While the West End had followed the industry by moving toward paperless ticketing over the past few years, Hamilton producers plan to go back to a more traditional ticketing route later this year.
According to The Stage, Hamilton producers – which include Cameron Mackintosh, Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, and the Public Theater, first introduced the paperless ticketing system to “crack down on touting” and the “unauthorized profiteering of third-party resellers.” The system, which was run by Ticketmaster, meant that theatergoers did not receive physical tickets and had to swipe their payment card used to purchase their seats and show ID in order to enter the venue. Producers said that these measures had “exceeded expectations” and nearly eliminated touting at the show.
However, now that producers felt that action had been taken against secondary sellers in the UK like Viagogo – who had agreed with the CMA to change its website information to more accurately display ticket information to fans – they could reintroduce a “more open selling operation.”
“Two years of our campaigning along with the rest of the theatre and live music industries, the elevated awareness of this problem by government, consumer protection associations taking legal action against one site in particular, and a better-informed public, has led to the closure of two of these online retailers, a move towards compliance by a third and both public vilification of and concerted action against the fourth,” the producers said in a statement.
Additionally, producers noted that they will “slowly bring back third-party resellers” to the Victoria Palace Theatre “in addition to Ticketmaster, all of whom we have worked with for many years on other successful shows.” Paper tickets will once again be available starting December 2. Tickets will be posted prior to the performance, and fans will be required to collect them from the box office.
