For the first time ever, the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” is coming to Connecticut. Four hundred fans lined up for tickets in Hartford on Saturday.
The first fans claimed their places outside the Bushnell Theater Friday morning. Amanda Fourtier made it close to the front – she got there at midnight.
“Or maybe a little before. So, what is that, seven-and-a-half hours now?”
I ask her if she had enough energy left to serenade us with a number from “Hamilton.”
Fourtier pulls out her phone to give herself some backing music.
[Sings] "I’m taking this horse by the reins, making Redcoats redder with bloodstains…”
Paul Marte with the Bushnell says the venue hadn’t seen lines this long since the touring production of “The Lion King” in 2006.
“We had security here all night, but now that crowds have started, we have the whole Bushnell staff here, and we’re ready to go!”
Bonds were born among hardcore musical theatre fans like Amanda Bannikov and Nikia Hall.
“Do you two know each other?”
AMANDA: “No! But we’re best friends now.”
NIKIA: “That’s right! Aren’t we all best friends now?”
“What is it that you love so much about ‘Hamilton?’”
AMANDA: “You don’t expect a historical figure to be getting a musical.”
NIKIA: “And a hip-hop musical at that. It’s hip-hop, but it’s resonating with everybody. You look at this crowd, every walk of life is represented.”
“Hamilton” opens at the Bushnell December 11.