Alcazar Show Tickets: Seats & Showtimes

What you're booking

The Alcazar Show is a cabaret revue in Pattaya that runs for about 75 minutes. Talented transgender artists perform dance, music and impersonations in elaborate costumes, across themes that run from traditional Thai dance to Broadway-style numbers. You book an admission ticket for a date and showtime that you choose. What comes with it depends on the option: refreshments and snacks, and a complimentary photo session with the performers, are included on some options, and pick-up and drop-off services are listed as well. Pets are not allowed. Read the option's inclusions on the booking page before you choose, because that is where the differences between options are spelled out.

Admission only, or a package with extras?

Start with what you want from the night. If you only want the show, an admission option is enough. If you also want a snack and a drink, time with the performers or a transfer, look for an option that names those extras, because they are not the same on every option and the option's own description is what counts. The theatre's own website promotes a VVIP package, which it describes as the best seating area, a snack and drink, a meet and greet with performers, unlimited photos with performers and an exclusive souvenir.

• Admission only: the show itself
• Snack, drink or photo: extras that vary by option
• VVIP package on the theatre's own site: best seating area, snack and drink, meet and greet, unlimited photos, souvenir

Seats: what is actually known

The show's description pages do not publish a seating plan with named categories. The one exception is the VVIP package, which the theatre calls the best seating area. So there is no checked answer to which row is best, and any guide that gives you row advice for Alcazar is guessing. If where you sit matters to you, the VVIP package is the option that states it. For every other option, read what the booking page says about seating before you pay, and email the theatre if you want it confirmed. Its website lists an email address and a phone number.

The photo session and the meet and greet

A photo with the performers is one of the extras that varies. Depending on the option, the booking includes a complimentary photo session with the performers. The theatre's VVIP package goes further, with a meet and greet and unlimited photos with performers. A Thai visitor directory says photos with the performers after the show are possible but can sometimes cost extra, which is a good reason to check that your option names the photo session instead of assuming it. Photos and filming during the performance itself are a different matter, covered in the practical guide.

Read next: Alcazar Show Pattaya: What You'll See

Hotel pick-up and drop-off

Pick-up and drop-off services are listed in the booking, and the booking shows a meeting point. What that means for your hotel, including which areas are covered, is shown when you choose your date and option, so read it before you pay. If it does not cover where you are staying, there are other ways to reach the theatre. Taxis and songthaews, the shared pick-up trucks nicknamed baht buses, provide most city and suburban transport in Pattaya, according to Wikipedia. Enter your hotel name exactly as it appears on your reservation.

Why this guide gives no start time

Showtimes can change, so a clock time printed on a website can go stale. The booking page does not give one in its description: it shows starting times once you check availability for a date. The theatre's own booking form has a time selector for the same reason. So go by the booking calendar for your date and by your confirmation, which shows the time. What stays constant is the length: about 75 minutes, which is the figure to use when you plan dinner and the rest of the evening around the show.

Booking here, or on the theatre's own site

You can book direct. The theatre's site has a booking form for date, time and number of seats, an email address and a phone number, and it promotes the VVIP package. Booking through GetYourGuide suits you if you want to see the price in your own currency, reserve now and pay later, and cancel for free up to 24 hours before the start. If you book direct, the change and cancellation terms are the theatre's own, so read them before you pay. Pick whichever route has the option you want, then compare what each includes, because the extras and the seating differ between options and between the two routes.

Who can book, and the ticket rules

A few rules apply to the ticket itself. This offer is not available to Thai passport holders. Pets are not allowed. Infants must sit on laps. The show is described as family-friendly, suitable for visitors of all ages, and as wheelchair-accessible. If any of these affects your group, check before you pay, because the free cancellation window closes 24 hours before the start.

• Not available to Thai passport holders
• No pets
• Infants sit on laps
• Wheelchair-accessible

How far ahead to book

Nobody publishes which nights fill first, so treat any claim that a particular date will sell out with care. The sensible approach is to book once your dates are fixed. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before, and with reserve now, pay later you pay nothing on the day you book, so booking early costs you little flexibility. If your preferred date shows no availability, try the nights either side, or contact the theatre to ask. Because plans change, it helps to keep your confirmation somewhere you can open it offline, with the date, the option and the pick-up details together.

Alcazar or another Pattaya cabaret?

Alcazar is one of several cabaret shows in Pattaya, and Wikipedia describes the city as famous for cabaret shows where transgender entertainers perform. Reputations are easy to quote, so compare the details that can be checked: the length of the show, whether pick-up and a photo session are part of the ticket, and what the cancellation terms are. Those details tell you more about your evening than which theatre is better known. If you are choosing between evenings rather than between theatres, the same questions apply.

Who this isn't for

If you want a story with a plot, this isn't it: the show is a run of acts, from dance and music to impersonations and comedy. If you hold a Thai passport, this ticket isn't available to you. If you want a quiet evening, note that a show with state-of-the-art lighting and sound is built for spectacle. And if you need a guaranteed seat position from a seating plan, nothing published lets us promise that, apart from the theatre's VVIP package.