It’s official – Denver’s Buell Theatre is “not throwing away its shot” to host Tony Award-winning musical 'Hamilton' for the 2017-2018 season.
Demand for tickets is soaring, so the Denver Center for the Performing Arts recommends buying a 2016-2017 ticket package to guarantee a seat for the show.
In the meantime, here are some interesting Hamilton facts to tide you over until the show.
1. Hamilton is the Broadway debut for Phillipa Soo, the woman who plays Eliza Schulyer Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton’s wife.
2. Jonathan Groff (King George III), introduced Soo and her eventual husband, Steven Pasquale (Rescue me, The Good Wife). Groff is rumored to have officiated their wedding, but this is not confirmed.
3. Daveed Diggs (Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson) and Leslie Odom Jr (Aaron Burr) were in an episode of Law and Order: SVU together (“Community Policing” Oct., 2015)
4. Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is part of the team writing the music for the new Disney movie Moana. If he wins an Oscar for Moana, he will reach EGOT status – meaning he will have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
5. The Hamilton team collaborates with Graham Windham, a social-service agency that was founded by Eliza Schuyler Hamilton in 1806. Back then, it was New York City’s first private orphanage, serving 16 orphans. Today it serves more than 4,000 children in the city.
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6. Lin-Manuael Miranda is set to leave the show on July 9, when his contract ends. Fans who are worried about missing the original cast don’t need to worry though, Miranda has promised they will film performances.
7. During this year’s Tony Awards, the cast performed “History has Its Eyes on You” and “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down).” “Yorktown” usually features loud props, such as muskets, but cast members performed sans-muskets out of respect for earlier events in Orlando.
8. Whenever a new actor takes over the role of King George III, there is a “changing of the garter” ceremony. It was all started by Brian D’Arcy James, who played King George in off-Broadway productions. When Jonathan Groff took over, all the characters named George gathered together and a garter was “ceremoniously” passed on. Royalty typically wear garters for ceremonial events.
9. Wesleyan University in Connecticut, has established the Hamilton Prize for Creativity. Lin-Manuel Miranda graduated from Wesleyan in 2002, and Hamilton director Thomas Kail graduated in 1999. The prize is for an incoming student, class of 2021, whose creative work- whether it be poetry, lyrics, nonfiction or other - most embodies the spirit of Hamilton.
10. The #Ham4Ham experience lets people enter a lottery to win front row tickets to a show. About 21 winners get to experience the show for a Hamilton, or $10, explaining the meaning behind the hashtag.
