NORFOLK, Va. — It has a tough ticket to snag, and people in Norfolk have just learned how hard first hand.
Large crowds waited hours on Friday morning for a chance to score some tickets to see Hamilton at Chrysler Hall in December. Others will have to go online to grab a ticket.
However, several risks come along with purchasing tickets online. Experts said with a big show like this there will be a lot of scams going on.
Beth Grosky, a marketing manager for JAM Theatricals said the main thing people should avoid is purchasing tickets from third-party vendors.
People will also want to avoid over-priced resell tickets. Grosky said oftentimes those tickets turn out to be counterfeit.
“There’s a lot of times where the tickets really do look real or you’re just looking online and they seem to be legit, but then you show up the night of the performance and the barcode doesn’t scan, and all it says is invalid, we just can’t be held accountable for those,” said Grosky.
Grosky said the safe route is to buy tickets in person at the Scope Arena box office or online through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster is Seven Venues’s official seller for the show.
A few hours after tickets went on sale, resell tickets on websites like Stubhub were already going for nearly $1,500.
Grosky said that’s often a red flag you’ll want to avoid.
“Most of the time you’ll see tickets priced way up. Our top ticket price is $249, so if you’re seeing tickets going for $500, or thousands of dollars, it’s more likely they’re not legit tickets,” said Grosky.
There’s a chance you could score some tickets for just $10. There will be a show lottery for each show date. You can enter by downloading the official Hamilton app.
Grosky said tickets for the show technically don't sell out.
“Even if it appears sold out, there are tickets that are gonna be released throughout the campaign and people are gonna be able to see the show, it’s never really sold out,” said Grosky.
Hamilton will be in Norfolk from Dec. 10th to Dec. 29th.