Rodgers and Hammerstein, creators of Oklahoma, The Sound of Music and South Pacific, created the Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets service in the 1950s to support the memorial fund of Damon Runyon, the writer whose vibrant stories inspired the musical Guys and Dolls.  Since that time, Broadway theaters have provided the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation with four to six of their best house seats for almost every performance.  The Foundation pays the theaters the full box office price for the tickets and then sells them for double the ticket price.  The amount in addition to the box office price is a fully tax deductible voluntary contribution to the Foundation.

Since its inception in 1946, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has been supported by prominent members of the arts community, including Bob Hope, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe.  Today, Broadway theaters continue this tradition.  The Damon Runyon Broadway Tickets service helps to fund the Foundation’s fundraising and administrative expenses, allowing it to give 100% of direct donations to cancer research.