Four kinds of theater ticket
Theater tickets on Good Seats fall into four groups, and each one sells differently. Broadway productions play eight shows a week in a fixed New York theater. Touring productions (often called national tours) move from city to city for runs of one to several weeks. Resident shows play a permanent theater built or adapted for them, most often in Las Vegas. Family shows are built for children and usually play arenas or touring theaters on weekends.
Knowing which group a show belongs to tells you how much flexibility you have. A long-running Broadway show offers hundreds of dates a year, so you can trade a Saturday night for a Tuesday and pick better seats. A touring production may be in your city for only a week or two, so demand is concentrated into fewer performances.
Broadway
Broadway is a defined set of 41 professional theaters with 500 or more seats in the Theater District and at Lincoln Center in Manhattan. The long-running productions with their own guides include Hamilton, Wicked, The Lion King, Aladdin, Hadestown, MJ the Musical and The Book of Mormon, along with newer hits such as Oh, Mary!, The Outsiders, SIX and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The Broadway hub explains lotteries, rush tickets, the TKTS booths and resale, and each show guide covers the theater's layout and the best sections for that staging.
Tours, London and shows that have left Broadway
Several shows that many people still search for as Broadway titles now play elsewhere. The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in 2023 and now tours North America. Death Becomes Her ended its Broadway run in 2026 and went on tour. Moulin Rouge! The Musical closed on Broadway in 2026, and Les Misérables plays in London rather than New York. Each of these guides states where the show is playing as of its last update, so check the page before you plan a trip around a specific city.
For a touring production, the seating advice depends on the host theater, not the show. A large touring house can have a deep balcony where the rear rows sit far from the stage, so the venue's own seating chart matters as much as the show guide.
Las Vegas resident shows
Las Vegas has the largest concentration of resident productions in the country. Cirque du Soleil runs several permanent shows on the Strip, each in a theater designed around its staging, and Blue Man Group performs in Las Vegas and Orlando. Because a resident show plays nightly in the same room, the seating advice is specific and stable: the guides explain which sections get splashed, which seats are close enough for audience participation, and where the sightlines are clearest. The Las Vegas city guide covers the Strip's other venues.
Family theater
Family shows trade long runs for short, weekend-heavy tours. Disney on Ice and Monster Jam play arenas and stadiums, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live plays arenas, and Sesame Street Live plays touring theaters with a shorter running time suited to toddlers. Holiday productions such as the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and Trans-Siberian Orchestra concentrate demand into November and December. The family shows hub covers where to sit with children, when to arrive and how long each show runs.
How theater demand behaves
Across all four groups, the same patterns repeat. Friday and Saturday evenings and weekend matinees sell first. Holiday weeks, especially the stretch between Christmas and New Year's Day, are the busiest of the year in New York and Las Vegas. Opening weeks of a tour stop and the final weeks before a show closes both draw extra demand. Midweek evenings, particularly Tuesday and Wednesday, usually offer the widest choice of seats.
Every order on Good Seats is backed by a 100% guarantee, and the seating guides are written to help you decide between the orchestra (the ground-floor seats), the mezzanine (the first raised level) and the balcony before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Broadway and a national tour?
A Broadway production plays a fixed theater in Manhattan for as long as it sells. A national tour is a separate company of the same show that moves between cities, usually staying one to several weeks in each.
Is The Phantom of the Opera still on Broadway?
No. The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway in April 2023. It continues on a North American tour and in London.
Where are the best seats for a musical?
For most musicals, the center orchestra about a third of the way back and the front of the center mezzanine give the best balance of view and sound. Each show guide notes exceptions for its staging.
Which theater shows suit young children?
Sesame Street Live is built for toddlers and preschoolers, and Disney on Ice, Monster Jam and Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live suit school-age children. The family shows hub explains running times and where to sit with kids.