With Hamilton being sold out through 2017, there are hundreds of theatergoers willing to go to great lengths to get the hottest ticket in town and sadly, even more ticket scalpers ready to screw them over.
Hamilton Producer Jefferey Sellers reminded fans recently to be careful of how they obtain the must-have tickets.
“There are many people and sites that are selling wildly overpriced, and in some cases, fraudulent tickets. HamiltonBroadway.com is the safest way to get real tickets at regular prices. You can also visit our box office. Yes, you will have to ‘wait for it.’ But I promise. The wait will be worth it.”
Even creator Lin-Manuel Miranda cautioned patrons to not get “scammed on Craig and his so-called List.”
Apparently, special-ed teacher Danielle Posner didn’t get that memo.
Last spring, Posner paid $350 to a stranger for seats to Hamilton, but after checking the event codes with Ticketmaster, learned that the tickets weren’t real. Posner, a New Yorker who sees a show once a month, took her grievances to her local precinct, where the officer retorted “We have murders around here.”
She boldly responded, “Well, he murdered my dream of going to ‘Hamilton.'”
Ultimately, the NYPD enlisted 10 anti-crime unit officers to join Posner’s excessive operation. After Posner’s boyfriend responded to the same fraudulent ad, an officer posed as the potential buyer while the others waited for money to exchange hands. The undercover cop arrested the assailant once Posner (watching from the passenger side of a squad car) identified the man as the one who’d sold her the counterfeit tickets. Scalper Glenn Richardson was charged with four counts of possession of a forged instrument, petit larceny and misapplication of property.
Now understand, what’s common is fraudulent tickets on Craigslist. It’s an unfortunate issue that does require adequate attention. However, what’s uncommon? Working class access to immediate retribution on almost any issue, especially ones of this…caliber.
So let this be a tale of caution to those who may not have that color of access. If you have the patience, visiting HamiltonBroadway.com or Ticketmaster is the best way to guarantee real seats to the most talked about show of the year. If you have the budget, StubHub is a little more pricey, but also a reliable way to ensure you’ll make it into the theater. If you have neither, you can enter Hamilton’s digital lottery or take a chance on a progressively shady site like Craigslist. I recommend the former as some of us actually have to be culpable for our poor decisions.
