When to Arrive
While some theaters are better than others at getting people through the doors quickly, you don’t have to arrive way in advance to join some enormous line snaking down the sidewalk. If you don’t need to pick up your tickets, it’s generally fine to show up maybe 10 minutes before curtain. Get there earlier if you want to stop in the restroom, where the wait, for women, can be long.
In a Car?
Save yourself the headache and reserve a parking spot through one of a number of apps, such as BestParking, ParkWhiz and SpotHero. Lincoln Center also offers its own reserved parking online. Still, allot more driving time than you think you’ll need, especially during the holidays. Not every show admits tardy arrivals. When they do, latecomers risk taking a walk of shame with an usher — and squeezing into their row in the dark.
Navigating Times Square
One upside to passing through Times Square: plenty of outdoor seating. One downside: the jostling yet torpid mass of humanity you will find yourself a part of. If you must walk through it, single file is the way to go. Elsewhere, at the edge of the theater district, foot traffic on the west side of Eighth Avenue moves faster than on the crowd-clogged east side. For shows east of Times Square, walking north or south on Sixth Avenue, then west to your theater, can be faster.
Finding Green Space
Bryant Park, one of the loveliest oases in Manhattan, is just one block east of Times Square, on 42nd Street at Sixth Avenue. A picnic-friendly, tree-shaded spot with an expansive lawn and lots of bistro tables around the edges, it’s a relaxing place to catch your breath and, if you want, buy something to eat or drink.
At the Show and After
What to Wear
There is no dress code. If you feel like glamming up, great. If your mood calls for jeans, which a lot of New Yorkers wear to shows, you’ll fit right in, too. Just bring something to toss over your shoulders in case the theater gets cold. And if you’re wearing a hat, be kind to the people behind you. Take it off inside.