‘Hamilton’ takes steps to limit the resale of its tickets
NEW YORK — In an effort to limit profiteering, the hit musical “Hamilton” took two steps this week intended to make reselling tickets more difficult.
The producers have long sought to limit reselling by capping the number of tickets that could be purchased per person. This week, Ticketmaster canceled purchases that exceeded those limits; on Wednesday night, the show’s producers abruptly released those tickets for sale. This was announced via Twitter, and the tickets (neither “Hamilton” nor Ticketmaster would reveal the number) were quickly snapped up by new buyers. The Twitter post from “Hamilton” promoting the sale has since been deleted.
“When people exceeded the limits, we refunded them, and we pooled all the refunds and put them on sale,” said the show’s lead producer, Jeffrey Seller.
The producers also announced via Twitter new rules for people waiting in line, often round-the-clock, outside the Richard Rodgers Theater, hoping to buy the few tickets released by the box office just before each show. Tents and chairs are now prohibited, and last-minute buyers must go directly from the box office into the theater. The hope is to reduce the role of line-sitters paid to camp overnight.
We have updated the #Hamilton cancellation line policies. If you’re joining the line, please take note. pic.twitter.com/MSs7cr9qdN
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) May 12, 2016
“There are brokers who hire people to stand in line for them — they set up tents, they sit in chairs with sleeping bags — and we don’t want a tent city that encourages brokers to resell,” Seller said. He noted that only a handful of tickets become available last-minute for any performance, and said: “We want to ensure that if anyone has perseverance, they are a beneficiary of the line. But this camping out has to stop, because it had crossed over into public nuisance.”
A visit to the theater Friday morning found about 10 people lined up hoping to buy tickets to the 8 p.m. performance; some had been there for 19 hours, with another eight hours to go until showtime. There were no sleeping bags or tents in sight — several people said they had slept on bathroom towels or blankets — but a few people sat in folding chairs, despite the new rules. (The tickets released at the last minute, often loosely described as “cancellations” and sold at full price, are separate from the $10 tickets that are released for each performance via digital or in-person lottery.)
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