Former First Lady Michelle Obama fills the house at each stop on a 10-city book tour that began three weeks ago in Chicago and reaches Detroit next Tuesday.
Nearly all 21,000 tickets at Little Caesars Arena are sold, with just 27 "platinum seats" available Thursday from Ticketmaster at $470-$750 (plus fees) in Rows 1 and 3-5 in the blue main floor sections shown below.
Fewer than 30 seats in the blue areas are available at face value for $470-$75. A few in Section 2 are online at $2,213 (13th row) to $5,112 (third row).
Many dozens more (perhaps hundreds) are listed by resellers, including some upper-level ones as low as $128 (StubHub) to $223 (Secure Box Office). Those brokers and one called Vivid Seats also have a handful of front and center spots for big shots with big bucks:
- Third row, center section: $4,426 to $5,112 (yes, per seat!)
- Eighth row, center: $2,686 to $3,102
- 13th row, center: $2,213 to $2,556
Detroit tickets originally began at $29.50 for the furthest seats when they went on sale Sept. 21. And 2,100 people will attend for free, thanks to a donation by Obama and Live Nation of 10 percent of tickets at each stop to local schools, charities and community groups.
The ex-president's 54-year-old spouse is promoting her 448-page memoir, "Becoming," at appearances billed as "An Intimate Conversation." After her opening remarks and anecdotes from the book, she takes written questions relayed by a moderator.
Obama's remarks have made news at some stops, incuding last Saturday in Brooklyn when she was asked about work-life balance, leaning in and having it all. The past first lady replied frankly:
"That whole 'so you can have it all.' Nope, not at the same time. That’s a lie. And it's not always enough to lean in, because that shit doesn't work all the time."
After the audience gasped, laughed and clapped, Obama quipped: "I thought we were at home, y'all. I was getting real comfortable up in here. I forgot where I was for a moment."
Her hot-selling book is already in a second printing, with 2.8 million copies published -- including 28 foreign language editions.
