CHICAGO — If you thought that seeing the smash-hit hip-hopera "Hamilton" would be cheaper in Chicago than on Broadway in New York, think again.
In a recent interview with the New York Times, the show's lead producer Jeffrey Seller said he told staff members to raise ticket prices for the upcoming run in Chicago because the audience there “is just as rich as the folks in New York.”
In reality, Chicago isn't doesn't even come close to New York when it comes to wealth. A 2015 Bloomberg report shows while New York is the eighth-richest city in America in terms of gross metropolitan product (GMP) per capita, Chicago doesn't even crack the top 20.
Standard tickets for the show in New York start at $139, but those have been sold out well in advance. Tickets are now being resold for more than $1,000 each and the hype over the show has led to purse snatchers stealing tickets and a fan making an app to help people enter a nearly impossible daily lottery for $10 tickets.
Individual tickets aren't expected to go on sale for the Chicago edition of the show until early this summer, though group sales for more than 20 people are available, a Broadway in Chicago official said.
"Hamilton starts at The PrivateBank Theatre at 18 W. Monroe St. on Sept. 27. Seller told the Times that he wants the show to stay in Chicago for a year or more.
Many Chicagoans have seen the play in New York, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel earlier this month.
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