There’s good news and bad for Hamilton fans hoping to snag one of the 21 front-row seats available for just $10 to every performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s white-hot blockbuster Broadway musical about the founding fathers.
On the plus side, entering the lottery each day will no longer require a trip to the Richard Rodgers Theatre box office. But the downside is that the popular Ham4Ham shows — during which castmembers of Hamilton and other Broadway productions stage a mini-performance for lottery hopefuls waiting outside — have been suspended for the winter.
Lead producer Jeffrey Seller announced Monday that the lottery will go digital starting Jan. 5, returning along with the Ham4Ham shows in the spring.
“We love seeing so many fans show up to participate in the Ham4Ham lottery and show,” said Seller. “But we need to figure out how to safely accommodate our fans without blocking traffic on West 46th Street. We’re taking this winter break to work out some safety measures and improvements that we’ll implement when we return to the live lottery in the spring.”
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Comments have proliferated on theater chat sites in recent weeks concerning the overflow of Hamilton lottery entrants from the sidewalk out front of the Richard Rodgers onto the street and often around the block. The crowds have caused traffic congestion and potential risk of accidents.
The musical’s producers are working with theater owners the Nederlander Organization to upgrade the live lottery with a more user-friendly system.
Since its official opening on Broadway in August, Hamilton has become the toughest theater ticket in town, with performances largely sold out for the next several months. According to a company spokesman, advance box office is now over $60 million, believed to be the highest in Broadway history, with cumulative grosses of $39.2 million.
Powered by Broadway Direct, the digital lottery will be at www.hamiltonbroadway.com/lottery.
