Hamilton San Francisco

SHN announced general public on sale starts Monday

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/10/18/hamilton-returns-to-bay-area-heres-how-to-get-tickets/

Starting the thread now so casting, etc can be added as available.

Wait, how did I have no idea this was happening? Is this going to be the show's second sit-down company, like Chicago? Or is it the launch site of a third national tour?

The party line is simply that it is booked for 30 weeks with no further announcements.

I would read that as a open-ended sit-down for an undetermined period with unannounced plans thereafter (move to another extended run or launch a tour)

Updated On: 10/21/18 at 01:37 AM

MarkBearSF said: "The party line is simply that it is booked for 30 weeks with no further announcements.

I would read that as a open-ended sit-down for an undetermined period with unannounced plans thereafter (move to another extended run or launch a tour)"

To add on, the Nederlanders signed a deal to use the Kodak Theatre for tours beginning in I think 2020. I’d expect this to do what every other West Coast sit-down has done (in reverse city order, of course) and transfer to LA afterward for a run at the Pantages.

It seems pretty clear that the 2019 San Francisco run is not open-ended.

The ticket prices listed are $214, $111, and $686 for a "select number of prime seats." If it's like the last time, there won't be that many "prime seats," just a few rows. Yes, the $214 price is a little higher than last year's run, which is annoying. It's not like we would get Michael Luwoye and Joshua Henry again.

Have you seen something indicating that they would try to sell all the center orchestra seats for $686? That might be a bridge too far, even in the SF Bay Area.

That said, I still will probably spring for tickets at least once.

Phantom of London said: "Is this playing Puerto Rico first before going to the Bay Area? I thought the San Francisco engagement was announced as a sit down?


People on this board have different and conflicting definitions of “sit-down”. It’s not my place to tell people how they should define it, so I’ll just say I interpret the things I’ve read to indicate Hamilton will be sticking around a while.

The producer said it would in this article:

http://www.playbill.com/article/hamilton-will-return-to-san-francisco-in-2019

And the SF Chronicle, after interviewing SHN about the reopening of the Golden Gate, said Hamilton will play at the Orpheum for “as long as there’s demand”:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/golden-gate-theatre-in-san-francisco-nears-100-with-makeover/amp

It'll be interesting to see if this runs like “Wicked” in 2008/2009 for a bit over a year or if this more like “Phantom” in the ‘90s with a multi-year stay.

Thank you for posting these, NYfanfromCA!

As for it being a more limited run, don't get me wrong, Hamilton is great. But the idea of both the Curran and the Orpheum having sit-down productions worried me. Yes, there's also the Golden Gate, but I personally like having theater real estate available for out-of-town tryouts and tours.

Still grateful I got to see it last year by purchasing a season membership, for six shows including HAMILTON on Thursday evening from Row M center orchestra. Cost was $575 (or $595?). Regardless, $100 a show was a fantastic deal. I got tix soon as they went on sale a year or so before HAMILTON and took a buddy. Friends pshawed us for doing it, but when the time came they shelled out hundreds to see the one show. LOL

We also got to see the brilliant THE KING AND I, CURIOUS INCIDENT, INTO THE WOODS, and the very charming ROMAN HOLIDAY...which is assume is dead for Broadway, but hoping it has a regional life.

Got mine too: 4 Loge seats. I entered the virtual queue at 10:03am and my number wasn’t admitted until 7:35 tonight. Several shows were already sold out, but there seemed to be generally good availability still.

I was impressed with the user-friendliness of SHN’s queue process. I was able to add my email address and turn my computer off. I received an email about 30 minutes before my place in line opened up and then again about a minute before, so I could get my computer started again for purchase.

Looking forward to seeing the casting!

This is more about the commerce of all this.

The 2017 San Francisco run of Hamilton, for about 4 months, sold out quickly. Then partial and obstructed view tickets were offered, and they went fast. It wasn't impossible to get tickets, even good ones, if you played it smart. But you had to act fast.

Thus far, ticket sales for the longer 2019 run, from February to September, are going a lot more slowly. Most of the center orchestra is sold out, but there are plenty of good tickets available at almost every show, especially in the summer. Prices are higher, especially for the "prime seats," and the partial and obstructed view seats are already on sale without discounts. While the first day on Monday was a bit chaotic, and I waited in the virtual line all day to get a pair of tickets, it's calmed down since then. And now you can wander onto the SHN website and pick out plenty of good seats.

This is probably to be expected. The prices are high, many of the people who felt compelled to see the show in San Francisco have already seen it at least once, the cast is a mystery (not that I think that drove sales last year), and there wasn't much advance notice of ticket sales anyway. What I'm wondering is whether this is unusual, if it's a sign that the Hamilton market is softening a bit in places where it's already been. I took a quick glance to see how it's doing in Chicago, where the show has been running a lot longer. Tickets are available, although not many, for the Saturday night show. Prices are downright cheap ($92 plus fees for orchestra seats, compared to $219 in San Francisco) for midweek shows. Perhaps I should have flown to Chicago.

I assume sales will pick up, especially with the show getting some promotion due to Lin-Manuel Miranda's brief tour with Hamilton in Puerto Rico shortly before it arrives in San Francisco (and presumably with the same cast, sans Miranda). The producers will still make plenty of money with prime seats that cost nearly $700 and the rest at $219, not counting the balcony. But unlike the 2017 tour stop, they may actually need to promote the show a little and persuade people who like the show or the cast recording to fork over $219 a seat. My other guess is this: The San Francisco run won't last much longer than early September.

roamermark said: "LMM said quickly on Colbert last week that the Puerto Rico cast will be a new touring company in the States....so likely San Francisco as their first (long) stop?"

It’s not uncommon for the West Coast sit-downs to be classified as tours. The First National Tour of Phantom (Christine Company) only played LA (1989-1993) and SF (1993-1998 ) before closing. Similar with Les Mis: classified as the Second National Tour (Fantine Company), it played LA (1988-1989) then SF (1989-1991) before closing.

To my knowledge, Wicked was never classified as a tour officially. Played 100 weeks in LA, transferred to SF for I think 88 weeks, then closed.

Well see what happens with this one. To earlier points, once the marketing machine gets moving those unsold tickets will move with tourists, people in town for conventions, etc. I’m sure it’ll sell fine. I would’ve been more surprised if these 7 months had sold out immediately.

Updated On: 10/26/18 at 09:43 AM

The "And Peggy Company" (yes that's its official name) launches in Puerto Rico and then goes to San Francisco for a still-undetermined amount of time.