Imagine the feeling of securing tickets for the astonishingly popular show Hamilton as it begins its run in London’s famed West End.
Then reverse it and multiply it by two – because that’s what just happened to hundreds of fans in Great Britain.
Cameron Mackintosh, owner of the Victoria Palace Theatre, confirmed last week that extensive renovations will not be done in time for the popular production’s scheduled opening on November 21st. Instead, the show is now slated to have previews starting on December 6. The official opening night for the production is now December 21st.
A total of 16 performances are affected by the delay. Those receiving bad news should have been informed by Friday, September 8th. Thankfully, the industry practice of holding back significant numbers of tickets from sale may come to their rescue, per Metro.co.uk:
A large numbers of seats were held in reserve to be released at the time the building was nearing completion which will hopefully allow affected patrons to be re-seated early in the run with what the theatre has called a ‘minimum of inconvenience’.
While this may mean a hit to the wallet for the event’s producers, who would have likely turned those holdbacks into significant revenue by capitalizing on the robust secondary market for the red-hot show, it will allow them to make things right with these customers, who have been instructed to return a form indicating three performances they would be able to attend, from which they will be given replacement tickets.
‘We are extremely sorry to disappoint patrons who we know expended time, effort, and valuable resources to purchase tickets for our first performances,” says producer Jeffrey Sellers. “But they will be given immediate priority so that they can be re-seated as early as possible.”
Tickets to the London run of Hamilton are sold out (or held back) through June of 2018, so these holdbacks are a rare instance of the industry practice improving a consumer’s experience (or at minimum mitigating an already negative one.)
The West End cast comprises Christine Allado (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Rachelle Ann Go (Eliza Hamilton), Tarinn Callender (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Michael Jibson (King George), Rachel John (Angelica Schuyler), Jason Pennycooke (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson), Cleve September (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton), Giles Terera (Aaron Burr), Obioma Ugoala (George Washington) and Jamael Westman (Alexander Hamilton).
