The London production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop musical surpasses The Book of Mormon as it hikes premium ticket prices

Premium seats for the London production of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit hip-hop musical, are now among the most expensive tickets in West End history.

Some premium tickets for the show at the recently renovated Victoria Palace theatre have been increased by 25% and are now on sale for £250 for performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That relates to tickets bought for the new booking period, for performances from the end of July to mid-December 2018. In the previous booking period, the top-price ticket was set at £200.

West End theatre fans expressed dismay online at the price hikes. “Anything but surprising,” wrote one user on Theatre Board. “I booked (a year ago) to see it a second time during the first booking period because I thought it was a safe bet prices would rise very sharply when they opened a new booking period … People will still pay, but this sets a precedent. Where one show leads, others will follow.”

Research by the Stage newspaper last year revealed that the most expensive tickets for more than half of West End shows are now priced above £100. The most expensive ticket in the Stage’s 2017 survey was for The Book of Mormon (£202.25). In 2015, Elf – the Musical was offering premium tickets at £240. The most expensive premium tickets in the West End for both parts of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are £125 each.

Timeline How Hamilton the Musical became a smash hit Show Hide January 2015 Hamilton, a new musical written by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, has its first performances off-Broadway at the Public theater in New York. Its subject is the US founding father who was the first secretary of the Treasury. February 2015

As the show opens officially, it wins praise from critics, particularly for its innovative blend of musical styles, from rap to operetta. In her four-star review, the Guardian’s Alexis Soloski calls the show "brash, nimble, historically engaged and startlingly contemporary". August 2015

After selling out its run at the Public, the show opens on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers theatre and there is huge demand for tickets. February 2016

The original Broadway cast recording wins a Grammy award for best musical theatre album. March 2016

Miranda visits the White House to perform songs from the musical and a video of him freestyling in the Rose Garden with President Barack Obama goes viral. First lady Michelle Obama calls the show “the best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen in my life”. April 2016

Hamilton wins the Pulitzer prize for drama. June 2016

The musical breaks records, winning 11 Tony awards – at a ceremony that takes place after news breaks of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida. Miranda performs a sonnet in praise of his wife and son, ending with the words: “Now fill the world with music, love and pride.” July 2016

Miranda stops performing in the show to pursue other opportunities, including starring in a sequel to Mary Poppins. A spoof version of the musical, Spamilton, opens in New York. October 2016 A production of Hamilton opens in Chicago and runs concurrently with the Broadway version. November 2016

Vice-president-elect Mike Pence sees the show in New York. From the stage, actor Brandon Victor Dixon addresses him directly, saying: “We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.” On Twitter, Donald Trump condemns their “terrible behaviour” and says he hears the show is “highly overrated”.

January 2017

The first cast members are revealed for a West End production of Hamilton. December 2017

The show opens to five-star reviews at the newly renovated Victoria Palace theatre in London. March 2018 The London production of Hamilton gets 13 Olivier nominations, making it the most nominated show in the history of the awards. July 2020 A filmed version of the Broadway production debuts on the Disney+ streaming service, warmly welcomed while the world is still in lockdown over the coronavirus crisis.

These are all official prices: tickets for popular productions such as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have been put up for sale on secondary ticketing websites for thousands of pounds. In London, Hamilton is operating a paperless ticketing system to combat touts.

There are 240 tickets priced at £37.50 or less for every performance of Hamilton. The musical also has a lottery system, with winners able to buy one or two tickets for £10 each. Hamilton’s lottery initiative began on Broadway, where top-price seats for the show are far more expensive than in London. During the lucrative Christmas period in 2017, premium tickets for the New York production reached an eye-watering $1,150.