Regardless of whether you are a Broadway nerd or not, you have probably heard of Hamilton, the hip-hop musical about the "10 dollar founding father" that is taking Broadway by storm. A rap musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton would probably initially seem like a pretty odd concept that would never catch on beyond a small audience. Yet, this show is currently the hottest ticket on Broadway, and it received 16 Tony nominations, more than any show in history. Tickets sell out almost instantly whenever they are released, and one can then only get them for thousands of dollars from scalpers or resell websites.
Despite the high price of the tickets, Hamilton keeps drawing audiences and people who are willing to pay a lot of money to see the show. However, with these high prices, people are unable to afford to see other Broadway shows if they head to New York on a trip to see Hamilton. Often, tourists will go to New York with a plan to see several shows during their trip, or people who live in New York will often attend Broadway shows if they enjoy theater. Broadway shows often cost up to 200 dollars per ticket which is expensive, but if a person goes to New York with the purpose of seeing shows or enjoys going to shows, several trips to the theater are something people can plan and save up for. But, with Hamilton's high ticket demand and prices, Hamilton is now the only show many people can afford to see.
In addition to Hamilton, there are already many popular shows in New York that have been running for years such as Wicked and The Lion King which people, especially tourists, will want to see if making a trip to the Big Apple. Broadway tickets are expensive anyway, but Hamilton has been taking things to a whole new level. There are many shows on Broadway making it a very competitive environment, and since Hamilton opened, it has become extremely difficult for new shows to open and for previously running shows to stay open. While Hamilton cannot be entirely blamed for this strange dilemma on the Great White Way, it certainly is a very big factor.
Two shows, Tuck Everlasting and American Psycho the Musical, both recently announced their closing dates this week, and both of these shows just opened about a month ago. They did not get great reviews, but their reviews were not terrible. Both shows found pretty decent followings in the Broadway community, and both had fantastic casts and creative teams. However, neither of the shows received a great number of Tony nominations, and with the tough Broadway ticket market, it is really impossible to open a successful new Broadway show without great reviews and recognition during award season. Many long-running shows like Matilda the Musical and Les Misérables have announced their closing dates as well. It is a very sad time for Broadway fans of these old shows and new shows that are closing so quickly.
Hamilton is changing the atmosphere and game on Broadway by setting a very high bar. If a show wants to be truly successful, it has to be both different than what is currently being offered and also find a way to have fairly widespread appeal. Hamilton has done both these things, but while it is changing the Broadway stage, it is kind of ruining things for everyone else. I would just like to mention that I LOVE Hamilton. I think it a fantastic show, and I hope to see it someday when the tickets come down a bit from the thousand dollar price range. However, for now, I really like seeing and hearing about new shows coming out and leaving their own mark on Broadway. Few shows have been able to do that in the last year as a result of Hamilton. Only a few other shows are getting attention at the Tony Awards, and many other shows are having trouble at the box office. I just hope that Hamilton decides to share some of the spotlight before it is the only show left.
