Reserved Seat home

    Plays

    Short runs, star leads · orchestra rows C–M are the sweet spot

    A play lives in faces and timing, so the right seat is usually nearer the stage than you would pick for a musical, and the run is shorter.

    Browse

    Abstract theater curtain illustration representing 860
    Broadway

    860

    How to pick a seat for Billy Crystal's 860 in the 1,457-seat Imperial Theatre, plus what the show covers, its runtime and its limited dates.

    New York, NY
    Broadway

    A Few Good Men

    Seat advice for A Few Good Men at Lincoln Center, plus the cast, the 13-week dates, runtime and content notes for teens.

    New York, NY
    Abstract theater curtain illustration representing Becky Shaw
    Show

    Becky Shaw

    Becky Shaw on Broadway, start to finish: the dark comedy, the five-actor Second Stage revival, its Tony win and how seats work at the Hayes.

    New York, NY (closed)
    Abstract theater curtain illustration representing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
    Broadway

    Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

    Which Lyric Theatre seats show off the Cursed Child magic, how long the one-part play runs, age rules and current tour stops.

    New York, NY
    City

    New York City

    Seat advice for New York City arenas, stadiums, Broadway houses, concert halls and comedy clubs, plus which train reaches each one.

    New York, NY
    Abstract theater curtain illustration representing Oh, Mary!
    Broadway

    Oh, Mary!

    Where to sit for Oh, Mary! at the Lyceum Theatre, who is playing Mary, what the comedy covers and where the national tour goes.

    New York, NY
    By the Reserved Seat editorial teamUpdated How we research

    Sit closer for a play than for a musical

    For a Broadway play (any production without a musical score staged in one of Broadway's 41 theaters), choose distance over altitude. A big musical can look best from the front mezzanine, where you take in the choreography and the full stage picture. A play has no dance to read from above; what you pay for is an actor's face, the pause before a line and the voice at conversational volume.

    • Rows C to M of the orchestra are the target in a theater of middling size. You are close enough to read expressions and far enough back that you are not tilting your head up at a raised stage.
    • The first raised rows in a compact house are the value play. At the Lyceum or the Hayes, the front mezzanine or first balcony still feels close.
    • Center seats for solo shows. Solo performers tend to aim their delivery straight down the middle, which makes the center of the house worth extra effort for 860.
    • Thrust seating. When a stage pushes out with seats on three sides, side sections will catch some scenes from behind the actors. That is the format, not a flaw, but the center sees the most.
    • Seats to think twice about: the back rows of the top balcony in a large house, and the far ends of the front rows, where a set wall can cut off part of the stage.

    The smaller Broadway houses plays favor

    Producers tend to book plays into the smaller theaters, where voices and expressions carry without amplification doing the heavy lifting.

    • Hayes Theater: roughly 597 seats, the smallest house on Broadway.
    • Lyceum Theatre: 922 seats on an orchestra level and two balconies. Dating to 1903, it has run longer without interruption than any other legitimate theater in New York City. Its balconies are cantilevered, so no columns block your view.
    • Vivian Beaumont Theater: around 1,080 seats inside Lincoln Center, and the one Broadway stage located away from the Times Square district. Its stage can be configured as a thrust.
    • Lyric Theatre: roughly 1,622 seats after the renovation for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which makes it unusually big for a play.

    A play booked into a big musical theater, as 860 is at the Imperial Theatre with its 1,457 seats, calls for a seat several rows nearer the stage than a musical there would.

    Limited runs and why timing beats waiting

    Most plays are booked as limited engagements: a set number of weeks or months, announced before opening night, often shaped around one or two famous actors. That is the key difference from musicals. With a hit musical you can usually wait a season; with a play, the closing date may arrive before the reviews reach you.

    Plays are not a sideline, either. Broadway League figures for 2024–2025 show 43 openings, and 21 were plays, 16 new works and 5 revivals, an even split with musicals. They simply turn over faster, so the lineup changes every few months. For the longer-running side of Broadway, see the Musicals hub.

    Recent star vehicles and what they show

    Screen actors can usually give a stage role a few months, not a few years, and producers schedule around them. The result is compressed, intense demand.

    • Good Night, and Good Luck brought George Clooney to Broadway for the first time. Its Winter Garden Theatre run lasted from an April 3, 2025, opening to a June 8 closing. Along the way it set a record as the first Broadway play to gross over four million in one week, and CNN carried the June 7 performance live, a first for any Broadway production on television.
    • Becky Shaw, the Gina Gionfriddo comedy that was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist, played the Hayes in a Second Stage Theater revival, with previews from March 18, 2026, and a closing on June 14. Alden Ehrenreich won the 2026 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
    • A Few Good Men is back at the Vivian Beaumont, where Lincoln Center Theater has Michael Arden directing Bradley Whitford and Tom Blyth in Aaron Sorkin's military courtroom drama. The schedule: previews from October 8, 2026, opening night October 29, final performance planned for January 10, 2027. The play first reached Broadway in 1989 at the Music Box Theatre, running 497 performances.
    • 860, directed by Scott Ellis, is Billy Crystal's solo piece about losing the Pacific Palisades house he lived in for 46 years to the 2025 California wildfires. It runs at the Imperial from October 1, 2026, to January 2, 2027, at 1 hour 40 minutes without an intermission.

    The demand curve repeats: it peaks right after the cast announcement and again in the final weeks, and a star's announced days off matter far more than they would in an ensemble musical.

    Two plays that keep running

    A pair of current plays behave like musicals, with extended or open-ended runs that give you more room to plan.

    • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened April 22, 2018, at the Lyric and is still there. Six Tony Awards came its way, Best Play among them, and reports describe it as the top-grossing play Broadway has ever had. A November 2021 rework folded its two parts into one evening of roughly 2 hours 55 minutes, intermission included. With a recommended age of 8 and up, it is the most family-friendly play on Broadway. As of fall 2026, Tom Felton is playing Draco through January 3, 2027.
    • Oh, Mary! was supposed to be a limited engagement when Cole Escola's 80-minute Mary Todd Lincoln comedy opened at the Lyceum on July 11, 2024. Repeated extensions followed, and as of October 2026 the show's website lists dates through July 10, 2027. Escola took home the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. A rotating line of replacement stars has taken the title role, with Bowen Yang scheduled through January 17, 2027.

    Both have toured or announced tours, so you may be able to see them without a trip to New York City.

    Buying tactics for plays

    • Move fast on star vehicles. Primary sales for a celebrity-led limited run are usually strongest right after the announcement, and resale becomes the main source once the box office runs out.
    • Consider previews. Preview performances come before the official opening night. They are the complete show, with the creative team still making adjustments, and they are often easier to get into than the weeks after rave reviews.
    • Check the casting calendar. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Oh, Mary! both publish end dates for their headline performers, and buyers crowd into those weeks.
    • Look for lottery and rush. Some plays offer discounted digital lotteries or in-person rush tickets; Oh, Mary! has both. The Broadway hub explains how these programs work.
    • Avoid the last week if you can. The closing performances of an acclaimed revival trade at a premium on resale, so an earlier date is usually smarter.

    Every Reserved Seat order carries a 100% guarantee. For the current lineup, see the Broadway League's list of shows.

    Frequently asked questions

    What are the best seats for a Broadway play?

    Rows C to M of the orchestra in a mid-size theater, or the front of the first balcony in a small house like the Lyceum or the Hayes. Plays depend on faces and voices, so closer usually beats higher.

    How long do Broadway plays usually run?

    Most are limited engagements of a few weeks to a few months, often set around a star's availability. Open-ended runs, like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, are the exception.

    Is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child suitable for kids?

    The production suggests ages 8 and up, and the single evening lasts close to three hours with one break, which makes it the most family-friendly play on Broadway.

    Are preview performances worth buying?

    Yes. Previews are the full show before the official opening, while the creative team is still refining it, and they are often easier to get than the weeks after strong reviews.

    When does A Few Good Men play on Broadway?

    Previews at the Vivian Beaumont start October 8, 2026, with opening night on October 29 and a planned closing on January 10, 2027.

    Sources

    Card and header photos come from Wikimedia Commons contributors under Creative Commons or public-domain terms. Artist and license for each one are listed on the photo credits page.