Hamilton Cancellation Line

[Andy51]

aaaaaa15 said: "Andrew Chappelle and Seth Stewart alternate weeks playing Lafayette/Jefferson. I believe Seth played the role last week so you should have Andrew. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong). Anthony Ramos has no weekly scheduled days off and should only miss days for illness or vacation. I believe he just got back from being off for a few days so hopefully you will get him too.

I believe that in at least some of the weeks prior the this past one (when Oak was on vacation), Andrew and Seth alternated during the week - e.g., a couple of weeks ago, Seth was on Mon. - Wed. and Andrew was on Thurs-Sat.  But I don't know whether that reflects a typical pattern.  When I was looking into this for my performance, I saw that Andrew sometimes indicates his schedule for the week on Twitter.  So, I'd suggest you keep an eye out there.

 

[Robbyne]

Cfict said: "First I just want to say thank you so much for this forum and everyone who has contributed to it! 

I'm in NYC this week and planning to wait in the cancellation line, possibly on Wednesday as I haven't made any plans on that day so I'll be willing to wait for as long as it takes. At first i thought I'd get there early morning for the martinee but from what I can gather from this board - it seems to be much quicker to wait for the evening show as some are saying to go at 4:00-5:30? It's good to hear that the wait has got a lot shorter with time. Does the fact that there are two shows make it a better day to wait? And is it better to wait for matinee or evening show when it comes to the likelihood of getting tickets/a good place in the line?

Also this is sort of off topic but does anyone know if there are fixed days for the actors and understudies? I really want to see Andrew chappelle as Lafayette/Jefferson (I know he played mulligan/Madison all last week) and Anthony Ramos as Laurence/Philip. Does anyone know if/when they have days off?

Thank you! 

 

"

I have done the line 3 times lol. Two of them where back in June/July, where I slept outside the theatre for days (SO WORTH IT!!!) In the past, Wednesdays have always been the worst day for the line, and if you read through this thread, it has always been the day where drama occurred. 

I believe that had a lot to do with the live lottery/ham4ham. So many extra people around, who may not have bothered with joining the line otherwise. 

As you have probably read by now, you cannot wait outside the theatre during the performances. This is what makes 2 show days tricky. Many times when the line reforms for the evening show, there are issues with who was first, where the line is, etc. Since there's nothing official, it's a bit of a risk. 

 

This is will be the first Wednesday without the lottery, and I'm very curious to see how it affects the line. 

 


 

 

[Robbyne]

It wouldn't let me finish typing, so here's part 2 lol. 

If you decide to do evening, you are not allowed to line up til 5:30. However, people will try to form a line on their own earlier, and than think they can move to the official line in the same order. 

There are a lot of variables, so it's hard to say for sure.

If I were you, and ha she time to wait, I would go for matinee and go early. I think it's less risky and more of a guarantee of getting in. 

As far as reformable schedule, I agree with the previous posters. 

I hope this helps, and if you have any questions, feel free to pm me!

Good luck!!

[Jack363]

Does anyone know if 1 person can get 2 tickets through the cancellation line? I'm sorry to ask, I can't find this elsewhere... I'm hoping to line up on Friday!

Thank you so much!

[ecaracino]

Hi Jack363, yes one person my purchase up to 2 tickets per Hamilton's rules (see #3 in tweet link below). Good Luck!
https://twitter.com/HamiltonMusical/status/730819065594400768

Relevance81491, there's no need to be rude, this is supposed to be the place to ask anything related to the cancellation line!

***Edited as the link did not originally work

[Cfict]

Thank you to those who responded to my message - everyone was very helpful :) I'll wait for the matinee tickets tommorow and update my experience at some point!

(also Relevance81491 - who hurt you?? Jack363's question was very valid???)

[yanks02]

Okay so I have a question that's sort of been answered but I just want a clarification.  (I did the cancellation line in February before all the changes and am coming back to NYC at the end of Sept and want to try again)

So I'm flying in at like 7 AM on a Wednesday and think that'll be too late to really have a chance for matinee tickets by the time I make it to Times Square from JFK. So since I probably won't be there with a chance to get matinee, I was going to try for the night show. So my understanding is that after the matinee show starts, they disburse the line and then the night show cancellation line starts at 5:30. So do I need to just get there around 5 ish to line up right when the line starts after the matinee crowd leaves? Or is there an order of the line that gets written down before they make everyone leave the line and then when the line starts at 5:30, everyone goes back into their original places? If so, does the theatre keep that list or like random people in the line keep that list and it's sort of self policing? Do the people that were in line need to stick around the theatre until the line restarts or is that a good time to go and grab food and rest up in order to wait again at 5:30? 

Thanks for any help anyone can give me!

[vetrik]

Are there any more reports of what the line has been like for non-Wednesday weekday shows? It seems like a lot of people have been waiting on Wednesdays. I have a chance to go into the city tomorrow, and have to decide today if I'm going. I live about a 3 hour drive away, and I don't know if I can get there early enough to make it worthwhile to try the line. I'd have to take the day off from work, so I don't want to waste it if it's unlikely we'll get in!

[Huss417]

countabby said: "   I have been reading this thread for a while for tips and I wanted to thank everyone for their helpful information. I decided to wait on the Wednesday evening cancelation line on 8/31 for a single ticket. Here is my experience. BTW this was my first time seeing Hamilton.

 

 

 

• -5:34 we are offered 4 premium seats. People in the back of the line take them. I know most people have reported that the usher will send people home after 20th in line; Tonight, everyone was able to wait.
• -5:41 to about 6:00: The first several people are pulled inside to purchase lotto and cancelation tickets. I think it was about 4 people, each buying 2. Now there are about 7 people in front of me.
• -7:57. MY TURN! I rush inside and give them my credit card. I'm shaking like a leaf as I beg the usher to tell me where I'm sitting. Row G seat 101. Amazing view

 

"

@countabby

Reading your post I was curious about a couple of things. You mention people farther back in the line took the first premium tickets offered. When you got your ticket for Row G 101 was that for Orch or Mezz and how much was the ticket? 

Thanks. :)

[Susanbs]

I was in the area today (Wednesday) around 12:45pm and decided to check out the line, as this was the first Wednesday without Ham4Ham. The line was quite long - stretched almost to the stage door. But when I asked if this was the end of the Cancellation line, a bunch of people got off the line as they thought it was the ticket holder's line. So already I moved up a few feet. I couldn't count how many were on the line, but it was way more than 20, so I figured it was a long shot to get tickets, but since I only needed one, I decided to give it a shot. After 15 mins, the couple in front of me found seats on Stubhub for $350 each, so they played it safe and took them. Another couple directly in front of me left the line for no apparent reason even after the line started moving. The line started moving at 1:30 and at 1:40 I found myself number 5 in line! At 1:55 or so, I was offered a single ticket - row G seat 102!!!!!  The person behind me got a single standing room ticket. I am not sure, but I don't think anyone behind him got in.

The show was amazing and the seat was fabulous!!! I was very, very lucky today!

[Huss417]

@Susanbs

How much did you pay for the seat?

[Susanbs]

Huss417 said: "@Susanbs

How much did you pay for the seat?

 

$199

 

[Huss417]

Thanks for the info @Susanbs. It does mean then that the premium seat price of $549.00 did drop right before the show to the $199.00 that you paid. I have been trying to figure out if it has happened.

[yanks02]

Holy cow, Susan, what luck! I hope my luck is as good at the end of September!

[ww1987]

Hi everyone! I am visiting New York for a week in October and really hoping to see Hamilton.

Everyone has been so generous in sharing their tips and experiences, I was hoping to get some advice!

I will be staying near Times Square and have a full week to try to get tickets - any suggestions on what days of the week I would have the best chance of getting a single ticket and what times I should try and line up? I am flexible on matinee / evening. 

Thank you very much!!!

[HannahLMcCarthy]

Thought I would share my experience on here as well just to keep the thread as up to date as possible! I saw  the show last night (8th September 2016, 7pm) and would say that the cancellation line is definitely worth it!

I checked the theatre in the morning and no one was queuing up at that point so I went to explore the local area in the morning. I started queuing up at 1.45ish and was only 3rd in line. The queue was pretty quiet until around 3.30 when schools started to finish and people were leaving work and then it gradually picked up. By 4.30 there were probably 15 people in line abd by the time the show came around I think there were approximately 30 people in line. At 6.40 a girl who had won the lottery had an extra ticket for the front row and so the 1st woman in line took that (she had been there for so long so it was well deserved!). A family then came along with a single spare ticket for centre orchestra and I took it for $200 (reduced from about $475). The 2 people in front of me also got through at the same time and had seats on the front row for $200. When I was in, there were still a fair number of seats to fill so I reckon if you are 10th or before in line you are almost guaranteed to get in, 10-20th it's 50/50 and after that it's difficult to know. In terms of box office rates, it shouldn't be any more than $200 and those are for the best seats in the house. Sometimes they sell standing seats for $40. People will also come along with an extras tickets and try and sell it to you for the price they bought it at, If you are in a good position in the line, stay patient as you will get tickets for $200 or less.

Waiting in line is actually a great experience in itself, everyone was super friendly and I met some great people! Because of this if you did want to run off to quickly go to the bathroom or grab some food, the odds are people will let you as everyone is in the same boat.

 

An experience I will never forget and the cancellation line is definitely worth it now!!

 

Hope this helps future cancellation liners who are willing to 'wait for it'  :) 

[HannahLMcCarthy]

Just replied below,  Saw it yesterday, started queuing at 1.45 for a 7pm show and was 3rd in line!

[Andy51]

I was just looking at Ticketmaster for availability for today's matinee.  There were several seats being offered by the venue (as opposed to resale) in row B orchestra, left and right.  They were offered as premium seats for $549.  Am I missing something, or aren't these standardly non-premium seats (i.e. $199 seats); and shouldn't they have been offered first to those waiting in the cancellation line at the standard price?  (I noticed in the situation BroadwayConcierge asked about above, and individual in the cancellation line bought a row G ticket for $199 after the venue put it up close to showtime and tried getting $549 for it.  I'm pretty sure row G is also not standardly premium, and that the cancellation line person paid the original face value.

I'm not clear about what's happening here.  But, prima facie, it seems somewhat problematic to me.

[Huss417]

That was me trying to figure out the premium seats and the prices Andy51. B and G and most center and side aisles in those rows have always come up (at least for me) as premium for $549.00. The day I was discussing this here Row G was at $549.00 until I could no longer watch it on Ticketmaster  ( An hour before curtain). A couple of people have gotten row G right before curtain at the box office right  for $199.00. It seems they are holding out on the premium price till very close to curtain then drop to $199.99 at the last few minutes. 

[Andy51]

Huss, sorry about the misattribution.  The question that remains is whether those were originally premium seats, or whether the venue temporarily relabels them as such to spike the price.  I may be wrong, but I don't think row B on the sides are standardly premium seats.  If they are not, then changing their status to premium right before the show seems to me a form of misrepresentation, and the equivalent of the venue engaging in scalping.

When you say row B on the side aisles (though the seats I saw at premium went in 4 or 5 seats off the aisle) always come up as premium, do you mean just day of show or are you including what you've seen months in advance of a show?  Thanks.

[starcatchers]

Got here about five minutes before the matinee started and was only three people off of actually getting in. Came back around 4 for the evening show and was third in line. Two women who swear they were here before us have since been put in the front of the line, despite the fact that the girl at the front was here when I left around 2:15. 

[Castle2]

Andy51 said: "Huss, sorry about the misattribution.  The question that remains is whether those were originally premium seats, or whether the venue temporarily relabels them as such to spike the price.  I may be wrong, but I don't think row B on the sides are standardly premium seats.  If they are not, then changing their status to premium right before the show seems to me a form of misrepresentation, and the equivalent of the venue engaging in scalping.

When you say row B on the side aisles (though the seats I saw at premium went in 4 or 5 seats off the aisle) always come up as premium, do you mean just day of show or are you including what you've seen months in advance of a show?  Thanks."

I could be wrong, but I believe that when the premium price was raised to $549 they expanded the number of seats that are premium to include the side seats you mention.  Then when they raised the premium price to $849 (shows from 31 Jan 2017 on) they included even more seats in the premium category.

It'll be interesting to see what happens at that point.  I'm guessing that there will be a lot more unsold premiums, and they'll have to lower the prices before show time to avoid empty seats.  As it sounds like they're already doing for the odd seat or two.  

[aaaaaa15]

This was before the most recent price raise but when I bought tickets for June only the very outer 2/3 seats on the sides weren't premium.

[Andy51]

Thanks for the helpful replies.  I'm a bit surprised, as I don't personally consider row B on the sides particularly good seats for Hamilton (the last seats I had were a mid-range premium with a $277 face value, in row L right side a few seats in - those seemed preferable to me to row B, but maybe that's just me).

[starcatchers]

I arrived at 4pm for the evening show and was fifth in line. I believe I was one of/the last to get in as the show was starting. 

[Emma MK]

Huss417 said: "Thanks for the info @Susanbs. It does mean then that the premium seat price of $549.00 did drop right before the show to the $199.00 that you paid. I have been trying to figure out if it has happened."

 

G102 is not a premium seat but a house seat, which are sold to the cancellation line if no celebrities/friends/family of the cast take them, for $199. They are not $549 seats that have dropped in price. I sat in G103 last time i went.