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| Could Hamilton become the biggest selling show ever? |
In all my years as a licensed ticket broker ( NY State License #71AP1001029 ), helping the public obtain Broadway tickets for a few thousand shows, I've never seen a phenomenon like Hamilton tickets in New York City. And I really cannot understand it. After all, although it is a sensational, really spectacular creation, I've never seen a show sell tickets as fast and for the extremely "high prices" that Hamilton tickets sell for. In my opinion, it really defies all logic. So I decided to write this article so that I, myself, could try to understand why one Broadway show out of thousands of shows could be commanding prices that are several times the original printed face value on the ticket.
So why are Hamilton tickets, a show about an orphan immigrant, war hero who became George Washington's "right hand man" and who rose to become one of the nation's "founding fathers" and first treasury secretary and who also managed to get people to believe in the "American Economy", selling for so much money? The answer is really simpler than you might think. Let me explain.
First, you may consider that Hamilton the Musical was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of In the Heights, the 2008 Tony Award winning Broadway "best musical". Lin-Manuel Miranda is a Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winning writer, actor, rapper and one of the most creative forces of our time. His first show In The Heights is playing again in London as I write this article for the Applause Ticket News blog. So far he's been the only successful songwriter to use "rap music" on the Broadway stage and do so in a unique way that is thrilling audiences from all around the world. So what I'm suggesting is that Mr. Miranda has a proven track record both on Broadway, throughout the United States when his first show traveled around in a road company and on the London stage as well. Need I say anything more?
I think theatergoers were waiting for him to come up with a new show. And what a fantastic piece of theatre Hamilton truly is. From the opening minutes and right through to the end, this show aims to please. Hamilton is a very special show and there's not really anything in the world right now playing on Broadway and London that anyone can compare it to. Mr. Miranda is a musical genius and he really has found a most unique subject, combined it with incredible rap music and chosen a cast of 34 of the most extremely talented actors in Broadway history to entertain us.
So in my opinion, when you combine proven success in the theatre (2 times in a row for Mr. Miranda), a unique storyline and music that has garnered outstanding critical reviews with a non stop cast that entertains every minute along with incredible word of mouth and social media, it explains why there simply aren't enough seats in the theater to be obtained at the usual prices. There are only 1319 seats in the Richard Rodgers Theater on west 46th Street in New York City. When you think about it, Billy Joel has been selling out every seat in Madison Square Garden doing his "once a month" concert for a few years now. And that figure is somewhere near the 20,000 seat capacity of Madison Square Garden. I recently read that it would take 35 years or so for every resident of New York to see Billy Joel at least once. Now even if one figures that the audience for Broadway is considerably smaller than for that of a major rock star like Billy Joel, one could still figure that Hamilton tickets will "sell out" for a very long time to come. Imagine if the producers of Hamilton decided to put on this show at another theater at the same time?
So this comes down to a matter of "supply and demand" really. There are more than likely millions of people right now that would like to see Hamilton and only a handful of Hamilton tickets to go around. For right now that is. Very soon tickets for a second company of this musical sensation that will play at The PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago, Illinois will go on sale shortly for September 27, 2016 through January 15, 2017. My guess is that they will only put tickets on sale for this short 3 and 1/2 month period so they can increase the demand and prices for the show as they open more companies around the world. We understand that producer Sir Cameron MacIntosh has plans to bring Hamilton to London's West End sometime in 2017. Since 2017 is fairly far away from now, I do not foresee the road company of Hamilton opening in Chicago as reducing the incredible demand for tickets for the New York City show. Not at all and not anytime soon.And the last reason why Hamilton tickets are selling for many times there original value is the simplest of them all. And that is because the public is simply "paying several times the face value" for Hamilton tickets. And as long as some people are willing to pay, and in the opinion of some of us experienced, licensed ticket brokers, "overpay" in many instances, Hamilton ticket prices are more than likely to remain priced at the "market value" created by those willing to pay to see the show. In fact, for the last few weeks as Spring Break has started, ticket brokers in the secondary market have raised their prices considerably for Hamilton tickets. And so far, the public has been paying the prices. Does it make any sense to pay so much for a Hamilton ticket? Like many things in life, whether we pay considerably more for a hotel room, airline or cruise vacation during "peak holiday times", we as consumers are making educated decisions about what we spend our money on.
Truth be told, at our company, Applause-Tickets.com, we believe that we have our finger on the pulse of how to possibly obtain Hamilton tickets at the most "reasonable prices" throughout the country. For instance, we ask people that are shopping around to find Hamilton tickets to give us as many dates they can attend the show so that we can locate the best seating option for the best price. Obviously people that live in the New York tristate area can give Applause-Tickets more options for dates they might be able to see Hamilton. Those out-of-town visitors to New York City have time constraints so we often suggest these folks consider seeing another great Broadway show and decide to purchase Hamilton tickets during their next visit or consider seeing it in one of the other cities that it will play in, in the near future. At Applause-Tickets.com if a client decides that Hamilton tickets are too expensive, we often suggest considering to see 2 or 3, sometimes even 4 Broadway Shows for the price they would pay for just 1 Hamilton ticket. It isn't because Hamilton tickets aren't worth the price of admission, they're simply "overpriced for most people" yet "not overpriced for enough theatergoers" that really want to see it badly enough. As long as people are willing to pay high prices then the prices are likely to remain high. That's just the way it is.
Would my team at I at Applause-Tickets like to sell more market value Hamilton tickets? Of course we would but we try to "coach" people to "see something else now, select another top show" that is much more reasonably priced now and buy Hamilton tickets on your next visit to Broadway when the prices are lower.
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The following is a "note" that appears on the Hamilton web site. Have a look. It says "There are many ticket resellers and secondary markets for tickets. For the best seats and to eliminate the risk of fraud, get tickets in advance through the Box Office, Ticketmaster Plus or Broadway.com. Purchasing tickets from any other seller runs a high risk of receiving fraudulent tickets.
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The above note is really unfair in general and for a few solid reasons. They are:
1. There are no tickets available right now if you were to go to the Richard Rodgers Theater and try to buy them.
2. As far as I can tell right now there are no tickets available for lots of dates I checked into at Broadway.com either.
3. Ticketmaster Plus is Ticketmaster's "reseller link" to ticket brokers all over the country (and a handful of the general public trying to resell their Hamilton tickets). They simply list Hamilton tickets at "market value" prices, which in my expert opinion makes them a "ticket broker really" or "reseller marketplace" as they like to call themselves.
4. I completely disagree with their last statement that says"purchasing tickets from any other seller runs a high risk of receiving fraudulent tickets". (this simply is not true and unfair as the general public has been relying on licensed ticket brokers for decades now and the incidences of "fraud" is rare.
The Hamilton show simply wants to sell all the Hamilton tickets themselves which makes no sense really. After all, not only are ticket brokers buying lots of Hamilton tickets to "resell" but nowadays the general public are also buying and selling Hamilton tickets and tickets for thousands of events worldwide to resell themselves. Applause spends $5000.00 every year to renew our license to "resell tickets for admission" to Broadway Shows and other events. Very few others can say the same. It's unfair for them to "infer" Applause-Tickets or any other legitimate ticket service might be selling "fraudulent tickets. They are just greedy in my opinion.
At Applause-Tickets we always believe that in the end, to trust the decisions of consumers. They always make the right decisions for themselves. Thousands of Hamilton ticket shoppers call us, and many truly believe that they cannot even get Hamilton tickets, something that is once again, simply not true. The demand is so intense right now that many ticket companies are simply "painting the picture" that Hamilton tickets are "hard to get". I trust you'll consider believing an experienced ticket professional like myself (or someone else you can trust) that there are lots and lots of Hamilton tickets available. They are indeed being sold at incredibly high prices for many performances. At Applause-Tickets, we'll try to help you find a date, time and number for tickets you might be looking for at the most reasonable Hamilton ticket prices possible. If you are flexible with the dates and seating options the prices will be more reasonable for sure. If you're not, you are likely to pay a very high premium to get Hamilton tickets.
Right now, as we approach the 2016 Tony Awards nominations (the cut-off date is April 28, 2016) for a new Broadway Show to be opened and reviewed by critics, nominees for Tony Awards will be announced on May 3, 2016. Because of this at Applause-Tickets we see that Hamilton ticket prices are at an all-time high and are likely to go even higher after the Tony Award winners are announced, especially because Hamilton is most likely to win the Best Musical of 2016 along with several other Tony Awards.
Then we noticed that for dates that follow after the Tony Awards 2016 telecast on Sunday June 12, 2016, that Hamilton ticket prices go even higher on some dates throughout the summer of 2016. Then it seems that in September 2016 it appears that prices will go down considerably-that is of course, unless people keep willing to overpay to get them.
That's my two cents on why Hamilton tickets are commanding such high premiums these days. I hope you enjoyed this article on the fantastic new and original show called Hamilton. If you think you, your friends, family and business colleagues might like an honest opinion on how and when to obtain reasonably priced Hamilton ticket prices, my team and I at Applause-Tickets would love to hear from you. We love the Broadway Theater and will provide an excellent service you can rely on day in and day out. Applause-Tickets can be reached 24 hours daily, 365 days a year. We hope you'll call us when you're plans include Hamilton tickets or any of the other 30 plus Broadway Shows playing now in New York City.
Cheers and best wishes to the cast and creators of Hamilton and best wishes as they open additional productions throughout the world. You all deserve a huge "round of Applause" from the theatergoing public.
Sincerely
Rich Gladstone
President
Applause-Tickets.com
723 7th Avenue, suite 902
NY, NY 10019
NY State License #71AP1001029
*Phone 212-307-7050 or 800-451-9930
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