You do NOT need to spend $300 to sit in a Broadway house this weekend. The 2026 season has handed us an embarrassment of riches — Nathan Lane, Kelli O’Hara, Rose Byrne, Jon Bernthal, John Lithgow — and every single one of these productions has a path to a discounted or rush ticket if you know where to look. Here’s your Saturday-Sunday theater guide for May 9–10, with real prices, real lottery info, and real picks for which shows are worth waking up early for.

🌟 Don’t Miss: Death of a Salesman — Nathan Lane IS Willy Loman

Stop what you’re doing. Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf are starring in Joe Mantello’s revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway), and it has nine — NINE — Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Play. This is a once-in-a-generation casting moment, and the production runs only through August 9, 2026.

Here’s the good news: you can get in for $45. A limited number of rush tickets are sold in person at the Winter Garden Theatre box office beginning at 10:00 AM on the day of the performance — two tickets per person, $45 each. For the digital lottery: it opens at midnight the night before, drawings happen at 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM, and winners have five hours to claim. Lottery tickets are $49. Set your alarm. This one is worth it.

Where: Winter Garden Theatre, 1634 Broadway
Rush: $45 in-person at box office, starting 10:00 AM day-of
Lottery: $49 via digital lottery, opens midnight before performance
Runs through: August 9, 2026
Tickets: salesmanbroadway.com

The Sparkling Pick: Fallen Angels

Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels is exactly the antidote to heavy drama — a champagne-fresh comedy of bad manners starring Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne (both of whom are currently Tony-nominated for this production) at the Todd Haimes Theatre (227 West 42nd Street). Directed by Scott Ellis and now in its final weeks, Fallen Angels closes June 7, 2026, so this weekend puts you right in the sweet spot.

Matinees are your best friend here: Saturday and Sunday afternoon performances give you the full Roundabout Theatre Company experience at a lower ambient energy than a Friday night. Rush tickets are available via TodayTix for $53 — enter the morning of through the app. This is one of those shows people are going to be talking about missing for years after it closes.

Where: Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street, Manhattan
Rush: $53 via TodayTix app
Closes: June 7, 2026
Tickets: roundabouttheatre.org

For the Drama Lover: Dog Day Afternoon

If you want something raw and electric, Dog Day Afternoon features The Bear‘s Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ gritty new play. This is the kind of downtown-energy theater that New York does better than anywhere else in the world. Check TodayTix and the TKTS booth for same-day availability.

The Wild Card: Giant

John Lithgow reprises his Olivier Award-winning performance as children’s author Roald Dahl in Giant — a production that has been generating genuine conversation about what biographical theater can do. Lithgow is operating at a level that makes this worth seeing even if you’ve never thought about Roald Dahl in your life. Check availability this weekend while the season is in full swing.

How to Score Cheap Broadway Tickets This Weekend

Here’s the full playbook, because you have options:

TKTS Discount Booth (Times Square): Same-day tickets at 20–50% off for matinee and evening performances. The Times Square booth is at Father Duffy Square (47th Street and Broadway) and opens at 10:00 AM for matinees. The Lincoln Center booth (at Broadway and 64th Street) opens at noon and often has different availability. Lines move faster than you’d think — and the selection board tells you exactly what’s available before you commit.

TodayTix Rush: Open the app the morning of and enter every show you’d consider seeing. Many shows offer $35–$53 rush tickets that are drawn by lottery. You can enter multiple shows simultaneously. This is genuinely the most efficient way to land a cheap Broadway ticket in 2026.

Telecharge Lottery: Many Shubert Organization shows run digital lotteries at rush.telecharge.com. Lotteries typically open 24 hours before the performance — set reminders and enter the night before.

Matinees are your friend: Saturday and Sunday matinee seats are almost always more available and significantly cheaper than evening performances. The experience inside the theater is identical. The savings can be $50–$100 per ticket.

Off-Broadway This Weekend

Don’t sleep on the off-Broadway scene while you’re at it. NYC’s developmental theater companies — Soho Rep, Ars Nova, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage — routinely put up work that outperforms Broadway in terms of creative risk. Many offer pay-what-you-can performances on weekends. Check each company’s site directly for weekend programming and last-minute availability. This is where the next wave of American theater is being born right now, on stages that seat 99 people.

The Bottom Line

The 2026 Broadway season is legitimately one of the strongest in recent memory, and this is Mother’s Day weekend — which means if you’re even considering bringing Mom to a show, this is the weekend to do it. Lock in the Death of a Salesman lottery tonight. Get to the TKTS booth early. Open TodayTix when you wake up Saturday morning and see what the city has for you.

Whatever you catch, you’re in New York. The curtain goes up. That never gets old.