'Book of Mormon' lottery returns to Tampa

   If you want to see "The Book of Mormon" but you don't want to shell out $66 for the cheapest tickets, here's some good news for you.

  The producers of the show are again offering a lottery that will let you purchase tickets for $31. And they're not all cheap seats. You could end up getting a $178.50 tickets for $31.

   Here's how it works: Between two and two and a half hours before any performance, you go to the box office at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa and fill out a form. You specify whether you want one ticket or two for that performance. You can't enter any drawing more than once.

 

A scene from "the Book of Mormon"

 Then, two hours before curtain, someone draws names and an unknown number of people will get the discounted tickets. It's cash only. You have to be there to win. 

   These lotteries have drawn as many as 800 entrants. You might have a better shot earlier in the run, before word of mouth about the show and about the lottery has peaked. You might also have a better shot on weekdays, because the drawing will at 5:30 p.m and a lot of people won't be able to get to the Straz Center after work by then.

  The Straz Center is at 1010 N. MacInnes Place in downtown  Tampa. "The Book of Mormon" opens Jan. 20 and runs through Feb. 1. Curtain is at  7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Call 813-229-7827 or go to strazcenter.org.