More Bang for your Broadway Buck

Laura Brooks wanted to celebrate her daughter’s 21st birthday by taking her to see the musical “Cabaret” at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

After looking online for tickets to a show in April, she found ticket prices  for $40 apiece instead of $80 through the Duke employee discount program, PERQS. With the savings, Brooks also bought tickets to see the “The Lion King” at DPAC with her daughter.

“The DPAC is a beautiful place, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad show there,” said Brooks, a senior analyst programmer with Duke Research Application Development. “I was going to take her no matter what, but getting to go to two shows for a little less than what two tickets would have cost is really great.”

Duke is part of DPAC’s Super Group program, which offers discounts to employees for Broadway shows and special events. Tickets are available to select performances and seating areas. Find the discount on the Duke Human Resources website.

Some upcoming shows with discounts include “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” in February, “Mamma Mia!” and "Chicago" in May and "Motown" in August, and more. According to the City of Durham, the 2015-16 season broke records for DPAC with 511,073 guests, 249 events and 119 sellout shows.

Roberta Moore, research administrator in the Duke Office of Research Administration, visited DPAC for the first time in August with her husband for their 12th wedding anniversary. They saw comedian couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally.

“I just really appreciated having the chance to go see a show at the DPAC at an affordable price,” Moore said. “We got to go out to eat nearby, since there are lots of restaurants around American Tobacco and the DPAC, and went to a show. The whole thing was lovely.”