Overview
It has won 11 Tony Awards. It's one of the Obamas' favourite musicals. A filmed version of its Broadway production was nominated for several Golden Globes. Now Lin-Manuel Miranda's game-changing musical Hamilton is finally making its way to Australia, with its Sydney Lyric Theatre season kicking off on March 17 — and, if you're as keen to attend as its namesake was about American politics in the 18th century, you just might be able to nab yourself a cheap ticket.
As happened with The Book of Mormon before it — and is presently happening with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's current Melbourne season, too — a ticket lottery is being held for Hamilton. And, this one is cheap. Very cheap, in fact. Via Today Tix, you can sign up for your chance to score a ticket for just $10. Yes, that figure is accurate.
You won't want to throw away your shot to see the most talked-about musical of the decade for less than the price of a cocktail. To take part in the lottery, you will need to download the Today Tix app — which is available for iOS and Android — and submit your entry each Friday for the next week's performances. The lottery will go live at 12.01am every Friday morning, starting from March 5, with winners drawn between 1–6pm on the following Thursday. If your name is selected, you'll have an hour to claim your tickets from when you receive the good news.
If you need a reminder, you can also sign up for lottery alerts via Today Tix, too.
Joan Marcus
The critically acclaimed hip hop musical, for which Miranda wrote the music, lyrics and the book, is about the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as well as inclusion and politics in current-day America. As well as its 11 Tony Awards, which include Best Musical, it has nabbed a Grammy Award and even a Pulitzer Prize.
After hitting Broadway in 2015, then West End in 2017, Australians are finally getting their turn. Usually, tickets will set you back $70–250 a pop — so the $10 lottery really is an absolute bargain.
There's no word yet on whether Hamilton will head to other Aussie cities later on. It's possible, as other big musicals, such as The Book of Mormons, have. But, if you don't want to risk it, those located interstate should to start planning a trip ASAP — we think it'll be more than worth it. Of course, if you're hoping to make the journey to NSW from elsewhere, you'll want to keep an eye on internal border requirements.
This isn't Miranda's first musical to hit Australia, either, with his take on the classic 2000s film Bring It On: The Musical hitting Melbourne in 2018 and quadruple Tony Award-winning In The Heights playing a short season at the Sydney Opera House in 2019.
In the meantime, you can watch the filmed version of Hamilton with the original Broadway cast on Disney+ — yes, it's as phenomenal as you've heard.
Hamilton will make its Australian premiere at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from Wednesday, March 17–Sunday, September 5, 2021. To enter the Today Tix $10 lottery, download the company's iOS or Android app, and head to the company's website for more information — and to set up an alert.
Images: Hamilton, Broadway. Photos by Joan Marcus.