It's no secret that a student ID can get you killer discounts and deals within a college town and around the country. I don't know about you, but I plan on taking full advantage of my student ID while I can. Aside from discounts at retail stores and local restaurants, many local theatres have great deals for students with a valid ID. I've listed just a few of many awesome RVA theaters with unbeatable student discounts on tickets.
The Altria Theater
You can't miss the beautiful Altria Theater on Laurel Street right in the heart of VCU's campus. The theater has a packed schedule every year of touring Broadway shows, concerts, and many other performances. Unfortunately, with such popular entertainment acts, ticket prices can run pretty high. However, VCU students with a valid ID can get $25 tickets to many shows by purchasing them at the box office. Some of the Altria's season includes Newsies!, Ragtime, The Price is Right Live, Chris Tomlin, and many others! Check it all out here.
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Firehouse Theatre
Firehouse Theatre is located right on Broad Street, just a few blocks off of campus. The theatre was founded in 1993 when Richmond's Fire Station House #10 was decommissioned and five theatre practitioners took it over and converted the unique space into a theatre. The theatre is very intimate with limited seating, which makes each production a close conversation between the actors and audience. Firehouse is introducing a new season called Radical Change, which features three sections: plays, fringe, and studio. New artistic director Joel Bassin says, "Drama hinges on reversal and recognition -- on something changing -- and theatre aspires to transform us with new perspectives and insight." Firehouse produces cutting-edge and high quality pieces of theatre, and offers varying student discounts ($15 for mainstage shows) seen on their website. They also have "pay what you can Sunday" for shows. You don't want to miss the amazing season they have already begun!
Quill Theatre
Richmond Shakespeare and Henley Street Theatre recently merged to form Quill Theatre. The theatre largely produces works rooted in Shakespeare and takes a unique point of view on many plays. Their mission is "theatre worth talking about." They offer $15 dollar student tickets to many of their shows, and more info can be found on their website. Quill Theatre is the place to go to see some wonderful classic Shakespeare amongst other fantastic works!
Virginia Repertory Theatre
Virginia Rep is a nonprofit professional theatre company, with multiple branches. It is the largest professional theatre in central Virginia and operates under a yearly contract with Actor's Equity Association (the union for professional stage actors and stage managers). Between its Signature season, Hanover Tavern, Children's Theatre, Theatre IV touring company, and Candence Theatre, Virginia Rep always has an exciting and extremely varied season of musicals and plays. Some current and upcoming shows include Peter and the Starcatcher, The House at Pooh Corner, Gypsy, Equus, and The Fabulous Lipitones. Virginia Rep offers day-of student rush tickets for $10 for non-musicals, $12 for musicals at Hanover Tavern, and $15 for other musicals. With high-quality professional theatre all around Richmond, you don't want to miss all that Virginia Repertory Theatre has to offer!
The Richmond Ballet
If dance is more your cup of tea than theatre, check out the Richmond Ballet's killer season. The Richmond Ballet became Virginia's first professional ballet company in 1984. The School of Richmond Ballet offers pre-professional training programs in addition to adult classes (where students with a valid ID receive a $10 drop-in rate per class!). The professional company's season features six productions, including the Christmas classic The Nutcracker. Full-time college students with ID can get $20 tickets for ballets by purchasing them in person at The Richmond Ballet Box Office. Seeing a beautifully executed ballet after a stressful week is the perfect detox and opportunity to see some truly amazing art!
TheatreVCU Mainstage
Fantastic theatre is produced every year right on campus at the W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts! TheatreVCU typically produces four mainstage shows each academic year, with extra special events added in this year. VCU students with a valid ID can purchase mainstage tickets for only $10 online or at the box office. The rest of the 2015-2016 season includes The Rocky Horror Show, It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, In the Next Room, HIV/AIDS Staged Readings, and Urinetown. Come out and support your fellow VCU students!
Shafer Alliance Laboratory Theatre
Shafer Alliance Laboratory Theatre (SALT) is the student-led theatre at VCU. Producing around 7-12 shows per semester, the organization involves mostly all undergraduate and graduate students. Auditions are open to all VCU students, so many shows have a cast including students of other majors besides theatre. There is no excuse to miss a SALT show because admission is completely FREE. That's right, free theatre put on by poor college students for other poor college students. SALT produces everything from original works by students to well-known plays. Check out all the info on their Facebook and twitter pages!
These theatres are just a handful of all the groundbreaking theatre happening in and around Richmond. In addition to producing amazing and unique pieces of theatre, the Richmond theatre community often features VCU theatre students in many of the professional companies listed above. Use that VCU ID and go see some theatre this weekend!
