Everyone is very lucky to be alive right now as 2017 has begun and the hit broadway musical “Hamilton” is touring across the United States. The musical, written by American actor, playwright, composer, rapper, and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda has been very successful over the 2016 season. Miranda, who stars as the lead role of Alexander Hamilton, says, “What’s incredible about ‘Hamilton’ and the reason you can’t get a ticket, is because everyone’s responding to it. Everyone is seeing a bit of themselves in it.” The show was nominated for sixteen Tony Awards, and won eleven of them. Since July, the average ticket costs $750 and the show grosses around $1.9 million a week in ticket sales. The original cast recording of the album has sold over 2 million copies. The plot of the musical revolves around the life of Alexander Hamilton as a general and a politician. It shows how he and fellow politician Aaron Burr go from friends to enemies, his marriage with Elizabeth Schuyler and how he loses her trust by cheating, his disputes with Thomas Jefferson and how he later took his side, and much more. Tickets have been very limited and have been a highly wanted item for a long time. With the Hamilton National Tour, they will become more accessible.

The tour will start in San Francisco, California on March 10th and will stay until August 10. Next on the list is Los Angeles, California, where the show will be playing August 11th until December 10th. It is also planned to start in London in November. The musical will also come to Washington, D.C., but in 2018 from Mid-June to Mid-September. Other cities that will be included during the 2017-2018 season are Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; Costa Mesa, California; Denver, Colorado; Des Moines, Iowa; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Portland, Oregon; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, California; Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri; and Tempe, Arizona. The show is also planned to come to Minneapolis, Minnesota; however, this will take place during the 2018-2019 season. Other cities will be announced soon.

The cast has recently been revealed. Rory O’Malley, the current King George on Broadway, will continue playing his role for the tour. This is the same case for Joshua Henry, who is the current Aaron Burr in the Chicago show and Michael Luwoye, who is the current Alexander Hamilton alternate in the Broadway show. The rest of the cast includes Ruben J. Carbajal as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton, Jordan Donica as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, Amber Iman as Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds, Isaiah Johnson as George Washington, Solea Pfeiffer as Eliza Hamilton, Emmy Raver-Lampman as Angelica Schuyler, and Mathenee Treco as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison.

Many students are very excited for the tour and see it as a way to get tickets. Annalise Gellene, a freshman at BHS, says, “I think the Hamilton national tour is amazing because it gives everyone the opportunity to see this awesome musical.” Sam Tolar, another freshman at BHS, adds, “The Hamilton national tour allows the culture and nature of the most exclusive broadway show to be widespread. Now, someone does not have to be extraordinarily privileged to explore this new phenomenon.” The tour is definitely something to look forward to in 2017 because without it, the community would never be satisfied by the inaccessibility of tickets for this fantastic musical.