NEW YORK CITY — The excitement of Broadway and live theatre. It’s an experience that tourists all over the world are after when visiting New York City.

One of the leading companies of this famous entertainment district is The Shubert Organization, which manages 17 of the most important theatres in New York, plus the Broadway Collection of 25+ shows which also includes a few off-Broadway productions such as Blue Man Group and Little Shop of Horrors.

At part of The Shubert Organization’s mission to bring Broadway closer to its fans and a broader audience, Broadway Inbound was created. Bob Hofmann, who is co-founder, Vice-President and Director of Broadway Inbound, describes it as the ticketing home for group buyers, tour operators and the travel industry.

“We started Broadway Inbound as a separate business, with the primary goal to connect it to the theatre owners – as opposed to being separate from the theatre owners – so we would be able to develop it and stay connected to the ticketing,” he said. “Now you have good, fair prices for anyone in the travel industry who books through this network that we were building.”

But as Hofmann made clear, “it’s important to note that we are not a ticket re-seller. We offer wholesale access to FIT and group inventory direct from the box office – available to all our partners, allowing sales up to the day of the show, access to order history, online payment and flexible policies.”

On a visit to New York City with Broadway Inbound, Travelweek had the opportunity to see four new musicals over three days – something that fans of live theatre can do now as part of a tour operator or travel agent’s itinerary when travelling in groups and booking through Broadway Inbound’s partnership network.

The variety of show styles included Hell’s Kitchen, a coming of age story in one of the Big Apple’s most notorious neighbourhoods, with music by Alicia Keys. Written as a semi-autobiographical take on Keys’ upbringing in NYC, it features some of her familiar stunners (“Fallin’”, “New York/Empire State of Mind,” “No One”) plus new tunes written for the show.

Hell’s Kitchen (photo credit Marc J Franklin)

Fans of the 1967 book, The Outsiders, and the 1983 film of the same name (which featured young guns Ralph Macchio, Matt Dillon, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Tom Cruise), will want to see the stage adaptation. It is the 2024 Tony-award winner for Best Musical; a sold-out matinee proved a story set in the ’60s of the haves versus the have-nots still resonates today.

The Outsiders (photo credit Matthew Murphy)

With the times shifting, so has Broadway. “In the past, the theatres would be dark on Mondays (most still are), and only matinees on Wednesdays and Sundays,” says Hofmann.

Now, you can have a matinee on a Thursday, or a Saturday. And it gives tour operators and agents more flexibility to build in those shows, especially for an extended weekend itinerary.

“We are the official trusted place to buy tickets online at group prices; even if you want to buy less than 10 tickets, our portal will take you to a trusted site, so in a way, we are going directly to the consumer with the best price for them, and the most secure,” said Hofmann.

So far, we’d experienced shows with understudies playing the leads. The performances are stellar; the understudies stars in their own right. But then, we take in The Great Gatsby at The Broadway Theatre. The set is Roaring ’20s art deco, with costumes to match. As the actors make their entrances, the crowd goes wild: the Tony-nominated Jeremy Jordan of Newsies fame is Jay Gatsby and Grammy award-winner Eva Noblezada of Hadestown is Daisy Buchanan. The energy is palpable; when the original leads take the stage, it’s at a whole new level.

A stop at The Museum of Broadway is a musical theatre lover’s dream. Costumes, soundtracks, photography and the history of the New York City stage from 1732 to today fill the house with eye-candy memorabilia. We could spend a whole afternoon there.

We go back in time again for the finale, the Tony-winning Suffs, with an all-female cast (also playing the male roles), about the Suffragist movement for a woman’s right to vote in the U.S. We get the principal actors in the lead roles – all of whom are based on the real people involved with the movement – including lawyer Alice Paul, played by Shaina Taub, the musical’s composer and playwright, who also collected the Tony for Best Book and Best Score.

Suffs (photo courtesy Joan Marcus)

They’ve got our vote.

For more details see BroadwayInbound.com and TheMuseumofBroadway.com. Travel advisors can book through Viator, Get Your Guide, TravelBrands, Expedia TAAP and/or SimplyiTickets and earn commission. Broadway Inbound is represented in Canada by VoX International. Watch for Vivian’s one-on-one interview with Broadway Inbound’s Bob Hofmann in the Sept. 25 edition of Travelweek Daily.