40 Celebrities Humble Bragging About Seeing 'Hamilton'- Page 4

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 11:06am

Ok....so exactly how do you propose we make this happen.  That every American can get to NY and gets to see Hamilton.  Let's even keep it to just those that WANT to.  

 

Go.

[Sam2]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 11:21am

Liza's Headband said: 

 2.) Art is entertainment. Entertainment is a luxury and privilege. It is not a right."

Since when is a painting by Picasso or a Shakespeare poem considered as entertainment? While I'm not sure whether musicals should be considered as the art everyone needs to have access to, I consider them as very valuable entertainment, saying that all art is entertainment as an excuse for making it inaccessible, is totally ridiculous and wrong. But then again, what were we expecting of someone like 'Dramamama' (and others with more well constructed responses than hers)? I do believe that people broaden their minds by having access to art and make their own lives richer than they originally were. This includes paintings, literature and indeed, maybe even musicals. 

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 11:28am

Well the main point that I'm trying to make here is that I find it dumb that they are holding back tickets from the public and restricting them to celebrities even if that given celebrity wants to go 16 times.

I'm glad the tour is happening even though those tickets will probably be even harder to get and more expensive than the broadway ones.

I also wish there was more government funding for the arts.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 12:19pm

Well the main point that I'm trying to make here is that I find it dumb that they are holding back tickets from the public and restricting them to celebrities even if that given celebrity wants to go 16 times.

Well , you probably should have jumped in a time machine and traveled back in time to the very first box office to lodge that complaint.  The practice has been around forever and is not exclusive to Broadway.  It happens with tours , regional theatres, opera, symphony, ballet, concerts and live performances of all kinds.  Hamilton is simply engaging in standard box office practices.

The only thing really unique to Hamilton is the high prices of resales.  I worked on the first national tour of Phantom and if you think the hype and demand of Hamilton is worse, I can only assume you're too young to have been around during the original Phantom years.  This level of hype and hysteria was occurring before it transferred from London.  Death threats to the box office staff were common when people could not get tickets or even the exact seats they wanted.  Fist fights inside the theatre among audience members were a weekly occurrence.  The anti-hype of Hamilton is humorous by comparison, mainly because the biggest point of contention has more to do with third-party resales (which will slowly taper down once the cast changes) than with the show or the producers.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 12:31pm

There is not a theatre company on earth that does not hold a block of seats for every performance. Whether it be subscriber houses holding seats for donors or to accommodate exchanges, whether it be tiny basement shows holding seats for the loved ones of the cast, whether it be a Broadway show holding seats for press or high-status individuals. There will always be seats unavailable to the general public.

And I guarantee the "comps" to Hamilton are very, very, very few. If existent at all. That's not how these seats work, even for the fabulously well-connected.

Updated On: 6/7/16 at 12:31 PM

[Margo319]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 1:17pm

"Most other major countries besides america treat art as much more of a right."   Then go there.  Bye!



 

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 1:35pm

Once again "that's just the way things are" is not an argument for why they should happen nor do I have to agree with the practice.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 1:35pm

Margo you literally made me laugh out loud.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:01pm

ANewBrainn said: "Once again "that's just the way things are" is not an argument for why they should happen nor do I have to agree with the practice.

 

"

 

So, do you ever respond to posts in their entirety  or just cherry pick what you'd like to address? It would be nice if you acknowledged that your argument has no legs to stand on since it's an indisputable fact that accessible theatre does exist, from free to affordable/discounted. Just because it doesn't happen to be for the one particular show you want doesn't mean you can just ignore it. 

[Theater_Nerd]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:15pm

I think we are extremely fortunate that art does indeed exist in all of it's forms, but is it a right? No. No it isn't.

To that end I will echo what others have already said that their is much art that is accessible and can be enjoyed by the general public. It isn't exclusive to the rich and "well off" or the 1%.

 

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:25pm

I don't see what other shows being more accessible has to do with Hamilton.  Yes other shows are more accessible but I think this show in particular is an important one for people of all classes to see.

The cast members have talked about how it is troubling for them to look out into a sea of white faces every night.  People of color historically make less than white people, this itself is an issue.  But the producers while doing a little bit to make the show slightly more accessible are still doing their part to make sure these "exclusive" people see the show.  This is what I have been complaining about the entire time.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/08/469539715/a-brown-hamilton-a-white-audience

 

Check out this article about a similar issue.  This author seems to think people of color do not go to Hamilton because they are not made to feel like they belong in a theater audience.  He also does not dismiss the idea that ticket prices have something to do with it.

I also think its important to note that I saw many more people of color when I saw other shows that seem to be geared to a more diverse audience such as Color Purple and Shuffle Along.  Hamilton was probably one of the whitest audiences I've encountered.

Updated On: 6/7/16 at 02:25 PM

[schubox]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:48pm

ANewBrainn said: "I don't see what other shows being more accessible has to do with Hamilton.  Yes other shows are more accessible but I think this show in particular is an important one for people of all classes to see.

The cast members have talked about how it is troubling for them to look out into a sea of white faces every night.  People of color historically make less than white people, this itself is an issue.  But the producers while doing a little bit to make the show slightly more accessible are still doing their part to make sure these "exclusive" people see the show.  This is what I have been complaining about the entire time.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/08/469539715/a-brown-hamilton-a-white-audience

 

Check out this article about a similar issue.  This author seems to think people of color do not go to Hamilton because they are not made to feel like they belong in a theater audience.  He also does not dismiss the idea that ticket prices have something to do with it.

I also think its important to note that I saw many more people of color when I saw other shows that seem to be geared to a more diverse audience such as Color Purple and Shuffle Along.  Hamilton was probably one of the whitest audiences I've encountered.

 

"

It seems like the majority of the audience are 14 year old white girls and the parents who bought them their tickets. I saw more kids at Hamilton last weekend than I did at SoR

[JM226]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:53pm

just to circle back around.... stil dont understand what demands you're making to promote accessibility. what exactly do you want the producers do?  the discounted lottery and free tix for students isnt enough for you??? 

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:19pm

Maybe start licensing the show

Maybe release a recording of the production already, while it's not the same as seeing it live it will make the production more accessible to people who can't make it to new york.  That would also sell like hotcakes and would not affect their ticket sales at all really because a recording is not the same as live theatre.

Maybe not put their new premium tickets up for over $800

Maybe enforcing a stricter paperless ticket policy and stopping TM and other sites from doing their resale bull****

Maybe drawing the line and not allowing a celebrity to see a show 16 times while people have been waiting all night on the cancellation line.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:20pm

Was no one else here around for the exact same phenomena around CHORUS LINE?  I was in my early 20s but the first three years, pre social media, it was the place to have your picture taken.  Carol Burnett was the Rosie O for that show, and went repeatedly in NY and then in LA, and had (if memory serves) Kay Cole on her show. CHORUS LINE became the show to have seen X number of times. 

[JM226]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:26pm

ANewBrainn said: "Maybe start licensing the show

Maybe release a recording of the production already, while it's not the same as seeing it live it will make the production more accessible to people who can't make it to new york.  That would also sell like hotcakes and would not affect their ticket sales at all really because a recording is not the same as live theatre.

Maybe not put their new premium tickets up for over $800

Maybe enforcing a stricter paperless ticket policy and stopping TM and other sites from doing their resale bull****

Maybe drawing the line and not allowing a celebrity to see a show 16 times while people have been waiting all night on the cancellation line.

 

"

 

are you actually suggesting box offices begin limiting the number of times a person who is paying full price can see a show? what planet do you live on.

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:33pm

JM226 said: "are you actually suggesting box offices begin limiting the number of times a person who is paying full price can see a show? what planet do you live on."

Ticket limits are actually a real thing



That's the ticket limit for the block that just went on sale.  So yes, ticket limits are a real thing.  But I'm talking about a limit on the amount of house seats they allow a single celebrity to purchase.  The world acts like rules don't apply to celebrities.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:39pm

well they are celebrities, after all. they aren't normal people like you and me, and those tickets exist for that specific purpose.

Updated On: 6/7/16 at 03:39 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:44pm

Well... celebrities probably aren't going to scalp their easily-tracked house seats on Stubhub with 1000% markup.

Updated On: 6/7/16 at 03:44 PM

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 3:58pm

@gypsy I don't agree with that attitude about celebrities, they are just people

[Kad]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 4:05pm

You seem to be treating Hamilton as if it were not a massive commercial piece of entertainment.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 4:08pm

whether you agree with that attitude is immaterial to the fact that they aren't normal people.

[ANewBrainn]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 4:12pm

Kad, I understand the idea of a "commercial piece of theater" but I disagree with it.  I have been arguing for a separation of commerce and theater this entire thread.

Gypsy: how are they not normal?  We are all made from the same material.  I love Patti LuPone and think she is a very talented person but she is just a person.  Once someone gains recognition they do not become a god like entity

[JM226]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 4:13pm

ANewBrainn said: "Kad, I understand the idea of a "commercial piece of theater" but I disagree with it.  I have been arguing for a separation of commerce and theater this entire thread.

Gypsy: how are they not normal?  We are all made from the same material.  I love Patti LuPone and think she is a very talented person but she is just a person.  Once someone gains recognition they do not become a god like entity

 

"

 

without commerce, theatre doesn't exist. 

[Kad]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 4:15pm

ANewBrainn said: "Kad, I understand the idea of a "commercial piece of theater" but I disagree with it.  I have been arguing for a separation of commerce and theater this entire thread."

There IS a separation.

Just not on MOST of Broadway.