Bruce Springsteen is taking his guitars to the Great White Way. On Wednesday (Aug. 9), the rock icon announced "Springsteen on Broadway," an epic eight-week run of performances during which The Boss will make his Broadway debut in a series of shows that will mix singing, storytelling and readings from his 2016 memoir, Born to Run.
The shows at the 1,000-capacity Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway will be a chance for fans used to seeing the singer belting out his anthems in front of tens of thousands to get up close and personal in a rare intimate setting. “I chose Broadway for this project because it has the beautiful old theaters which seemed like the right setting for what I have in mind,” Springsteen said in a statement announcing the run of shows slated to kick off on Oct. 12. “In fact, with one or two exceptions, the 960 seats of the Walter Kerr Theater is probably the smallest venue I’ve played in the last 40 years.”
Springsteen will play five nights a week -- Tuesday through Saturday -- with the series currently scheduled to run through Nov. 26 after previews, which begin on Oct. 3. "My show is just me, the guitar, the piano and the words and music," he explained. "Some of the show is spoken, some of it is sung. It loosely follows the arc of my life and my work. All of it together is in pursuit of my constant goal to provide an entertaining evening and to communicate something of value."
Rumors about the Broadway show leaked in June, no doubt sending the singer's legendarily loyal fans into a frenzy in search of on-sale information. Which might explain why Springsteen sought out a reliable way to keep the sought-after tickets out of the hands of scalpers. Joining the ranks of Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, Twenty One Pilots and Depeche Mode, the rocker will employ Ticketmaster's Verified Fan system in an attempt to ensure tickets only get into the hands of true fans.
The technology, which aims to block bots that often suck up tickets for anticipated events, was rolled out in February and Ticketmaster claims it has been successful in rooting out a vast majority of scalper-related business by asking fans to register in advance and then checking their purchasing histories, social feeds and other data against known scalper identities.
Registration for "Springsteen on Broadway" will begin today and close on Aug. 27; fans will be notified of their clearance to purchase tickets, priced from $75-$850, on Aug. 29, with tickets going on sale on Aug. 30 at 10 a.m. ET. Click here for more information on registering.
"Bruce Springsteen is one of our greatest musical storytellers, and Broadway is built on a beloved tradition of musical storytelling. What a once-in-a lifetime thrill for all of us at Jujamcyn to welcome Bruce home to his rightful place in the Broadway legacy,” said Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns the Walter Kerr in a statement. The creative team for “Springsteen on Broadway” includes Heather Wolensky (scenic design), Natasha Katz (lighting design) and Brian Ronan (sound design).
