Ticket bots are illegal in NY, but “the problem will persist until we strengthen the existing law and make this recurrent illegal behavior a felony”, according to Miranda. The former was passed unanimously by the State Senate “making it illegal for ticket brokers to knowingly resell or offer to resell tickets purchased using bots and requiring ticket resale platforms like StubHub to post the price they paid for tickets on their platform so that consumers can easily see the markup price”.
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Actor, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda performs on stage during “Hamilton” GRAMMY performance for The 58th GRAMMY Awards at Richard Rodgers Theater on February 15, 2016 in New York City.
The highest asking price that CNNMoney could find on the site for the July 9 night show is $9,975 for a second row seat in the orchestra. The current box office price of a ticket to the show is around $160, and Hamilton’s Broadway production rakes in about $1,500,000 a week in sales.
“Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda is the man of the hour, whether you’re a Broadway fan or not. In actuality, Miranda is talking about the preponderance of ticket-buying bots, who can buy up Hamilton tickets at speeds faster than your average human can hope to match.
Miranda already has a few projects on the work after the wild success of Hamilton, most notably working with Disney: he’s written songs for this year’s animated film Moana (including one for Dwayne Johnson) and he’s also confirmed as Emily Blunt’s co-star in a planned Mary Poppins sequel.
And it’s that excitement – created via word-of-mouth – that has made his hip-hop musical Broadway’s hottest ticket.
Miranda wrote the book, music and lyrics for the show, in addition to starring in the title role.
The show has won a Grammy and a Pulitzer Prize.
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Tickets were scheduled to on sale to the general public at 8 PM (ET) June 12, coinciding with the opening of the 2016 Tony Awards broadcast, in which Hamilton is nominated for a record 16 awards. Replacing former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill will be Harriet Tubman.
