The Tkts Booth marks its 30th year in Times Square this year. It is little more than a truck trailer surrounded by scaffolding and canvas, and recently a design competition was held in hopes of sprucing it up.

Two lines go up past the George M. Cohen and Father Duffy statues. Sometimes they will double back upon themselves once (2-jpg) or several times, but they move quickly once the booths are open, so don't be dismayed. In fact if you just wait for the fanatics who wait before the booths are open to clear out, there is usually hardly any wait at all. The booths open at 3:00 pm for evening performances and 10:00 am on matinee days (11:00 am on Sunday). So we like to give it an hour and a half after opening before going down there.

While you are waiting, hawkers try to convince you of how great their show is, and pass out advertising fans on hot days. If you remembered to, you picked up a free copy of the Village Voice or NY Press to read from a street corner dispenser, before you got on line.

Eventually you get close enough to start squinting at the board to see if the show you wanted (or your 2nd or 3rd choice) is still there -- it usually is.

Finally comes the anxiety of actually asking for the tickets at the window to make sure they did not disappear in the 10 seconds between your last look at the board and now, and making absolutely sure they gave you the right tickets for the right day and time. We have never actually heard of anyone every being given the wrong tickets, but you don't want to be the first one.