Once upon a time , if you wanted an evening ’s entertainment and you lived in or near New York City , you go to the dramatic art . That was where you found the biggest stars , the most exciting shows and the best note value for your entertainmentdollar . New York theater was glamorous , exciting and world illustrious . If you wanted to be involve with the performing arts , New York was where you wanted to live .
This has n’t exactly changed . New York theater is still exciting and glamorous , and if you find yourself in New York City , one of the most electrifying thing you could do is go to a Broadway show . But after the first one-half of the 20th century , the artistic creation of live theater begin moving to the margins of the entertainment industriousness . When mass want to be entertained , they went to a film or watchedtelevisioninstead . An evening in the theater became an occasional indulgence and the number of plays and musical theater in New York shrunk from hundreds to just a few 12 big Broadway show , plus several twelve more off - Broadway shows .
The Theatre Development Fund ( TDF ) was created in 1968 to aid pad the droop luck of live theater in New York . The most seeable part of the TDF ’s military mission is the TKTS booth , where both New Yorkers and visitors can buy dismiss ticket to Broadway shows . But the TDF also provides bread and butter for the theater industriousness by buy large block of tickets as well as shop educational program to help students become more mindful of the theater of operations as a material body of amusement – promise that live field will always have an audience . They also offer a diverseness of services for disabled theatregoer . TDF member get discounted ticket for a large figure of New York shows , both on and off - Broadway .
Thanks in part to the Theatre Development Fund , the New York theater industry is still awake and well and offering amusement to new generation of theatergoer . And while Broadway dramatic art may never return to the glory days of the early twentieth century , the show are still there and you may take reward of the opportunity to see them if you ’re ever in New York . In the relief of this clause , you ’ll see how the TDF bear the theatre and how you might be able to become a member .
Theatre Development Fund Mission
If you ’ve been to see a Broadway show anytime during the last four decade , there ’s a honest chance you buy a discount tag at the TKTS booth in the Father Duffy Square portion of New York ’s Times Square . Or peradventure you got it at the TKTS cubicle in Brooklyn or the one at South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan . Whichever stall you corrupt it at , there ’s a good chance you paid half price for your evening at the field of operations . If so , you may thank the Theatre Development Fund ( TDF ) for your discounted slate . The TKTS booth in Times Square opened in 1973 , five years after the TDF ’s innovation in 1968 .
The TKTS booths are just one way that the TDF fulfill its duplicate missionary work . Those mission are to render support for performing arts in New York and to further audiences to see live show . The TDF has several programs that help accomplish these goals . They admit :
Take a tone at theTheatre Development Fund ’s Web siteto find out more way in which they support Broadway and off - Broadway theatre . In the meantime , you may be interested in becoming a TDF member . On the next page we ’ll talk about how you could do that .
Theatre Development Fund Membership
Not just anybody can become a member of the Theatre Development Fund ( TDF ) . To stipulate for membership , you have to be one of the following :
That covers a deal of people , but not everybody . If you do n’t dispose you could still avail yourself of TKTS deduction or the educational program that TDF provide , but you wo n’t be able to get the discounted theatre of operations tag that TDF proffer only to its members .
If you do qualify , you may apply online at TDF’sMembership app Web site . You ’ll require to pay off an annual fee of $ 30 and you ’ll also demand to provide proof that you ’re eligible . For instance , you might be required to send out a transcript of a membership circuit card from a qualifying chemical group .
Once your membership has been accepted , you ’ll be eligible for discounts on as many as 200 unlike Broadway and off - Broadway show , including dance carrying out and music concerts . At the time of this writing , show eligible for discounts include such Broadway perennial as The Fantasticks and Avenue Q , not to observe theAmerican Ballet Theatre , the New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet . With your membership , tickets for public presentation will be in the ambit $ 20 to $ 37 a slate , which can make up up to 70 percent off the normal ticket toll , with sealed off - Broadway output available for as little as $ 9 per tag .
Whether you ’re a member or not , the Theatre Development Fund offers services that anybody concerned in bouncy theater can take advantage of . Of of course , these benefit are only useful if you ’re in the New York domain , but the TDF has a particular syllabus for people who experience at least 100 air mile ( 161 kilometre ) from New York City . It ’s called a TDF National Membership . You still require to have one of the making list above , but the damage of membership for non - New Yorkers is a much lower : just $ 12 a yr .
For more information about the Theatre Development Fund and other related topics , survey the links on the next page .
