar

GoldStar is a nation-wide, internet-based service & covers a broader base of ticketing options.

Because of that, it uses Ticketmaster to process ticket sales, which makes it a quick & convenient process.

The catch with their online buying is that you usually have to purchase the tickets a day in advance.

The tickets tend to be more expensive than those at Hottix, but they offer One-Day Specials that are really great deals

(and my favorite aspect of GoldStar).

 

next thrifty-edition: Chicago Theatre Rush Tickets