More than 65,000 fans of the musical “Hamilton” will stream into Des Moines over the next few weeks, from all over Iowa and several surrounding states.
Opening night is tonight and Denise Smithson Green, director of ticketing for the Des Moines Civic Center, warns against buying tickets from anyone outside the building — or from third-party sellers online. “The only authentic seller of tickets for any Des Moines Civic Center show is through our website, which is dmpa.org,” Smithson Green says. “If they go to that site and type that into their browser, then they’re going to have authentic tickets.”
With the three-week run of performances nearly sold-out, tickets for the popular musical are at a premium, with face values of the few remaining seats selling for between $200 and $375s each, before fees. If someone from out-of-town shows up at the door with tickets they bought elsewhere that aren’t legit, she says they’re likely in for a big disappointment.
“This show is sold to capacity so I don’t really have a lot of available inventory for them to potentially purchase at the last minute, but they would have to purchase an authentic ticket,” Smithson Green says. “You’re not going to be able to get in with something that’s on paper or on your phone. You’re going to have to have a Des Moines Performing Arts ticket to get in the door.” If you bought Hamilton tickets through the Civic Center but have some sort of emergency or conflict and now need to sell them, Smithson Green says buyers know to beware. She offers no advice for sellers, other than:
“Um, good luck,” she says, laughing. “That’s at everybody’s discretion. Things do come up and how people handle their tickets on their own, that’s their decision. We do not authenticate any tickets outside of Des Moines Performing Arts purchases.” An event was held back in November that sold out all available tickets, tens of thousands of them, but more tickets were “released” recently for sale.
There is also a digital ticket lottery for every show, offering 40 daily winners up to two tickets for just 10-dollars each. “Hamilton” runs tonight through July 15th.