The Hamilton Effect

Over the last few weeks, my mom and I have been planning an upcoming trip to New York City. We are lucky to take these a few times a year, each trip an opportunity to binge-watch as many Broadway shows as possible. Normally we rely on rush and student discounts to get affordable tickets, but many shows are switching to digital lotteries, and I'm sadly no longer able to trick Tix4Students into thinking I'm still in college. We decided to go online to poke around and see what's available face value that we might be able to afford. During our search, we decided to take a look at Waitress tickets, currently starring Sara Bareilles, just for fun. The ticket prices were astronomical. We couldn't find anything for the weekend of our trip for under $150, and don't even get me started on the Ticketmaster resale prices! I mean, I just saw Waitress four months ago and only paid $60 for my ticket! My mom looked at me, jaw hanging open in shock, and said "I blame Hamilton for this," thus inspiring the whole point of this post.  

The Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned megahit Hamilton has been making waves in the theatre community and beyond since it opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in early 2015. It walked away from Tony season last year with 16 nominations and 11 wins, everyone and their mother has heard of it, and it seems everyone has at least tried to get tickets; of course it's sold out until next century. I very much credit Lin and Hamilton with the re-surgence of musical theatre in mainstream pop culture. You can see by the rise in popularity of network television live musicals, Hamilton references in movies and sitcoms, and musicals are becoming a genre once again respected, not ridiculed (i.e. La La Land's staggering success). As someone who has always wanted musical theatre to become more mainstream, this has been an amazing time. There is no denying or debating the positive impact Hamilton has had on the Broadway community and the world of musical theatre. 

However, with great success comes some negative implications. Since the show opened on Broadway, it's been no secret that tickets are difficult to obtain; more importantly, it's near impossible to snatch up tickets that cost less than $200 a piece. As the demand for tickets skyrocketed, so did the ticket price, and people are so desperate to see Hamilton that they'll spend as much as $1,200 or more on third party sites like StubHub to get into "the room where it happens." Now, some of you avid followers of mine (*waves to parents*) may remember I made a similar post last year on a similar subject. Since that post was published, however, it has become clear to me that this issue has spread beyond the Richard Rodgers Theatre and seeped into the ticket sales of other Broadway hits. 

For the last couple of years during the Tony Awards, a representative from The American Theatre Wing steps onstage and thanks viewers for their continued support of Broadway, because as stats roll in, Broadway ticket sales have been better than ever! Fantastic!!! However, is it fair to point out that the reason that ticket sales are so high as of late is in part because the average Broadway ticket price is gradually increasing? I've spent some time over the last few days perusing the weekly Broadway grosses, and there's a definite gradual increase in ticket price. For the week ending April 30th 2017, all Broadway shows collectively raked in a whopping $32,511,675 in sales. That's an almost $4 million increase from the same week last year. The difference? The average ticket price is $109.39, compared to last year's $96.70. Think about how that adds up between the 36 shows currently running on Broadway. 

I knew this was an issue far before my mother's comment the other day. Six years ago when I started to frequent the Big Apple, I could walk up to the TKTS booth in Times Square and get same-day orchestra seats for 50% off a big Broadway musical for somewhere around $60-$70. The last time I was in the city, I got 50% mezzanine Cats tickets, and the price was still close to $90 per ticket. IN THE MEZZANINE. FOR CATS. I'm sorry, that's not discounted. Additionally, as I mentioned above, rush lines are slowly becoming a thing of the past and are being replaced by digital lotteries. Instead of having to trek into the city to the theatre of choice for a chance at some cheap Broadway tickets, you can enter a lottery from the comfort of your own home, and only have to make the trek if you win. It is speculated that approximately 10,000 people enter the Hamilton lottery for each performance. Thousands upon thousands enter dozens of Broadway digital lotteries per day, making chances of actually winning that much more slim. The few rush lines that actually do still exist are driving their prices up as well. A couple of years ago, you could wait in line for a few hours in the morning and purchase $25 tickets to that evening's performance. These days, I've seen rush ticket prices as high as $50. It's a small increase, but at this rate soon Broadway will once again be too pricey for most of its current audience.

Many theatre companies still provide excellent programs that offer deeply discounted Broadway tickets (Roundabout Theatre Company's HipTix, Manhattan Theatre Club's 30 under 30 program, and Lincoln Center Theatre's LincTix for anyone aged 21-35), but allow me to provide one of this season's biggest hits as an example as to why I'm afraid for the future of Broadway sales. I'm talking about the highly anticipated and much-talked-about revival of Hello, Dolly! starring none other than Bette Midler.  The show is so popular, between the star-studded cast and immense amount of awards buzz, that I've already had to purchase my tickets to see it in January 2018. So far I haven't been able to find any opportunity for discounted tickets. The tickets for Dolly range in face-value price from $89 up to a staggering $229 - and that's before fees! And let me tell you: the $89 seats are in the rear balcony, where I know there are poles that obstruct your view. Trust me. I've sat in those seats. They're not worth $89. Rear mezzanine seats are going for $159. I've sat in those seats too, and you have to crouch in your seat in order to see just about anything. Those seats are not worth that price at all. Now, I'm pretty sure that $229 price is for the Premium seats, aka the best seats in the house (dead center orchestra), and unfortunately from my experience that seems like a pretty average price for Premium seating. 

To be perfectly honest, I don't understand the point of "Premium" seating. You can pay over $200 for a Premium seat, whereas I pay $40 for a rush ticket and get the seat right next to you. We get the exact same theatrical experience, and I walk out of the theatre with my bank account looking a lot happier. I don't get it. They should stop doing that. Okay moving on. 

The sad thing is, with regards to the ticket prices for Hello, Dolly!, is that the show is still selling out every night months in advance. They revive one of the most treasured musicals of the Broadway Golden Age, add one of the most fantastic divas to grace the Broadway stage, and you've got people buying tickets as fast as Telecharge will allow them. Hmmmm... sounds familiar, doesn't it? Where do you think the producers for Hello, Dolly! got such an idea? I think I have a hunch that very much has to do with the ten-dollar founding father. 

Hamilton makes roughly $2.5-3 million in sales with the average ticket price ranging between $250-$300 on any given week. The Richard Rodgers is not the largest Broadway theatre by any stretch, so they're compensating with higher ticket prices because they know patrons will pay exorbitant rates. It's simple supply and demand. Why wouldn't producers give that a shot in attempts to make more money? In the last 20 years, only 21% of Broadway shows have actually recouped their investments.  Broadway is a business. If a show succeeds, it makes money; and if it flops, it loses money. Why not increase the ticket prices if people are willing to pay? I'm no business major, but even from my laymen's perspective, that makes sense. 

From an avid audience member's perspective, however, that scares me. I fear we'll continue to lose opportunities for deep discounts, the discounts that allow people, specifically students and other young theatregoers, to see a Broadway show. I fear that monetary greed will make Broadway a business transaction, and not an outlet for accessible artistic expression. I fear that I have been taking my frequent ventures to NYC for granted, as I kind of assumed Broadway would always be there for affordable public consumption. Twenty-one years ago, RENT created the first rush program to make theatre accessible for those otherwise unable to afford it, and I can't help but notice the industry beginning to backpedal on that idea. I've only noticed this in the last couple of years - since Hamilton skyrocketed to stardom. 

In summary: Broadway won't continue to thrive long-term without an audience. Sure, you can increase ticket prices, but when a large percentage of the audience can't afford said prices, what happens then? Many of us can only pay face value for so long, before day-to-day life expenses take precedence over leisure. 

How can we make all parties - the producers and paying theatregoers - happy? Keep those Premium seats for those who are willing to pay the price. Keep rush lines in existence. Some shows do both a rush line and a digital lottery; I think that's the smartest move of all! Don't increase the prices of rear mezzanine, partial view, and box seats. Those are the sections people look to who cannot afford premium or orchestra, and with the trend of rising ticket prices, even those seating options are starting to expand beyond financial reach of many. There's a way to keep ticket sales up without pricing out the less financially stable demographic.