“Hamilton” Could Reap $50 Million in Pandemic Relief

How does an award-winning megahit Broadway show known the world over with four productions on tour collect up to $50 million from the federal government?

The Broadway hit Hamilton applied for $50 million — and received $30 million so far — in Covid-19 aid, $10 million for each of its separate productions, according to a New York Times report.

The Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program gave pandemic relief to the culture sector and live-event businesses, making each eligible for $10 million, so each collected the top amount to help make up for lost revenue.

Hamilton was approved for $10 million each for the Broadway production and two touring productions and is waiting to hear about approval for the other two tours, The Times reported.

Lead producer Jeffrey Seller compared his show to Chrysler and GM getting federal bailouts decades ago.

Seller said neither he and the other show producers nor its investors would get any of the funds, and it will not be used as royalties for artists, including show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The money will be used to re-open the shuttered productions and to reimburse for pandemic-related expenses that the productions incurred, he said.

With individual tickets costing hundreds and hundreds of dollars, the show’s executives sure have a lot of gall asking taxpayers to bail them out.

The #WasteOfTheDay is presented by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.