Bruce Springsteen Is Bringing His Music and His Memories to Broadway
“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.”
The show, “Springsteen on Broadway,” will run five nights a week, Tuesday to Saturday, at the Walter Kerr, the rose-and-gold-decorated jewel box on West 48th Street
that last housed the short-lived “Amélie: A New Musical.” The official opening is set for Oct. 12, and the run is planned through Nov. 26.
What they have in common is Bruce Springsteen, who sold out MetLife three times last year and is coming to the Walter Kerr in October for eight weeks of solo shows
that he wants to be “as personal and intimate as possible.”
“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,” Mr. Springsteen said in a statement.
In addition to his music, the show will feature Mr. Springsteen, 67, reading excerpts from his 2016 autobiography, “Born to Run,”
and performing other spoken reminiscences written for the show.
But one aspect of it has still held some suspense: How would Mr. Springsteen, who has had well-documented
frustrations with scalpers, handle what will surely be a crushing ticket demand?
The system, which Ticketmaster has been using since February, asks prospective buyers to register in advance,
and checks users’ purchase histories and even social media activity to confirm their legitimacy.