How a student can manage to get hold of a Theatre or Opera ticket

Theater fans listen up! I have good news for you: if you are in Milan and would like an evening in the theater or want to spend some time at the Opera, then you don@t need to worry about breaking the bank. Because in most theaters in Milan (Teatro alla Scala inclusive) there are always possibilities to find cheap tickets. Above all for students there are some very interesting deals! We're taking a closer look at some of Milan's most important theaters.

Innenansicht des Teatro alla Scala

Teatro alla Scala

The most well known Theater in the city and one of the most prestigious Opera houses in the whole world. So, La Scala is not only known for its stunning and first class productions, but also for its dizzying ticket prices. Now, however, if you want to invite your beloved to a romantic evening in the opera, or be a passionate "Melomani" you don't have to miss out on this highlight when visiting the city. Normal tickets usually cost 300 euros. What do you do?

One option would be to wait for the first performance in December as this "Anteprima" is reserved for students and the tickets cost around 10 euros. The problem is that the request for this event is so large that it is almost impossible to get a card. Five minutes after the on-line presale begins, all tickets are already sold out.

There is also a promotion for a total of 20 shows half-price tickets. You can sit for around 115 euros in the first row on the floor or 46 euros in the first row of the first gallery. But here too, you really need to be very fast because the tickets go away, like hot cakes! Here is the link to the discounted performances for the 2015 season:La Scala Aperta.

Prices for performaces "La Scala Aperta"

There is, however, a third possibility, which I myself mostly used to get tickets. On the day of each performance (no matter if there are other offers or not), you can register in a list at 13. 00 and buy tickets effectively at 17. 00. The whole thing happens in the Biglietteria serale, on the left side of the main building.

Abendkassa der Scala

The process is somewhat elaborate, but you get tickets for the second gallery (if you're lucky and very few tickets were sold, even for the first). To be able to register, you need a valid passport or passport on which you can read your name and show a picture of you. The tickets are nominative, that is, you can not send anyone else for you to get them. If you want to have an admission ticket, you have to go through the whole procedure yourself.

I also recommend you not to appear just before 13. 00 hrs, but at least an hour earlier to stand up (for very popular operas also two hours) because only a certain number of tickets are sold. At 13. 00, your name will be entered into a list and you will get a number, so you know how much you are in the list.

So sieht das aus, wenn beispielsweise eine Oper von Verdi aufgeführt wird.

At 17. 00 o'clock you have to be there. Do not be too late, otherwise you will simply be skipped. If your number is called, you will be shown, your ID card, a card with your number, and put you in the next queue (do not worry, this is the last one). At 18. 00 hours the Abendkasse locks itself, then you can exchange your card for the effective entrance ticket (at this moment you have to pay). Most of the operas begin between 19. 00 and 20. 00 hrs. (The first is true, if the operas are very long, like for example Wagner).

I know this way, you have to keep the whole day somehow, but it really pays off, because if you do not show up until 13. 00, you'll get a ticket. And when you enter the theater, the hardships of waiting are instantly gone as if by the wind, and you only think of the gorgeous spectacle you will soon experience. .

Die skandalöse Inszenierung der "Aida" von Franco Zeffirelli im Jahr 2012

Piccolo Teatro

The theater was opened by Giorgio Strehler and Paolo Grassi in 1947. It was the first state-subsidized theater with a solid ensemble, a so-called "Teatro stabile". After almost 70 years it is still one of the best theaters in Italy and I personally have seen the most beautiful productions of my life there. Today, there are two main seats of the theater, the Teatro Strehler (at the Lanza station of the green Metro) and the Teatro Grassi in Via Rovello, circa five minutes from the Duomo.

Ein italienischer Klassiker, der im Piccolo immer gern gesehen ist: "Arlecchino servitore di due padroni" von Carlo Goldoni.

The Piccolo Teatro represents a socialist philosophy, which means that although the quality of the performances is really excellent and often also famous artists around the world, prices are not only acceptable, but almost a gift, for what you get offered in return.

For example, there is a Season ticket for Students, which costs 66 euros and includes 4 shows. That would be 16, 5 euros per performance. You can also buy a "Piccolo Card", with which you collect points with each purchase of a ticket. If you have 15 points, you get an entrance ticket for 5 euros.

But do not worry if you are only in Milan once, you do not need to subscribe to an extra subscription. Even normal tickets do not cost too much. As a student, you pay between 17 and 23 euros for a performance (only the special jazz evenings costs less, since you pay as a student only 11 euro).

Ticketpreise im Piccolo Teatro

A cheap ticket for the Piccolo is, fortunately, not so difficult, but plans a bit more advance and buys the tickets already in advance, because the Piccolo is Milan's most popular prose theater, therefore it can easily happen that the tickets are sold out quickly.

The program in Piccolo Strehler & Grassi is really diverse. Every year, some of the most important Italian and foreign language classics mixed with new theatrical productions are written, staged and interpreted by young and innovative people. A visit to Piccolo is always refreshing, no matter what genre it is. This can also be recognized by the public: from children and adolescents to pensioners, one meets all age classes. A real spectacle!

Inszenierung von "Odyssey" von Robert Wilson im Piccolo

You can still find many other theaters in Milan, which also present interesting and funny productions. Since they are not quite as big as the Scala or the Piccolo, it is not a problem to get cheap tickets at all. Just take a look at the homepages and inform you about the performances that will be offered in the coming months.

Das neue Theaterstück "NERDs - Sintomi" im Teatro dei Filodrammatici

A visit is worth:

• Teatro degli Arcimboldi: Milan's second Opera house in a modern style, between 13 and maximum 40 euros.
• Teatro dei Filodrammatici: very small but antique theater, which has been a century-old Variety of acting sizes such as Eleonora Duse or Sarah Bernhardt on stage. Today, alternative alternative performances, tickets are for students by 13 euros.
• Teatro Carcano : a theater that welcomes various types of performing arts: prose, Dance, music and much more. Student's.
• Teatro Elfo Puccini : originally it was a group of actors who traveled and theirs Plays throughout Italy. Since 1992, however, they have had a stable location in Milan, where all people under 25 can participate in a performance of 16 Euro.
• Auditorium : a concert hall for all lovers of classical music. Symphony concerts are available for all under 25 from 12, 5 Euro.
• Teatro Nazionale : a very popular theater because it is responsible for the musicals in Milan, but as in most cases, tickets for musicals are never cheap. The cheapest tickets are around 40 euros, but the view is very limited. If you want to sit in the first rows you have to pay double.

“Il sindaco del rione sanità” von Edoardo De Filippo im Teatro Elfo Puccini

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