Theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh has vowed to smash the online ticket scalping market before the Broadway smash Hamilton opens in the West End next year.
Mackintosh, who owns eight West End theatres, is believed to be worth more than $1bn (£810m/€905m) and was once described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York Times.
But despite his success and fame, Mackintosh, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, said he is concerned that the reselling market is a threat to the theatre sector and the public who enjoy attending performances.
And he is determined that the controversy over the reselling of Hamilton tickets, which have changed hands for hundreds of dollars in the US, will not be repeated when the critically-acclaimed musical begins a run at London's Victoria Palace next October.
“It’s horrible and it has got to stop,” Mackintosh told the Daily Telegraph. “In the old days, with Cats, you knew who the touts were. You’d pick them out of the queue and tell them to hop it. Now you’ve got these sophisticated computer programs hoovering up tickets – and you’ve also got members of the public tempted by those inflated prices trying to sell tickets themselves.
"So I’m putting all my efforts into finding a better way of ensuring that the price originally set for a ticket remains the price you actually do pay. We’re going to stop resale except in genuine circumstances where someone is ill or can’t come and the only permitted resale will then be via the theatre.”
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