Ticketmaster’s presale of Hamilton tickets has been praised by West End theatregoers.
Thousands attempted to reserve seats to see the Broadway smash when the presale began yesterday (Monday).
The presale was open to 100,000 people that registered interest between June and October 2016. Tickets for the musical, which will open in London towards the end of the year, go on general sale on January 30.
According to The Stage, most ticket buyers praised the purchasing system, claiming the process was more efficient than for other in-demand shows such as Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
One purchaser took to social media to say their tickets had been secured at 12.01 – just a minute after the sale began. “Thankyou @Ticketmaster for the efficiency,” they tweeted.
Another said: “GET IN. That was relatively stress-free compared to Cumberhamlet online wait of 4 hours.”
However, there are reports that scalpers have been able to overcome the attempts by Ticketmaster and the show’s producers to combat the reselling and profiteering that has dogged the show in the US.
The Guardian newspaper reported that less than two hours after tickets went on sale, seats were available on secondary site Viagogo for up to £2,500 each. That was despite warnings from Ticketmaster that resold tickets will be voided, while a paperless scheme is also expected to minimise the prevalence of scalping.
Ticketmaster said: “All tickets offered for resale on any other ticketing or resale website will be immediately voided and will not be admitted into the theatre. No exceptions.
“Any transaction that is detected to be an automated bot purchase or any action that appears to indicate an attempt to purchase more than the overall ticket limit will be voided.”
Security consultant and ticketing expert Reg Walker, of Iridium Consultancy, told the Guardian: “It’s great to see the people behind Hamilton trying to stop touting but it’s unlikely to be 100 per cent effective.
“It’s viable for a tout to buy four tickets, sell three of them, then go with you to the box office to pick them up using his credit card. He can then walk the ticket purchasers in and walk out again, or even watch the show himself.”
Share this