State Rep. Lynn Hemingway was eager to see his actress daughter-in-law, Rose Hemingway, in the traveling Broadway production of “Kinky Boots” when it came this year to the new Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City.
But expected complimentary tickets to opening night fell through, so the Millcreek Democrat quickly looked online for tickets from resellers. “It cost me $400 for two tickets,” he complains. Top face value for a ticket from the box office was $85.
The price gouging — and similar abuses he’s heard reported by constituents — upset him enough that he’s resurrecting a bill he ran unsuccessfully seven years ago that would ban scalpers, operating online or in person, from charging more than 15 percent above the face value of tickets.