Fans of hit hip-hop musical Hamilton are being warned of potentially illegal ticket resales as seats are being offered for up to £6,000.
The Pulitzer prize-winning show telling the story of one of America’s founding fathers has arrived in London’s West End, but customers have been told they could be turned away if they have bought illegally sold tickets.
In order to stop touts selling with huge mark-ups, production company Delfont Mackintosh banned resales for the show.
Tickets for Hamilton have surfaced on secondary selling sites despite production company Delfont Mackintosh enforcing a ban on resales
But Viagogo was spotted advertising dozens this weekend just days before opening night at the Victoria Palace theatre, according to The Observer.
When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s production about Alexander Hamilton hit Broadway last year, critics advised taking out a mortgage if it meant securing a seat.
Once described by Michelle Obama as ‘the best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life’, it sold out almost instantly when tickets went on sale in January this year
Aside from a daily lottery for £10 seats, this left none officially obtainable until June 2018.
Then tickets surfaced on the Viagogo site, increasing in number as well as price as Hamilton’s London debut drew near.
One ticket for December 23 – the last show before Christmas – was advertised for £4,400, which rose to £5,905 when VAT was included and had an additional £1,500 booking fee.
Lin-Manuel Miranda fears that popularity for his show will mean anger over tickets dogs him as it did when the production was on Broadway
Lin-Manuel Miranda believes West End success will bring the same frenzied appetite for seats that hounded him in America.
‘People [were] tweeting me, “I can’t believe I paid $2,000,”‘ he said. ‘I didn’t charge you $2,000! I don’t know why you paid that.’
Viagogo has been accused of ignoring Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) instructions after the watchdog has been investigating ‘secondary’ ticketing since 2016.
The CMA raided Viagogo and rival StubHub’s offices during its investigation, warning last month it had ‘gathered evidence which it considers reveal breaches of the law’ by ticket sites.
Strict instructions to Viagogo and other firms state that tickets should include terms and conditions that might result in the buyer being denied entry.
But a mock purchase made by the Observer carried no information of the sort, despite a clear warning on the official Hamilton ticket website, which is run by Ticketmaster.
The site warns buyers: ‘Reselling of any Hamilton ticket is strictly forbidden,’ adding that anyone found to have bought seats through a secondary ticketing site will be ‘refused admission’.
Viagogo, in a statement on its website, says: ‘These types of entry restrictions are highly unfair and in our view, unenforceable and illegal.’
Iridium Consultancy security and ticketing expert Reg Walker says theatre staff will be acting as lookouts for people picking up tickets from touts.
‘Hamilton have done an amazing job in disrupting the touting of tickets for their shows,’ he said.
‘Some touts have listed tickets on Viagogo, and any purchasers will have to meet them at the theatre in order to be walked in.
‘I believe theatre staff have been trained to spot this, and it is likely that test purchases will further disrupt this activity.’
Tickets surfaced on Viagogo ahead of the show’s London debut at the Victoria Palace theatre
On some performance nights sting operations may involve undercover agents posing as buyers to catch out touts.
The CMA promised to look into ‘pressure selling’ when it revealed earlier this year that it had widened the scope of its investigation.
The watchdog told resale firms they must clarify who is selling the ticket advertised, but Viagogo listings carry no such information.
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres says it is ‘working to combat the unauthorised profiteering of third party resellers and ticket touts’, claiming its success deterring touts had exceeded expectations.
But the company admitted that not everyone was respecting its efforts, a spokesperson said.
‘Of the four principal unauthorised online secondary ticketing sites such as Viagogo, three are not carrying, nor advertising, any Hamilton tickets,’ they said.
‘On the fourth site, in almost every case, the way the tickets are advertised is in breach of consumer regulations and, where they are identified, any such tickets will not be admitted to the theatre nor refunded on the night.’
The spokesperson added that the company was pleased their ‘persistent lobbying’ led the CMA to announce further steps to enforce and strengthen existing legislation last week.
Miranda says the ticket pressure has not quelled his enthusiasm for the London run. ‘People who don’t ordinarily like musicals can get in, because they are fans of hip-hop,’ he said.
‘Popular music and theatre music used to be friends, they used to be the same thing.
‘And Hamilton is my attempt to do that by hook or by crook, wedging these things together.’