If you know me you know I love theatre and I love seeing theatre for cheap. One way I’ve written about before is by entering a theatre lottery. Back in the day this meant standing outside a theatre for the chance to purchase discounted theatre tickets. Today many shows either have their own online lottery (particularly for shows in New York and London) or they use a site like Lucky Seat. This website has lotteries for some shows in New York, but also for big touring shows in Canada and the US. Price are listed in local currency (either Canadian or US dollars) and can vary. For example as of this post date (March 15, 2025) there are draws for $10 tickets to Hamilton in Eugene, Oregon up to $175 tickets to see Hugh Jackman in New York. Most ticket prices are on average of $35 to $50.
Entering The Lottery on Lucky Seat
First step is to go to Lucky Seat and create a free account. Be sure to put in an email you check regularly as this is how you’ll be contacted (or by text if you add your phone number). I also recommend signing up for their mailing list so you’ll be notified of when a Lucky Seat show is coming to your area.
Then it’s just a matter of finding a show in a city near you, and entering for as many dates as you can go to. The more dates you enter the more chances you’ll have of being selected. There’ll be a draw date where the winners are randomly picked. If you’re a winner you’ll be contacted by email or phone and will then have a limited amount of time to purchase your discounted tickets. You won’t be charged until you purchase the tickets, so if you don’t want want to go anymore then you just don’t buy the tickets and they’ll select another winner.
With Lucky Seat you can enter for up to 2 tickets per show date, but if you win those seats may not be together. You also won’t know where your seat (or seats) are until after you purchase the tickets. Depending on the venue and the show you could have an obstructed view of the stage. And of course it should be mentioned the winners are chosen randomly and you might not be picked. If the show is one you really want to see you may want to spend the money to buy a guaranteed ticket. But if you like to take a chance you can try Lucky Seat like I did.
My Lucky Seat Experience
When I found out about Lucky Seat I signed up for an account. Since I’m in Edmonton there aren’t shows local to me on Lucky Seat all the time. However; big Broadway Across Canada touring shows that run at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium will likely be on Lucky Seat. These shows come to Edmonton about 4 times per year. I’d tried for tickets to Beetlejuice The Musical back in January, but didn’t win. Then I put in to win tickets to Tina: The Tina Turner Musical for every show date, except one that I wouldn’t be able to make. I also just put in for one ticket per show.
The draws for all shows were on Friday, March 7. That day came and went and I wasn’t notified of winning so I figured that was that. That following Monday I got a text saying I won a ticket for the show the next evening. I assume either someone didn’t claim their ticket in time or they just had extra tickets and did another draw. Either way I was stoked.
I was notified at 10am and had until 1pm that day to purchase the ticket, which was easy. I made sure I was logged into my Lucky Seat account. There’s a link in the text or email you’ll get to claim your ticket. You pay by credit card. The ticket I had was $67.50 (with fees and charges included). After payment the login for Ticketmaster came up for me to get the ticket. Once I had logged into that account I added the ticket to my phone and was good to go. The only thing extra charge I paid for at the show was parking.
When I first looked at the ticket I thought my seat was on the first balcony (there’s two balconies at this venue). I’ve paid over $100 for balcony seats so this seemed like a pretty decent deal. Then I looked again and realized that I was actually on the main floor. Not only that I was in row G, just 9 rows back from the stage (there are two rows at the very front, and then it starts with A so 9 rows). I checked and the next evening a single seat in the row behind me was going for $200. I got a really good deal on Lucky Seat.
My Thoughts on Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
As you may have inferred this is a musical (a jukebox musical) about Tina Turner. It uses some of her most well known songs that span her career, from her early days with Ike Turner to her big hits in the 80s as solo artist. I know several Tina Turner songs, but I don’t know her entire discography. This was nice because I got to hear some “new to me songs.” Also, I had a “I was today years old” moment when I learned that the song “Don’t Turn Around” was sung by Tina Turner. I grew up listening to the Ace of Base version of that song.
I don’t always love Jukebox musicals. Sometimes they try to force a story where it doesn’t make sense, but I enjoyed this musical. The songs are used as a way to represent different moments of Tina Turner’s life rather than just showcasing the behind the scenes of recording or a particular performance of the song (although that was sometimes the case). For example the opening number “Nutbush City Limits” showed Tina’s childhood (born Anna Mae Bullock) with her singing in church, so it was performed as a gospel song.
There’s lots of high energy, dancing, flashy costumes, and drama with Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. It feels fun for the most part, but there are definitely serious moments, especially when comes to scenes dealing with abuse she suffered from during her marriage with Ike Turner. Jayna Elise as Tina Turner was fantastic, but all the performers did an amazing job. They did an encore after the bows of two songs “Nutbush City Limits” and “Proud Mary” (both also featured in the musical). The audience was encouraged to sing along, and clap and dance at this part. It didn’t feel like a concert at every moment of this musical, but it definitely did at some points, including here. I’m sure nothing could have beat seeing Tina Turner herself in concert (if only time travel was real), but going to Tina: The Tina Turner Musical was a really enjoyable experience. It’s a show I’m glad I got to see, and I’ll definitely be entering more draws with Lucky Seat in the future.
Things To Know
While I usually have a disclaimer about having affiliate links on my blog for this post there are no affiliate links as Lucky Seat does not have an affiliate program. This review is my own and I have not been contacted by anyone from Lucky Seat, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Broadway Across Canada, Ticketmaster, the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium or any other person, corporation or entity to share this review. I have not been compensated for this post in anyway. I just wanted to share a way to potentially see theatre in a more affordable way.
Have you won a theatre lottery?