Industry News

Curtain up as blockbuster Hamilton kicks off in LA with $600 tickets

Hamilton, the Broadway blockbuster, has landed in Los Angeles with $600 tickets shifting at a fast pace.

The musical, which will be performed at the Hollywood Pantages, goes curtains up tomorrow (Friday) and runs through to December 30.

Tony Award-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical about the US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton has developed into a billion-dollar hit since it launched two years ago in an off-Broadway theatre.

Season ticket holders at the Hollywood Pantages received first choice for seat selection. American Express Cardmembers were then involved in a pre-sale with individual tickets costing between $85 and $750 during April, at the end of which, general sale opened up to the public.

According to the Deadline website, the first week of the show is a virtual sell out across all ticketing platforms including Pantages, the official Hamilton Ticketmaster site, as well as resellers like StubHub and VividSeats. Availability begins to improve until the November to December holiday rush.

SeatGeek’s resale price for a Hamilton ticket in LA is $510, which is comparable to the show’s ticket price in San Francisco of $513. Meanwhile, during August in LA the highest ticket cost $624.

During the musical’s time on Broadway, the Times Square premiums were reaching upwards of $1,000.

Chris Leyden, content analyst of SeatGeek, told Deadline: “The secondary market is very dynamic, tickets will sell where supply and demand meet. So as an event gets closer sellers will oftentimes lower prices because they would rather take something than nothing, as the ticket is worthless once the event passes.”

Hamilton will again be hosting a lottery for $10 tickets for each performance in LA, an initiative that started with viral video #Ham4Ham performances in New York.

The Pantages has said that for all performances, 40 orchestra seats will be sold for $10 each through the lottery. The national tour and the Pantages have yet to confirm details for how it will work in Los Angeles.

Image: Steve Jurvetson