Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is coming to Broadway this spring, and the ticket buying process probably isn’t like what you’ve experienced before.
As some of my readers will know, I am The World’s Biggest Bruce Springsteen Fan. So when he recently announced Springsteen On Broadway — a one-man show starring The Boss himself — I obviously had to get tickets.
With a small venue and limited dates, Springsteen on Broadway was sure to be a tough ticket. To help stop scalpers from getting a hold of the 1,000 nightly seats, Ticketmaster and Bruce used the former’s new Verified Fan system. This program requires registration ahead of the on-sale date. Once you register, Ticketmaster will look at your account to see if it can find any hints of you being a scalper or a bot. This program has also been used for Harry Styles, Hamilton, and Taylor Swift.
The system worked well for Springsteen on Broadway — at least for me. After several weeks of wondering if I’d be one of the lucky people who had the chance to buy tickets, I eventually got an e-mail from Ticketmaster telling me that I was a Verified Fan. Honestly, as The World’s Biggest Springsteen Fan, it was the most validating thing I’d ever been told.
That said, it didn’t work for all true fans. People with freakin’ Springsteen Twitter accounts didn’t even get access during the first round. I was honestly shocked that I got in, but others who were equally big fans did not. Point is: There’s a bit of luck required during this process.
The Cursed Child will be using the same Verified Fan system due to the expected demand and the high likelihood of scalpers trying to snatch up all the tickets. As someone who just went through Verified Fan for bae Bruce, here’s what to know for The Cursed Child:
- From October 1 through October 5, you’ll be able to register for the Verified Fan program with your Ticketmaster account. You must do this if you want to buy tickets. After you register, the anxiety-inducing waiting game begins.
- A day-ish before the October 18 on sale, Ticketmaster will probably send out e-mails to everyone who registered to tell them if they’ll be getting a code or not. Thousands of people from the pool of Verified Fans will be randomly selected to receive an access code for the 18th. This unique code (it can only be used once, and only for a certain amount of tickets) will give you access to the sale on October 18 — it will be sent to you that morning. If you’re not getting a code that morning, you may be told you’ve been put on standby. This means you might be sent a code a day or two later.
- Since the codes help Ticketmaster control how many people are searching for tickets, it should be easy for you to select the date that you want and get the seats that you want, so long as you look for tickets as soon as the sale begins. I was able to quickly and easily get tickets for the Springsteen on Broadway show that I wanted, but only because I was quick. Don’t waste any time!
- Your access code must be used with the same account you used to register for Verified Fan. However…
- Once you purchase tickets, you can do whatever you want with them. You can use them for yourself, you can give them to friends or family, hell, you can even sell them on StubHub (but we DON’T recommend that). Point is, the tickets that you now own are not tied to you, so don’t worry about whose name is on the order.
I have one important tip for you: You and all your friends should register for Verified Fan. Ask your friends to register even if they don’t plan on going to a performance. This helps increase the chances of you getting access to the first on-sale date. If they’re not going to the show, they can buy you tickets then you can Venmo ’em.
Whether you liked the script or not, the play is a must-see. Ticket prices and more can be found here. Good luck, everyone!
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