Junior, teachers score tickets to see ‘Hamilton’ in S.F.

Junior Crystal Sun looked at her clock as the time 6 a.m. flashed on the clock on a December morning. It was long before she normally woke up, but she immediately jerked up and trudged over to her computer where she opened the “Hamilton” tickets page, determined to get tickets. Aware that it would take hours to even get the chance to purchase expensive tickets, Sun knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and was not willing to lose it.

With ticket prices maxing up to $849, “Hamilton,” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, has been on track to be the largest and most sought out hit in the history of Broadway. Those determined to purchase tickets to see the popular show were forced to wait in a waitlist consisting of thousands of people willing to pay almost any price to see the musical live. Unlike them, Sun had the opportunity to purchase up to five tickets for $145 each during the “Hamilton” presale for season ticket holders at the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco.

Four months before the ticket pre-sales began on Dec. 12, Sun became a member of the theater, and by doing so, was guaranteed a spot in line for “Hamilton.”

That morning, when Sun hurried to the ticket site, she was placed on the waitlist as the 3,500th in line out of about 100,000. It was not until Sun was in her fourth-period APUSH class that she finally reached the front of the line.

APUSH teacher Kim Anzalone and Health/Driver’s Ed teacher Amy Obenour happened to walk in while she was purchasing the tickets. Since they had both wanted tickets as well, Sun purchased five tickets for all of them.

“Normally, pre-sale tickets are $200 each, but I had the theater membership, so mine were only $145 each,” Sun said. “It was all worth it in the end because I had been waiting to get tickets for months and I really wanted to go.”

Anzalone had nearly  given up hope on buying tickets and even settled to waiting until a “Hamilton” film is released.

When Anzalone learned that Sun had been planning to go by herself, she offered to buy Sun’s ticket. She and her husband plan on taking Sun to San Francisco on June 10 to see the performance.

As a US History teacher, Anzalone had been hoping to see the show ever since it first premiered on Broadway in July of 2015. Hamilton, she said, had always fascinated her as a historical character because he was “arrogant and obnoxious and brilliant — just brilliant.”

Ultimately, Anzalone has nothing but praise for Lin-Manuel Miranda, who had created an entertaining musical that was inspired by history.

“What’s great about it is that it shows us how applicable what this guy did back in the 1700s is still applicable even today,” Anzalone said, “and how his legacy is something we take for granted.”