It’s pretty rare to go anywhere these days and not see somebody permanently glued to their smart phone. I, myself, am guilty of this behavior! Yes my friends, the phone is not just for talking anymore. With the iPhones, Blackberrys and Droids, we can Google from just about anywhere and download apps to run our entire lives. Now the day has come when Broadway followed suit by entering into the digital marketing world with a new “TKTS” iPhone app.
For those of you who don’t know, TKTS is a Broadway fan’s best friend…or at least your wallet’s! Located in Duffy Square, the TKTS booth offers discounted “day of show only” tickets for select musicals and plays. The new iPhone app called At The Booth was created by Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, who traditionally sticks to producing shows (Blithe Spirit, Oleanna, and Altar Boyz), but can now add third-party application developer to their list of accomplishments. The initial concept of At The Booth was to function like a “Moviefone” tool for New Yorkers and tourists in the hopes of driving business to the theatre. With the new app, users have access to the discounted prices, as well as, a line indicator that tells you how long the wait is at the booth. Additional features include show synopsis, maps, photos, videos and reviews. At The Booth is currently available from iTunes for 99 cents, but if you can wait until September, TKTS and the Theatre Development Fund’s official app will be available for download. Proceeds from the official app will benefit the Theatre Development Fund, a non-profit who supports industry education and training programs. Now that’s an app I’m willing to pay for!
What other Broadway apps do I have on my iPhone? A relatively new one that came out is iBroadway. It’s free to download and its features are very similar to At The Booth with the exclusion of the nifty discounts, of course. When looking for up to the minute news and updates on all things Broadway, I recommend the TheatreMania or BroadwayWorld apps. Both are available at no cost and find them to load a lot quicker than navigating to their website via a web browser.
Even though we live in Houston, do any of you think the “At The Booth” app is helpful? Are you going to wait and download the official TKTS app? Do you know of a fun Broadway related app you’d like to share with us? Just remember kids: never play on your smart phone, or even a dumb phone, during a performance at the theatre!
Until next time,
Thea