Hamilton in London

[Englishsteve]

I know this is the Broadway board and not the west end board but noticed that Hamilton announced their ticket details prior to the presale beginning on Monday today, the most obvious restriction is the paperless tickets with the producers saying this;

We expect demand for HAMILTON tickets to be exceptionally high.

Ticket touts and unauthorised resellers will also be anticipating this demand and will attempt to use multiple payment cards, false identities and sophisticated computer programmes (?bots) to harvest vast amounts of tickets which they will then offer for resale at highly-inflated prices.

The producers of HAMILTON are determined to combat this unauthorised profiteering by third party resellers and ticket touts and to protect patrons from having to pay highly-inflated prices. Therefore, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres will be operating a new paperless ticketing system, HAMILTON Paperless Ticketing, powered by Ticketmaster.

No traditional tickets will be issued in advance. The payment card you use to originally purchase your tickets will gain you admission to the theatre on the night. 

When patrons book, they will receive a simple email confirmation as proof of purchase. This is not a ticket. Upon arrival at the theatre, patrons will be required to present their original email confirmation, their original payment card and a Government-issued photo ID such as a driving license or passport as proof of ID. The cardholder must be present and attend the performance.

The theatre will then swipe the patron’s card to produce seat location slips which gain them and their party admittance into the auditorium. All members of the party should enter the theatre at the same time.

seems fair enough and a good way to stop the touts, but got me thinking why didn't the American productions do this when so much money is being made?

Can you see this happening in the future, for instance with cursed child tickets? Or is scalping and the resale market just so much more of an accepted thing there?

[TheGingerBreadMan]

This sounds like it will be helpful in preventing the scalpels, but what about tickets which are bought as gifts for other people? The cardholder often does not attend the show with the recipient of the gift. Will there be accommodations set for situations like this?

[loveinnewyorkcity]

I've been to a few paperless ticketed concerts. I have mixed feelings on it, mainly because it takes longer to enter the venue. They swipe your credit card then check your ID with the card (sometimes). After that a small paper slip prints out with your seat location. The process all in all takes 20-30 seconds but it slows down the line immensely. I always arrived earlier to any paperless ticket events. 

I do think it helps with keeping tickets off the secondary market but I still saw some for resale on StubHub and other outlets. Not sure how they handle it once they resell it.

I'd like to see something like this emerge on Broadway but they'd have to be more effiecent on line control and management since it already takes longer to get inside the theater with amped up security.

[jjcasual]

TheGingerBreadMan said: "This sounds like it will be helpful in preventing the scalpels, but what about tickets which are bought as gifts for other people? The cardholder often does not attend the show with the recipient of the gift. Will there be accommodations set for situations like this?"

From the official website's FAQ:

"Can I give tickets as a gift or give a letter of authorisation for someone else to attend?

Unfortunately not. Hamilton Paperless Ticketing, powered by Ticketmaster is an admission system designed to limit the transferability of tickets in order to prevent touting and the unauthorised reselling of tickets at inflated prices. If we allowed people to transfer tickets, it would create a flaw in the reason why the system was adopted."

[Feminenemy]

Speaking of - if anyone got a priority sale code and will not be using it, will you please let me know? My friends and I total 7  but the ticket limit per code is 4 and only one of us signed up for the priority list.  I know it's a shot in the dark, but we're praying for a miracle. Thanks in advance

[Madz]

Feminenemy said: "Speaking of - if anyone got a priority sale code and will not be using it, will you please let me know? My friends and I total 7  but the ticket limit per code is 4 and only one of us signed up for the priority list.  I know it's a shot in the dark, but we're praying for a miracle. Thanks in advance

I can't PM you for some reason, but if you're still looking for a priority sale code i've got one you can use. Let me know!! :) 

"

 

[Englishsteve]

Did you get sorted?

thought it was surprisingly painless today, ticket master did a good job, we got second night premium tickets, great seats on the aisle in the centre orch for £127 ($153) each, which while expensive aren't even in the same ballpark as the broadway prices 

[Kitzka]

Good luck to everyone. I forgot to sign up for the priority pre-sale and am trying to decide if I should try for the regular presale. It would be a nice way to spend Christmas 2017....

 

 

[kec]

It was pretty easy once I got into the page.  I noticed some people had managed to get tickets before the noon start (London time) so I was a bit worried, but once I got in, and chose my date (May 201, I got a decent seat in the stalls.  

 

[aaaaaa15]

I actually found it really difficult, more so than Broadway. Couldn't get the date or seats I wanted but got row H for January for £89 (around $105) so can't complain.

[VirginiaK]

There was a category that came before the priority codes that went into effect today, that's probably why some seats were gone. Maybe members or donors of something or something like that.

 

[Emma MK]

I found it really simple and easy to use! Managed to get a seat for December and then went back in and got another for May. Am sat in the grand circle but could only afford cheap seats anyway so I'm just glad I'm going :)

 

on a side note, I didn't think I would get any tickets as I'm currently on holiday in NYC and my hostel wifi was blocking the ticket page to begin with as it said it contained Norwegian and Portuguese porn XD

[Scripps2]

The notification limited me to four tickets.

But I bought eight.

And with skillz like that I await the call from the Brexit negotiation team. ;-P

[Call_me_jorge]

With the casting of JMI, it has me wondering who Lin has in mind for the London production. I wonder how Trevor likes it over there... https://youtu.be/thuCyj6syNQ

[dramamama611]

Scripps2 said: "The notification limited me to four tickets.

But I bought eight.

And with skillz like that I await the call from the Brexit negotiation team. ;-P

 

"

You can exceed the official limit here, too....but then they cancel your tickets. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Invited dress happened tonight in the West End! Can't believe the fourth full production of Hamilton starts previews in just two days!  

[steven22]

I’ll be at the first preview tomorrow night and will report back!

[LizzieCurry]

Mark Shenton, who is lovely but apparently doesn't know how to thread tweets, is sharing production photos:

https://twitter.com/ShentonStage/status/938464102644580352 (Rachel Ann Go as Eliza and Jamael Westman as Hamilton)

https://twitter.com/ShentonStage/status/938463542566703104 (Jamael Westman)

https://twitter.com/ShentonStage/status/938464605529047041 (Jason Pennycooke as Jefferson)

https://twitter.com/ShentonStage/status/938464981531742208 (Giles Terera as Aaron Burr)

https://twitter.com/ShentonStage/status/938465314693701632 (Michael Jibson as King George III)

[BroadwayConcierge]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Non-Stop-HAMILTON-Brings-the-Revolution-to-London-20171206

[LizzieCurry]

Clickable!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-Non-Stop-HAMILTON-Brings-the-Revolution-to-London-20171206

[BroadwayConcierge]

Dying to hear first preview thoughts!

[JBC3]

BroadwayConcierge said: "Dying to hear first preview thoughts!"

Well here they are.

http://theatreboard.co.uk/thread/99/hamilton?page=273

[dramamama611]

London seems to love Hamilton, too!

[Call_me_jorge]

I know it’s not gonna happen, but I really want them to record an album with the West End cast...

[rjm516]

I really hope they're aren't a lot of lyric changes - so unnecessary!