How to Get Hamilton Tickets on Broadway

Wondering how to score Hamilton tickets in NYC? They definitely are hard to get – but it is possible. Yesterday my family and I went to see Hamilton on the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway in New York City. This is how to get tickets.

The show was fabulous!

It is undoubtedly the hottest ticket on Broadway.

So, it is no surprise that the question I get over and over again is … “How did you get tickets?”

Followed by … “How much did you pay?”

If you too are wondering how to get tickets to Hamilton – then read on.

I will tell you all that I know.

Why It Is So Hard to Get Tickets to Hamilton

When a show is as popular as the Hamilton musical, everybody wants a little piece of the action.

I don’t know all the technical ins and outs – but apparently it is legal to resell tickets above face value in New York.

So, professional resellers buy big blocks of tickets using bots that get around the captchas (which is illegal) and then jack up the prices.

This article explains the process in more detail and talks of tickets being sold for over $3000 per seat.

Crazy!

I really don’t know why this practice is allowed. But I think the average person will find face value to be high enough.

How to Get Hamilton Tickets at Face Value

Luckily, I was able to get my Hamilton tickets at face value.

Our seats were in the nosebleed section – last row balcony. But I was just happy to be IN the theater.

Who would have thought that it would be so hard to get tickets to a musical that is about the life of Alexander Hamilton.

If you told me that back in middle school when I was in social studies class, I would have thought you were nuts. 😉 Kids these days are so lucky to have history come to life.

Anyhow …

This is how I got Hamilton tickets:

Sign Up for Notifications

I put the process into motion by signing up for news and updates on the Hamilton official website here.

Actually, I kind of forgot I even did that.

Then one day, I was sitting at my computer working on this little blog and I got a notification on my Mac that I had a new email from the folks at Hamilton (I no longer have that email – so I don’t remember if it came from the theater, the official website, or from Ticketmaster).

Of course, I clicked right through.

The email said that a new block of tickets had just been released.

So, I dropped everything and started clicking like mad through to the Ticketmaster website.

Unfortunately, every date I tried was already sold out at standard face value pricing (remember, I had just gotten the email a few minutes prior). There were premium and resell seats available – but I did not want to pay that much.

I was all but ready to give up when somehow, Ticketmaster popped up with a message saying something like … the dates you asked for are not available but we have this date instead …

Done.

I quickly completed the purchase.

And suddenly, I had tickets to Hamilton. Woohoo!

Just take note that the date I of our show was 10 MONTHS in the future. So, I had a long wait ahead of me.

Things To Keep In Mind

Here are a few tips that might help you out if you sign up for updates:

• Make sure you are set up to get alerts when you receive new email
• Be quick – when the email comes through be ready to drop everything and start shopping for tickets
• You need to be flexible with dates – most likely you won’t get your first choice
• Make sure you are searching for standard face value tickets and not premium or resell tickets.
• The new block of tickets will be far in the future – I bought my tickets 10 MONTHS before showtime. It did give me plenty of time to plan, though.
• Ticketmaster is clunky – I found navigating my around the Ticketmaster site to be very infuriating. There were captchas and photos to id and I don’t know what else. Changing dates was also difficult. I can’t walk you through the process because I think the site keeps changing the process of buying tickets but it helps if you are comfortable with technology.

The Hamilton Lottery

Another way to get cheap Hamilton tickets is to participate in the same day lottery.

Hamilton offers $10 tickets via lottery every day.

You enter the lottery on the same day as the performance that you want to attend. If you win, they will notify you via email when the Hamilton ticket lottery closes and you have an hour to claim your seats.

The upside is that you have a chance at scoring Hamilton tickets.

The downside is that you can only get up to two tickets and you cannot choose your seats. You also should be able to get to the theater within a few hours of finding out that you have tickets.

This is best for

• people who live in or around New York City or
• people who are already there on vacation and have some time to kill.

The Cancellation Line

As a last resort, you can stand in the cancellation line at the box office at showtime and try your luck there.

A Few Notes About the Richard Rodgers Theatre

We arrived at the theater about forty minutes before showtime and there were huge lines stretching in both directions.

The lines were for people that already had tickets!

It is a good idea to get there early, especially if you want to use the ladies room or buy a drink or snack.

A Word on the Ladies Room

Ladies – you know exactly why I am mentioning this.

The line for the ladies room at the start of the show was ridiculous – just like it is practically everywhere.

There were a good number of facilities and the line did move quickly. But still – leave yourself time.

Note that the only Ladies room is located on the main floor (actually it is down a short flight of steps – so if you have trouble with stairs you will need to look into that).

If your seats are in the balcony like ours were, you probably should stop in and use the facilities before heading up.

Are the Balcony Seats Good Seats?

Like I mentioned we sat in the last row of the rear mezzanine – translate: top row balcony in the entire theater.

We had a good view of the stage – but the actors felt so far away.

Given the hip hop style music, I would have liked to be a little closer so that I could see the actors lips as they sang.

Some of the words were lost on me, and while I don’t read lips, I think being able to see their faces a little closer would have filled in a few blanks.

Tall People Take Note

Another thing to note is that there is very little legroom in any seats throughout the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

It is definitely a tight fit and your legs will be cramped.

At least there is an intermission to stand and stretch.

Have You Seen Hamilton on Broadway?

Good luck in your quest for Hamilton tickets.

Do let me know if you have seen the show and how you scored your tickets!

Things to Do In New York City

You may think I go to New York City quite often since I was there last week for Blogger Bash.

However, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The last time I visited NYC (before Blogger Bash), I went to Central Park with some out of town relations – so it has been a long time.

But every time I head in, I am reminded of how much I love exploring the city. I think I will need to make it a point to visit more often.

If you are new to NYC you may consider booking a tour with Central Park Sightseeing so you don’t miss any of the highlights.