Hamilton is a recordbreaker. From its chart-topping cast album to its Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lin-Manuel Miranda juggernaut has become a cultural phenomenon. It’s even in the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest-ever rap on a Broadway stage, and most Tony Award nominations for a musical. And now it’s added another, slightly less enviable accolade: it has the most expensive tickets in Broadway history.
That’s all thanks to Leslie Odom Jr., who is reprising his Tony Award-winning performance as Aaron Burr until 26 November. If you want to be in the room where it happens, it’ll set you back $1,525.50 (£1,116.78). That’s for a single seat in Row K, not a private performance. It’s enough to make King George blush.
So it got us wondering: how many West End shows could we see for the same price? If you can’t be bothered to read the rest of the article, the answer is: a lot.
To keep things fair, we’ve compared like-for-like. In London, the very best Hamilton ticket will set you back £212 for Row E. If you were happy to sit in Row K, the very same row as the Broadway seat listed above, you’d pay £164, £952.78 less than across the pond.
From there, the bargains just keep rolling in: want to see how the witches’ story ends before the film hits cinemas? Wicked is £160 in Row F. If you prefer something a little less family-friendly but packed with wicked humour of its own, The Book of Mormon tickets go for £152 in Row E. Prefer hell to heaven? Hadestown offers seats in the middle of Row G, and right in the centre of the Dress Circle’s front row, for £152.
The most recent revival of The Producers has earned five-star reviews across the board, and you can watch it unfold from Row D or the Dress Circle front row for £128. For sheer spectacle, Starlight Express delivers: £182 gets you into Row CC of Carriage 2, close enough to the racetrack to high-five the cast as they skate by in the finale megamix. And finally, you can see Disney’s latest herculean hit, Hercules, from Row D for £121.
Add them all up and you’ve got seven West End shows in the best seats in the house for £1,107. You’ll even have £9.78 left over for a couple of interval ice creams.
However, not everyone goes for the very top tier. If you’re the kind of theatregoer who prefers mid-to-high price brackets, your money stretches even further.
That’s more than a show a month for an entire year, and you’ll still have £10.78 left in your pocket (well, on your card) for a theatre programme or two.
Broadway has always had higher ticket prices compared to the West End, especially for limited runs with big stars. But the difference right now is staggering. For the cost of a single night with Leslie Odom Jr. in New York, you could practically live in London’s West End for a month, interval ice creams and all.
Hamilton might be about the price of history, but in this case, London theatre fans are getting the better bargain.