Cheap seats, mapped
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child rush, lottery & cheap tickets
Every legitimate cheap-seat tactic for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway — with prices and the small print. No paywalled "premium tier" nonsense; just the public-facing routes ranked.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a 210-minute play at the 1,622-seat Lyric Theatre. It has been running since 2018 — a long-runner with established cheap-seat patterns. Multiple cheap-seat routes are in play: an official lottery, an in-person rush, and TKTS booth eligibility.
Some of the links below are affiliate links — EvenAisle may earn a small commission when you buy through them. We pick the cheap-seat tactic that's best for you, not the one that pays us most.
$40 TodayTix (Friday Forty) lottery
2 tickets per winner
- Platform
- TodayTix (Friday Forty)
- Price
- $40 per ticket
- Entry window
- Monday 12:01 AM ET through Friday 1:00 PM ET — covers the following week's performances.
- Draw / notification
- Winners notified Friday 1:00–5:00 PM ET. Pick up tickets at the Lyric on the day of the performance.
- Quantity limit
- Up to 2 per winner
Weekly lottery format rather than daily — a full week of performances on each draw. Available only through the TodayTix app.
Enter the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child lottery →$49 box-office rush
Up to 2 per buyer
- Format
- In-person at the box office
- Price
- $49 per ticket
- Opens
- Box office opens 10:00 AM Tuesday–Saturday, 12:00 PM Sunday
- How to enter
- Show up at the Lyric Theatre box office (214 W 43rd St) when it opens. First-come, first-served, subject to availability.
- Quantity limit
- Up to 2 per buyer
$49 in-person rush.
Get directions to the box office →Same-day discounts at TKTS
Up to 50% off
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has appeared at the TKTS booth (Times Square and Lincoln Center, TDF's two locations) — discounts of up to 50% off same-day performances and next-day matinees, with TDF's $8 per-ticket service charge included in the price on the board (TDF notes some tickets may carry other charges). Appearance and discount level vary day to day.
On TDF's TKTS board on 3 of the 7 days we checked, Nov 2–8, 2026: 40% off, $98–$146 including TDF's $8 service charge.
See today's TKTS list →The realistic playbook
- Enter the lottery first. Lowest price, zero effort. Set a daily reminder; the entry windows are unforgiving.
- Line up early for rush.
- TKTS is the fallback. Same-day, in-person — check today's list for which booth has it and each booth's hours.
- If all else fails, compare the resale market on the main Harry Potter and the Cursed Child page — sometimes resale dips below face for less-popular performances.