Everyone who lined up outside Wharton for 'Hamilton' able to buy tickets

Lansing State Journal

EAST LANSING — "Hamilton" fans did not throw away their shot to get tickets to the musical Saturday.

Tickets didn't go on sale until 10 a.m. Saturday, but fans started lining up at 6:30 a.m., Wharton Center employee Alayna Baudry said. By the time they started giving out wristbands at 8 a.m., the line wrapped around the building.

About 360 people came to buy tickets in person at the Wharton Center, spokesperson Bob Hoffman said. All of them were able to buy tickets.

As of 12:15 p.m., tickets had not sold out, Hoffman said.

Cousins and huge "Hamilton" fans, Ella Smith, 11, left, Madison Rusnock, 10, center, and Katelyn Rusnock, 9, waited March 23 in the cold outside the Wharton Center to see if they were selected to purchase tickets for a show.

Ella Smith, 11, and her family got to Wharton at about 7 a.m., anxious to get tickets. Ella wanted to wake up at 4 a.m. to leave for East Lansing from Munith, but her mom made her wait until 5 a.m.

She's a big "Hamilton" fan. She sang "The Schuyler Sisters" for a Wharton employee and won a free T-shirt. The Wharton Center tweeted a video of Ella singing and captioned it "Ella gives Angelica a run for her money!"

That isn't Ella's favorite song — she likes "The Story of Tonight" — but she knew all the words to "The Schuyler Sisters."

Ella's mom, Heather Smith, said they had all their bases covered for tickets. They were there in person, and were waiting in the online queue. Ella's dad was at home calling in for tickets.

In the end, they managed to get two tickets online. Ella told her mom it was the "best day of her life."

Norm Sauer and granddaughter and MSU student Ellie Weise are all smiles as they were lucky to secure "Hamilton" tickets as they went on sale at the Wharton Center Saturday, March 23, 2019. They arrived at 7 a.m. in the cold to stand in line for the chance to get them.

Also among the lucky ones who got tickets was Ellie Weise, 21, and her grandfather, Norm Sauer. Weise was in the second group of random people called to get tickets, and she said she "freaked out" when she heard.

"I'm going to cry I'm so excited," she said after coming out, tickets in hand. "This is my first time being lucky for anything."

She's been listening to the music ever since her sophomore year, when she would play it with her roommates. Now she's about to graduate, and has the chance to see the musical she adores.

"There isn't anything like Hamilton," Weise said. "I'm so excited to see it after three years of watching clips on YouTube."

Christina Ramirez, who also is a Michigan State student, said she has been a fan of "Hamilton" since it came out in 2015.

She admires the creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, for the work he did to make the cast diverse and full of people of color, something that is "unseen on Broadway," Ramirez said.

"Latinx representation lacks, and having someone who gets it in the platform Lin Manuel is able to be in is important," she said. "I really like that the cast centers around POC (people of color)."

Ramirez was able to get tickets for the show online as she waited outside the Wharton Center for her chance to buy them in person.

Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.

Karyn and Lukas Darnton from Lansing, try to buy tickets online to the Broadway hit "Hamilton" as they also wait outside the Wharton Center to see if they are also selected to get tickets onsite Saturday, March 23, 2019.