By Jennifer R Jones | Posted on August 30, 2016 3:05 PM
Hamilton, The Number One Show On Broadway, Has Ended Its In-Person Ticket Lottery And Free Ham4Ham Performances Outside The Theatre.
The Hamilton In-Person Ticket Lottery And On-Street Performances End
As revealed through a number of confusingly worded tweets, it appears that Hamilton on Broadway, the number one show on Broadway, has ended its in-person ticket lottery and the popular free Ham4Ham performances outside the theatre.
This in-person lottery has been a lightning rod for criticism for the negative way the show has handled some of its paying audience.
Ham4Ham Performances Also End
August 31, 2016 also marks the last day of the Ham4Ham performances, which have served as a consolation prize for some fans who did not win the massively oversubscribed in-person lottery on 47th Street, directly outside the show.
The reasons for the termination of the in-person lottery and Ham4Ham performances were not clear, but it is understood that the number of people would have dwindled with the upcoming return of students going back to school.
Daily Lines For Standing Room Only Tickets
As the number of spectators outside the theatre would be expected to decrease, the cancellation of these initiatives will take the attention off the show's already failing momentum; the show wanted to protect its brand.
What will continue at the show are the lines for the daily standing room only (SRO) tickets and the cancellation line tickets, for which there is a constant line of people outside the theatre, even if those lines are now much shorter since the original cast has left the show.
The Online Ticket Lottery Continues To Get 250,000 Entrants Per Day
The online ticket lottery also continues with up to 250,000 people per day entering the lottery for a paltry 21 tickets (set to increase to 46 tickets as of January 31, 2017). Hamilton has not quite yet jumped the shark, but it's getting close. With no original stars and a lack of momentum behind the show, it may have turned a corner from which it may not recover.
It is still, however, the number one show on Broadway, but its numbers have recently been faltering, indicating that the general public is now getting tired of the outlandish prices, whereas tickets for the final show with big stars were sold for as much as $24,000.
Chicago And London Shows Open Soon
Prices have come down since then, with some shows selling tickets for just $200 on the secondary ticket market. The show is asking $800 face value for premium seats, and they are having a much harder time moving them than before. The Chicago and London shows will also open soon and are expected to dilute the Broadway momentum still further, while delivering solid returns for the overall bottom line.
Playbill also reports this show change, but, as always, beats an up-tempo Hamilton drum that does not reflect the true gravity of the change. Hamilton can be seen at the Richard Rodgers Theatre at 226 West 46th Street, CLICK HERE for tickets. The Chicago production of Hamilton opens on September 27, 2016, and the London show is set to open in October 2017.
