Getting Tickets for Hamilton

November 1, 2016 10:09 AM

My SO has been obsessed with the soundtrack for a while, so I'm thinking of getting some tickets for his xmas gift. I know next to nothing about Broadway and acquiring tickets for shows.

I'm fine spending 2-300-ish per ticket but probably not much more. Do I just need to click on all the dates on the site to see what's available? How does resale work and should I go that route? We don't live near NYC so would need to have tickets bought before going. Anything else I'm missing? Is it even worth a shot with my budget?

posted by monologish to Media & Arts (19 answers total)

You will not be able to get NYC tickets at that price.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 10:19 AM on November 1, 2016 [12 favorites]

Look into whether Hamilton is coming to your area on tour within the next year or so. It'll be in Los Angeles sometime in 2017, if memory serves. It probably won't reach the deepest heart of rural America for a few years yet, but if it's easier for you to get to a city where it will be touring next year, that might be more workable.

That said, if you do this, SUBSCRIBE TO THE THEATER NOW. Here in Los Angeles you can't get tickets if you're not a suscriber to the Pantages Theater for the 2017 season.

If you do opt to go to NYC, you'll have to buy tickets way in advance regardless, because Hamilton is not the kind of show you can just opt to check out on the day. Just to give you a hint about the timeframe you're looking at, tickets for June 2017 are already sold out and only available via resale in the $500 range, at least for the random Wednesday matinee I looked at. If you want to plan a vacation around this, you're probably looking at later in the year for 2017 or even into 2018. At which point the touring company might be more accessible than it is for the 2017 season.
posted by Sara C. at 10:19 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

You will not be able to get NYC tickets at that price.

This isn't true at all. If you're willing to do cancellation line, or SRO, or wait around until the last minute for the performance you want to see, you can definitely get tickets for this price.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:22 AM on November 1, 2016 [4 favorites]

That said, if you do this, SUBSCRIBE TO THE THEATER NOW. Here in Los Angeles you can't get tickets if you're not a suscriber to the Pantages Theater for the 2017 season.

That's not true... you just can't get tickets now (i.e. a year in advance).
posted by acidic at 10:27 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

Standing Room Only isn't a great plan for folks who would be traveling to New York for the express purpose of seeing Hamilton, and who have said they would like to buy tickets in advance.
posted by Sara C. at 10:30 AM on November 1, 2016 [12 favorites]

The Hamilton production in NYC occassionally releases new blocks of tickets to future shows that previously looked sold out.

I know this because after failing, in January, to get tickets for December (missed an Amex Pre-sale* that my buddies got in on) I signed up for the Hamilton Broadway mailing list. In June, I got an email that they had released a bunch of blocks, and one of them happened to be on a Thursday evening in October when I was planning to be in NYS anyways. I was tempted to put the tickets on the resale market (they might have fetched me a profit large enough to cover the rest of the trip) but I'm so glad I went -- it was great.

Anyways, sign up for the mailing lists for tickets for any current productions in places that you are willing to travel to. Be willing to plan a trip around when/whereever you manage to get the face value tickets.

*I don't know which Amex mailing list they are on that I am not that got them this notification, but that might be something worth looking into as well. Amex always seems to have ticket access deals of some sort for card holders, I don't know if other banks/CC providers do the same.
posted by sparklemotion at 10:31 AM on November 1, 2016 [5 favorites]

If you (or a friend) has an American Express card with the concierge feature, give them a call. They've reliably had their own pool of tickets at face value.
posted by AaRdVarK at 10:32 AM on November 1, 2016 [3 favorites]

Standing Room Only isn't a great plan for folks who would be traveling to New York for the express purpose of seeing Hamilton, and who have said they would like to buy tickets in advance.

Yeah, speaking as someone who lives here in New York and who has often tried and failed to get cancellation line tickets to hot shows in the past, this is an extremely risky option. Chances are very good that you will not get tickets through this method -- especially for weekend performances. Hamilton is also not available at TKTS. There are digital and live lottery options for Wednesday matinee performances but they are also not guaranteed.

The show is incredibly popular and last-minute tickets are in very high demand. Buying show tickets in advance is your best option -- especially if you are only traveling to NYC to see the show.
posted by zarq at 10:44 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

I got tickets for my boyfriend for his graduation, just as Hamilton was about to get really popular, and I still had to pay a mind-numbing price on Stubhub for our seats. I kept a really close eye on tickets, and checked often for different showtime options, and generally prices were going up, but perhaps you could find something at the high end of reasonable if you set price alerts at your max budget for every show that is an option for you to see.
posted by DoubleLune at 10:58 AM on November 1, 2016

If you (or a friend) has an American Express card with the concierge feature, give them a call. They've reliably had their own pool of tickets at face value.
posted by AaRdVarK

Came here to post this. Might not be true for Hamilton specifically, but in general credit card concierges can have pretty nifty benefits that people often don't know about.
posted by NoRelationToLea at 11:12 AM on November 1, 2016

I paid $300 for not-so-great seats this time last year and the play is about a thousand times more high-profile now than it was then. I agree that that price is completely impossible right now, unless you are willing to risk not seeing it at all.
posted by armadillo1224 at 11:20 AM on November 1, 2016

You will not be able to get NYC tickets at that price.

We got NYC tickets at that price ($318 per ticket with fees) because we ordered the day a new block of tickets was released. It took several hours to do it, but with patience it was a drama free transaction. We were able to be very flexible on the date, and we ended up with a weekday matinee.

Here's the official site ticket link. Click the "standard" link and a box will pop up offering to email you when new tickets are released.
posted by anastasiav at 11:23 AM on November 1, 2016 [7 favorites]

You might be able to get tickets at that price, but it all depends on the time you're willing to risk/invest. Back when my obsession with Hamilton first started and the OBC was still there, I used to follow this thread religiously and became pretty familiar with the ins & outs of the Hamilton cancellation line: Hamilton cancellation thread on broadwayworld The last report from someone who waited in line stated that the first person got there at 2AM. If you're willing to brave the cold/stay in line for a large part of the day, you could probably score one (but it's not a guarantee and you'll be wasting a day, though many people are so obsessed that it's worth it to them). I believe the tickets would be sold to you at face value --$199. They could also offer SRO for $40, not ideal, but much cheaper and still an experience, by all reports. Back right before Lin left some people were waiting for 60 (!!!) hours, but now I believe it has come down to a relatively reasonable same day (VERY EARLY MORNING) wait, though the documentary release has stirred up more interest.

If the cancellation line is not something you feel like doing, you can keep an eye on Stubhub and sometimes there are dramatic price drops right before a show. I don't know recently if they've dropped as low as 2-300, but it might be worth keeping your eye on. If you manage to get some you can either print them out at the fedex in the Marriot next door to the RR theatre, or get them printed at the Stubhub offices about 10 min away.

You can also try entering the digital lottery every day but of course that's a same-day risk. I'm not sure if the live lottery on Wednesdays is even run any more.

So there are those three methods of getting tickets at your range, but no guarantees. Beyond that I doubt you'll be able to find tickets for that price, if you're hoping to go anytime soon.
posted by sprezzy at 11:40 AM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

It should also be noted that the lowest face value price for tickets is $179 and $199. So, even best case face value, $200 (with fees) is probably the absolute least you could possibly pay.
posted by anastasiav at 11:49 AM on November 1, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'd get on the mailing lists for whatever large theatre is in whatever large city you're willing to travel to. The touring version will be in Houston at the Hobby Center for the 2017-2018 season, which I expect means there's a good chance it'll be in Dallas as well.
posted by telophase at 12:26 PM on November 1, 2016

Best answer: You can subscribe to the Broadway in Chicago mailing list, and you'll (probably) get an email when the next block of tickets go on sale. If you try to get tickets as soon as they release the next block, and if (that's a big if) you can get through on the website, app, or phone, you'll be able to get OK - not great, but OK - seats in your price range. Have copies of the theater seating plan showing seat numbers, and this one showing the bad seats, so you're ready to jump on whatever is offered, but don't end up sitting behind a post.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:15 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

I just checked the Ticketmaster site, and Comrade_robot's right - there are plenty of tickets for Chicago available at face value for next April through June. Non-premium seats are slightly over $200 with all the service charges.

Yes, you will have to click on each date to see what's available; Ticketmaster is really annoying that way. Wednesday matinees will probably have the best choice of seats.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:23 PM on November 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you don't want to wait in the Hamilton cancellation line, you can pay people to sit in line for you. Not sure how much it'll run you though...
posted by AppleTurnover at 7:44 PM on November 1, 2016

Response by poster: Just got tix for Chicago in April. Thanks everyone!
posted by monologish at 8:52 AM on November 7, 2016 [4 favorites]