Broadway in Chicago Season Tickets - Hamilton

[mtchairs]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 4:09pm

Hoping a Chicago local can explain to me how the season membership tickets for Broadway in Chicago normally work and how it will work in relation to getting tickets for Hamilton. I am planning to travel to Chicago in November from Australia and want to make sure I can secure tickets to Hamilton.

I am finding the Broadway in Chicago website a bit hard to understand. Although Hamilton has been announced, it doesn't appear to be part of the season you can subscribe to? How did it work for other high demand shows in the past? Will there be any Single tickets left for sale after the group bookings and subscription sales are all done?

Thanks for any insight into how this all works.

 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 4:23pm

Hamilton is not offered as part of the subscription season. It is likely that subscribers will be offered tickets before the general public. 

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 5:00pm

There are two seasons a year, and they've labeled the one on sale now "spring," which is bizarre (and possibly a mistake) because only one show is in the spring and the rest are in the summer/fall.  Conceivably I guess Hamilton could be part of the next season if that season is "fall" but I doubt it, since Fun Home and Finding Neverland are both part of the package and open after Hamilton.  So most likely it will not be part of any subscription package.  That's not entirely surprising, because they always include the shows least likely to sell well in the season package.  I seem to recall that one time Book of Mormon came it was a part of the subscription package, and they used it heavily to sell packages, but another time it was not, and they used the promise of a presale to sell subscriptions.  I have been a member in the past and bought tickets through presales.  For Book of Mormon there were some tickets available after the presale, but they sold out right away.  You'll want to make sure you're keeping an eye on when they go on sale.  Unfortunately BIC is not always the best at announcing that.  They often offer an Amex presale so if you have an American Express card that is probably your best shot. 

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 5:17pm

BIC will offer certain shows to be part of a season subscription. You will have the same seats at each show with the initial order. If you exchange for different dates, they give you the best available at your price level or below. As a subscription holder, you are able to purchase tickets to shows that are not included in the subscription package before they go on sale to the public.

 

Wicked was not part of the subscription package for the 2004-2005 season. Subscription holders and theatergoers who saw shows at the Marriott Lincolnshire were given the opportunity to buy tickets in advance of the general public. The show pretty much sold out its seven week engagement during the pre-sale. It was only about a month (or less) from the tour opening in Chicago that it was announced that the show would be open-ended. Other shows that had open runs in Chicago were planned as open runs, so Wicked really was in its own class for this.

 

I'm not in Chicago so I don't know what the hype surrounding it will be, but I wouldn't expect the same hysteria in Chicago that has occurred in New York. Not to say it won't sell out, but with an announced open run there might be better availability since there won't be such an urgency for tickets within a small window.

 

Updated On: 2/9/16 at 05:17 PM

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 5:21pm

While I agree that the hype in Chicago will likely not match New York, the hype is already quite sizable with very little press coverage here. 

I had thought I read that Hamilton would not be a part of the subscription series, but as ChiTheaterFan said... the Tribune reported it would be a part of their "Fall" season. I'm not really sure what that means. Haha. Oh well. 

 

Here's an article that might be helpful: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-hamilton-musical-faq-chicago-column.html

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 6:11pm

Thanks for the link, KJisgroovy.  It sounds like there is, indeed still a fall season TBA based on that article.  Chris Jones would know better than me. (Although I doubt he knows for certain Hamilton will be a part of it.)

 

I find this "spring" season so bizarre.  These are the shows:

SpongeBob:  June 7-July 3

Fun Home:  November 2-November 13

42nd Street:  March 8-20

Bullets over Broadway:  April 19-May 1

Sound of Music:  June 7-June 19

Finding Neverland:  November 22-December 4

 

How is that a spring season?  The only ones in spring are Bullets over Broadway and 42nd Street.  MAYBE you could consider the two June shows spring, but November is definitely not spring.  My FN tickets are in December.  So weird.

 

I guess both Fun Home and Finding Neverland are likely to be big draws, and the other shows really aren't.  Maybe they stretched the season and will have the fall season overlapping this year to increase subscription sales for this "spring" season.  Maybe for the same reason they'll also intentionally put Hamilton in a different season than FH/FN to use it to sell packages for both seasons.  Who knows, though?  I bought my subscription for "spring" as soon as Hamilton was announced because I figured it would give me presale opportunities. (And, aside from SpongeBob, I want to see them all anyway.)  By the time I bought there were already pretty slim pickings left.  I wanted Saturday night and I think it was only premium left, so I got matinee instead.

 

The hype here is going to be pretty huge.  Sure, lower than New York as it is for any show.  But Chicago is a town with great theater, and as a result, many theater fans.  Not to mention you have people who will drive in from the surrounding states that would not necessarily go to New York.  Non-theater people do know about this show, and when people hear I travel to New York for work one of the common questions is "have you seen Hamilton yet?"  I know several people who have already gotten group tickets and are taking 30-50 of their closest friends.  I expect it to sell out quickly.

[mtchairs]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 6:45pm

I just had the following confirmation from BIC.

'It will be part of the next subscription series'

So based on all the information gathered so far, I should just subscribe to the season that Hamilton belongs to as soon as it goes on sale and forfeit the other 5 shows that I won't be able to see because I'll be back in Australia? Or would it be possible to see Hamilton more than once, or one of the other shows on a different day to Hamilton in the short time I am in Chicago?

[pupscotch]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 6:46pm

I doubt you will be able to see Hamilton more than once via subscription in a short time frame. 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 7:25pm

Wicked was not part of the subscription package for the 2004-2005 season.

 

Yes, it was. The touring cast with Stephanie J. Block was part of my subscription.  The cast changed for the open-ended sit-down run.

 

How is that a spring season?

 

They just haven't found a better way to label it.  It starts in the spring (March).  Sometimes the fall/spring dates overlap because of when they confirm booking the shows into the theatres and can begin selling them.  Broadway in Chicago has been doing the two-part subscription series for a while because of the number of shows they bring in as well as the pre-Broadway engagements they book each year.  I subscribed to the spring season this year because Hamilton is being offered in the fall, so I would be ahead of the game and have guaranteed tickets when I renew my subscription.  There are only two ways to beat the general public ticket on-sale date for Hamilton: subscriptions and group sales.

[mtchairs]

Posted: 2/9/16 at 8:43pm

How many tickets are current subscribers allowed to purchase for each show? Would my friend and I each have to purchase a subscription, or can we split the cost and buy two tickets on one subscription?

Does anyone know of any approved travel/theatre organisations that would have already secured a group booking allocation and that I could purchase from? Hotels, airlines, societies for example?

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 2/10/16 at 12:03am

You can definitely buy a subscription with 2 seats and split the cost.  If you get season tickets you'll also probably have a presale option to buy tickets for additional shows, but they won't let you apply your tickets for other shows to get additional seats to Hamilton. You'd just have to forego them or donate them to charity. 

 

The other option would be to call and see if you can still buy a group of tickets. If you can afford to front the cost for 20 tickets you shouldn't have an issue getting butts to fill the other 18. 

 

And thanks for confirming they'll be part of the next subscription series!!  Good to know. I guess the seasons are just lining up oddly this year with "spring" extending to November and overlapping with fall. FYI they do have a limited allocation of season ticket packages so if you go that route, be sure to check when the next season goes on sale. 

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 2/15/16 at 4:49pm

Hamilton is officially part of the next subscription season (along with Hedwig, Aladdin, Curious Incident, and the Bodyguard).  So weird how much these seasons overlap. 

 

AMAZING SEASON. 

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct-curious-incident-hedwig-and-the-bodyguard-all-coming-to-chicago-20160215-column.html

 

Updated On: 2/15/16 at 04:49 PM

[Sertzo19]

Posted: 2/15/16 at 5:52pm

I could be wrong, but the last time I was going to purchase BIC subscriptions, I believe you could buy up to 4 tickets. This was the season before this current one though, and with the rising popularity of the shows they keep bringing, this may have changed. It was also confirmed today that the new subcsriptions will go on sale on March 1st, so get ready! I have a co-worker who always gets the subscription and he says you cannot use the subsciption to see the same show more than once, but that you do sometimes get the option to purchase additional tickets with your pass at a discount. I honestly don't know how this will work for Hamilton. I live in Chicago and the buzz for it is getting greater and greater every day. It's not to the level that Wicked was before it came here for the first time, but it also doesn't have the instant built-in fanbase Wicked had because of The Wizard of Oz. I definitely expect that to change after the Grammy's tonight, their shoe-in Tony wins and it's sure nomination for the Pulitzer. I do not think it will be easy to buy tickets outside of group sales/subscriptions, especially if Lin ends up reprising his role here. 

Updated On: 2/15/16 at 05:52 PM

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/16/16 at 1:28pm

Mister Matt said: "Wicked was not part of the subscription package for the 2004-2005 season.

 

 Yes, it was. The touring cast with Stephanie J. Block was part of my subscription.  The cast changed for the open-ended sit-down run."

 

Hmmm I checked and you're right. I must have upgraded my ticket, because I distinctly recall a different transaction to get my ticket for Wicked (I had a subscription). And I'm well aware that it was a different cast for the sit-down.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 2/16/16 at 1:43pm

I'm having some trouble purchasing season tickets... I click on the "SEASONS TICKETS" heading but can't find what to press. Do I have to email them at [e-mail] ?

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 2/16/16 at 1:48pm

Season tickets go on sale in March. If you're renewing, click the big red button that says "Renew Now"

[gypsy101]

Posted: 2/16/16 at 1:54pm

Ah, I'm not renewing and didn't see any notice on the website about season tickets not being available.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 2/16/16 at 1:56pm

Broadway in Chicago is terrible.

 

Dealing with them is like negotiating with the devil and all the terms of the deal are a secret. 

[Sertzo19]

Posted: 2/16/16 at 5:25pm

gypsy101 said: "Ah, I'm not renewing and didn't see any notice on the website about season tickets not being available.

 

"

The passes for new subscribers don't go on sale until 3/1. 

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 2/18/16 at 11:04pm

FYI they're no longer selling group tickets anymore. You can now get on a wait list for groups after Februrary 2017. I'm guessing that means when individual tickets go on sale, they'll be available through February as well. 

 

No word on advance purchases of extra tickets for subscribers yet. 

[sparepart973]

Posted: 3/13/16 at 11:13am

Anyone knows when the Chicago tickets will go on sale? I'm planning a trip to the US that includes New York and Chicago, and pretty much gave up on being able to get tickets for Hamilton in NYC, so Chicago it is! I'll be in front of my computer with my credit card out and ready!

[ebontoyan]

Posted: 3/13/16 at 12:17pm

BIC season tickets are now on sale.  Season includes Hamilton, Curious Incident, Alladin, Hedwig and The Bodyguard. Saturday evening prices range from $239 (balcony) to $565 (orchestra). Check out broadwayinchicago.com Don't know when single tix go on sale

[sparepart973]

Posted: 3/16/16 at 12:50pm

Subscribers will only get booking privileges for the first two months of the run (i.e. September and October). The remainder of the indefinite run will be general ticket sales. Single tickets for performances further down the line following October will be released in the summer. 

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 3/30/16 at 2:58pm

Update:  in addition to the information that Spare Part provides (which is consistent with the information I received), I learned that subscribers will be limited to 8 extra tickets on top of the subscription package. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/5/16 at 4:51pm

Hamilton might be heading to Australia, op