Hamilton: More Seats idea... Brilliant or Dumb?

I haven't seen Hamilton. I have played the Lottery everyday since it started. I know I should have bought a ticket the first day they were on sale but I didn't. Not I can fear I will never see the show. I don't really have time to spend too much time searching for a ticket.

I was thinking... would it be stupid of brilliant to open another. identical production of Hamilton ON BROADWAY in another theatre? Different cast of course, but same design, director, etc. Another production of the same show. I know this has never happened, but if there is a demand to see the show why not? If I couldn't see the original cast I wouldn't care. Or maybe some of them could go to the second production.

There is a demand for this. Why can't we think out of the box? To Lin Manuel (or any cast member) if you are reading this please send me a private message to let me know what you think.

I want to see your damn show!

DUMB

Well, it's not entirely without precedent... didn't the Weisslers once host the national tour of the Tommy Tune Grease at City Center at the same time as it was on Broadway?

Edit: Yes, they did. Quoting this 1998 Playbill article: "So many people wanted to see Broadway's Grease! during the 1996 Thanksgiving holiday, producers Fran and Barry Weissler brought a second production of the show -- the national touring company -- into New York's City Center, making it one of the rare instances in which the same show was playing in two Broadway theatres simultaneously."

Updated On: 3/16/16 at 08:58 AM

Let's put Hamilton in ALL the theatres!

Another bit of precedent, from Lorrie Davis' Letting Down My HAIR, the behind-the-scenes story of her time in the original Broadway cast of Hair:

"A tribal meeting or two later, Michael [Butler, the show's producer] hit us with his Hair-In-The-Streets idea. He wanted to put on a kind of wandering Hair exhibition for kids in the slums. The plan was to decorate and repaint a truck to look like the Hair stage set, then take it all over the poorer sections of the city for free performances.

We all liked the idea, but the [Equity] strike, which only lasted a few days, ended before we could get it on. Then we decided to go ahead with it anyway, for half a day's pay, on Sundays, but nothing ever came of it. In time, the cast just lost interest."

I mean, it didn't eventually happen, but it just shows the OP (and the Weisslers) weren't the only ones to think of this idea. Do I think it's necessarily a good idea for Hamilton? Eh, maybe, maybe not. But CurtainsUpat8, don't feel bad for thinking of it. You're not the first.

If it's so dumb, why has more than one person come up with this idea for a hit show, and at least one team pulled it off? I don't necessarily think it's the best move for Hamilton either, but you could at least concede the OP's a smart thinker, whether the thought is rooted in naive optimism or not.

Maybe Off-broadway, like at the Public, but NOT another Broadway Theater.



First of all, you have to think about how expensive that would be, I don't think filling the seats will every night would be enough to justify paying for the space, the second crew, cast, etc. etc.


Also that would not just meet demand for the current show but will overall LOWER demand for the show, as less people will start to see it. Supply and demand works like this: the lower the supply and higher the demand, the higher the price. If you meet demand by increasing supply, the value of the show decreases and demand will probably decrease.



Part of why Hamilton is so popular IS because it's so popular and hard to see. If you make it accessible to everyone less people will covet a ticket.

Given they are already starting two touring productions and probably the West End in the immediate future, they have enough logistical challenges without a second Broadway version. Not to mention, that version would also start with the same pricing, and everyone here would want to see/compare/contrast both casts anyway...

Actually, this is the kernel of a BRILLIANT idea. Have each of the touring companies "try out" for 2 to 3 months at an empty Broadway theater and then go on tour.

This would reduce the current frenzy of ticket buying down to the normal level for a sold-out Broadway show and reduce the ill feeling created by the ticket hoarding, 3rd-party ticket sales and impossible waiting lines for cancellations and lottery seats.

Theatergoers who want to see the original cast would still have to wait for tickets to be available for the production at the Richard Rodgers, but tourists, casual theatergoers and (most important) school audiences would be able to see the show without waiting until 2018.

And since the producers are preparing the subsequent companies for the tours, there would not be the same additional and prohibitive cost there would be for a second open-ended Broadway company.

Updated On: 3/18/16 at 12:45 PM

PalJoey said: "Actually, this is the kernel of a BRILLIANT idea. Have each of the touring companies "try out" for 2 to 3 months at an empty Broadway theater and then go on tour.

This would reduce the current frenzy of ticket buying down to the normal level for a sold-out Broadway show and reduce the ill feeling created by the ticket hoarding, 3rd-party ticket sales and impossible waiting lines for cancellations and lottery seats.

Theatergoers who want to see the original cast would still have to wait for tickets to be available for the production at the Richard Rodgers, but tourists, casual theatergoers and (most important) school audiences would be able to see the show without waiting until 2018.

And since the producers are preparing the subsequent companies for the tours, there would not be the same additional and prohibitive cost there would be for a second open-ended Broadway company."

And this is why PJ would make a great producer.

From Riedel's Razzle Dazzle, David Merrick also once wanted to open a second company of 42nd Street in 1980 due to its initial demand, but was shut down by Phil Smith from the Shubert Organization as he thought the press had the freedom to review it again and could freely express its dislike in comparison.

I also personally don't think it would be a good idea for the momentum of the show on Broadway currently.

Updated On: 3/18/16 at 01:42 PM

What I thought you meant was adding seats in the Richard Rodgers temporarily, which I think is briliant.

aaaaaa15 said: "QueenAlice said: "I will be curious to see how this unfolds eventually in the West End; not sure If the show will have huge appeal in the UK for obvious reasons."



Plenty of people from the UK (including myself) have seen the show and loved it. Our most popular, long-running show is about the French Revolution. Most Americans aren't well-versed on Alexander Hamilton's life either. It will do well here, just like BoM did, despite us not having the same Mormon culture.



"

I think the sentiment is just that the name of the musical is Hamilton: An American Musical, which has an entire character and several songs mocking the British King. It is based around rap and hip hop music, which is a huge part of American culture, but it also just might be weird to have British actors with British accents playing distinctly American characters.