I absolutely love going to theater productions, but tickets can get pricey. Instead, we dress and go to a small local theater show. The tickets are a fraction of the cost of a broadway show, and you usually get better seats!

I would love to be entered to win tickets to Phantom of the Opera. I have seen it once before, but my husband has never seen it and I am dying to take him!

In NYC the TKTS stands offer discount last minute tickets. I prefer the one near the Seaport, because it is a lot less crowded than Times Square. I also have a membership to a papering company. For $100 a year I receive access to last minute tickets to various shows (most are not on Broadway) for $3 per ticket, and I can buy up to 2 tickets at a time. I also am subscribed to mailing lists for free movie tickets. I have previewed movies for free, before they even open!

College productions are often quite good (and often quite bad), and are often very cheap.

I'm not huge on broadway/offbroadway shows, more an Opera type. Many Opera houses have student pricing, and the Met offers live HD broadcasts to theaters across the country for much cheaper than going to a show in person.

Symphony tickets can be expensive, so instead, attend one of their open rehearsals. Most symphonies will open up some of their rehearsals to the public, which gives you the chance to hear the great music, and even see the work that goes into it. And it's free!

Every year my husband and I buy an Enjoy the City coupon book for our area. For $20, we get hundreds of coupons for restaurants and attractions, many of which are buy one get one free. In our area there's minor league baseball, ski resorts, bowling alleys, movie theaters, and some theater companies that put coupons in the book. Usually it pays for itself by the time we use the 2nd or 3rd coupon. We also love restaurant.com, especially when they're having a sale. Typically, you can get a $25 gift cert for select restaurants for just $10, but a few times a year they have an 80% off sale, so that same gift cert goes for $2. Time to stock up!

I LOVE going to shows - Broadway would be the ultimate of course but as you are all mentioning, the economy and ticket prices don't seem to mix these days! So I have attended many dinner theatre, local theatre, and college/REP productions. Some performances can be very good, and of course the tickets are cheaper. Not to mention since it is local, no need for travel/hotel stay expenses. Plus, I like supporting the local arts scene. But if you'd like to give me the tix, I'd love to go see a Broadway show!! Thanks.

We are trying to seek out new sources of entertainment, the quirkier the better. If we're not really interested in something, we'll replace it with a new option. If we are really excited about doing something, we find a way to save some money if we can but if not we treat ourselves.

We go for long walks and then go to the early shows when prices are usually cheaper.

I'd like to be entered for both. I would like to see Billy Elliot.

I've scored a couple of good deals from Groupon, and Craigslist usually has some good options as well.

I love seeing shows, but it can get super pricey. I have found some fantastic deals for shows on goldstar.com. I love that website, it's great. I check it daily, and they send me alerts about new events as well. Some theaters also offer ticket lotteries. I've participated in these before, they usually occur the day of a particular performance. You come in a few hours before the performance and enter your name to win orchestra tickets for any given show. Then, about 2 hours before the performance, you come back and see if you won. Even if you don't win, they'll often give you deals on tickets for the show that day. So if you've got time to kill, you can usually get good seats at really cheap prices that way.

Please enter me for the Amazon gift cards! Thanks!

I won 4 tickets to Spamalot last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the show myself, but my b/f and his friends enjoyed them.

Cincinnati has an incredible program called Enjoy the Arts. If you're under 35, you can get an arts pass for $40 (or cheaper if you're a student) that gives you two free tickets to approximately 20 major arts organizations (the ballet, the orchestra, the playhouse, a trillion local theatres and dance companies). Once you've used your free passes, you can get buy one get one tickets. The only catch is that you can only get the tickets on the day of the performance.

I love this - it's 20 cheap dates for $40 and arts organizations get to build their audience base by giving away seats they wouldn't have sold.

Enter me for both please!

In our town, the local Opera Company and some musical groups will do mini-shows at the local library for free! It's fab.

My best hint is to go to concert rehearsals in churches. I saw St. Mark's in Venice all lit up (it's normally kept quite dark for tourists) and listened to heavenly music w/o any crowds during a rehearsal. Same with Ste. Chappelle in Paris -- sunset through the amazing stained glass windows while listening to a flute concerto.

Since I'm nowhere near Broadway, I would like the Amazon card, please.

My fiance and I have made a pledge to keep our broadway subscription even in this economy. However, this year we bought the Saturday afternoon matinee package which was by far the cheapest. This way we can also go to the plays in the afternoon and not feel obligated to go out to dinner beforehand.

Please submit me for both!

classy entertainment for cheap:
-use restaurant.com to reduce dinner bills
-look for free shows and music in your area. in the summer parks have all sorts of things.
- go to shows at colleges. they are great and inexpensive
-stroll through the park - romantic and sweet - and quality time
-make a homemade meal and rent a movie.

I'm lucky that most of what I find entertaining is naturally cheap. I keep a list of free and cheap things that I love to do around to remind me that there are options. The best free sources of entertainment for me are parks and libraries. But I also love the occasional matinee, rented dvd, or happy hour with friends.

I'm always on the lookout for local festivals, craft and garden classes, and local music for some cheap happy experiences.

I'd love an Amazon GC!

Thanks, and good luck everyone!