How Much Will You Pay To See Hamilton?
In our culture it doesn’t phase us that a painting is worth millions of dollars, but we stop and are astonished that a ticket to a piece of theatre could be as much as a car payment. Why is that?
One of the many Water Lily paintings, by impressionist artist Monet, is valued at $35–40 million, and we don’t give that a second thought. I mean we do, but it’s less shocking. A close friend of mine reminded me why this phenomenon exists “Art is expensive because it’s one of a kind, the unique aspect only intensifies its beauty because there is not another one like it.”
So then why do we not give theatre the same accreditation, the same weight visual art is given? Some people do not believe theatre to be art, to which I say: I respectfully disagree with you. But I could also come around and say that ‘piece’ you have hanging on your wall looks like my dog got loose in the fridge and smeared ketchup all over our white table cloth. I am, fortunately, able to see the other point of view regarding theatre, because not all plays or musicals are for artistic value. A lot of Broadway is very commercialized, because it’s called show business, not show artistic expression and exploration.
The new Broadway musical “Hamilton” music, book, and lyrics written by Lin Manuel-Miranda is commercially successful (and we’ll get to that) but in my opinion: art. The theatrical experience surrounds Alexander Hamilton (Lin Manuel Miranda) and features other founding fathers, detailing their journey of creating the United States of America. Premiering Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre on January 20th, 2015, the production was an instant hit. Transferring to Broadway, it officially opened on August 6th, 2015 with a New York Times review stating “Yes, it really is that good.”
I had my suspicions about this revolutionary musical, but all doubts were defeated once I listened to the immaculate cast recording. With A Two Disc Album and an Amazon.com review stating “Warning: It’s Awesome” it became the highest-charted cast album since 1963. The music and orchestral arrangements are stunning, lyrics emotionally charged, and vocal talents mystifying.
After the Hamilton hype’ exploded all over the internet tickets were almost ‘impossible’ to purchase. The official website’s ticket page just offered an email distribution sign up to alert prospective patrons when they’d be able to purchase the Willy Wonka like ‘golden ticket.’ Scalpers and second party ticket sales were pawning these tickets for ludicrous prices. It got so insane that articles were written specifically written giving instructions on how to purchase Hamilton tickets:“What you should know about buying ‘Hamilton tickets.”
Playbill.com just released an article about how Hamilton is still the most desired show on Broadway, even after the famed Manuel-Miranda has left the production to pursue future artistic projects. The show pulled in a total of $2,062,862 last week (of August 7th, 2016), so I’d say it’s doing very well... For the writer and star’s final performance as the titular role, re-sold tickets rose up to $9,998 each.
Tickets reached an average high of $1,634, far higher than the top face value ticket of $179 for a regular seat and $549 premium seat during early June 2016. The current box office is largely sold out, at any price until May 2017, all tickets are now being sold through other vendors.
But my question for you is:
How much would you pay for a Hamilton ticket? Can we use the same argument that “art is one of a kind” to justify spending gobs of money on a close to three hour theatrical experience. We will not be able to hang all of the performers, costumes, set design, music, story, etc on our wall and brag about how we snagged this one at an auction for years to come. But the memories and intellectual stimulation will be very personal to you.
