How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
#1How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 2:41am
I was late in the game, I live about 5 blocks from The Public but didn't hear about "Hamilton" until I saw a 'Weekend Update' skit on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, where Kate McKinnon in her role as Russian citizen Olya Povlatsky, says the phrase she keeps hears over and over again in NYC is, "Oh my God, you haven't seen Hamilton?"
Gosh, even my husband knew what she was referring to. I started to investigate and have been invested ever since!
What's your story?
Gymfan15
Swing Joined: 6/21/14
#2How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 2:51am
Pretty sure it was here, or from a Broadway.com video. I didn't sit down and listen to the soundtrack until fairly recently; around Christmas? I can't remember what convinced me to finally sit down and give it a try but I'm glad I did. I don't usually listen to cast albums before I've seen the show.
#3How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 2:54am
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE.
THE WORLD COULD NOT HAVE EXISTED WITHOUT IT.
HAMILTON IS THEATRE. THEATRE IS HUMANITY. HUMANITY IS HAMILTON.
FOREVER AND EVER AMEN.
I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN.
I SHALL ALWAYS KNOW.
¿Macavity?
Broadway Star Joined: 1/29/16
#4How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:03am
^^^ I enjoyed that much more than I probably should have! Hahaha!
#5How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:05am
I remembered Lin's performance from the White House but thought he had given up on it. The next time I heard it was about to open at the Public. I listened to the recording the day after it was posted on NPR as a free listen. I preordered the CD and listened to the free recording until the album came! And it's been magic ever since.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#6How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:06am
The TheaterPpl Podcast had an interview with Lin in November of 2014, and that was the first I had heard in depth about it, but I had known about the workshops since 2012 maybe? I just didn't know who the heck Alexander Hamilton was.
They/them.
"Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
#7How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:15am
He's the guy on then ten-dollar bill
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
StephieElise
Featured Actor Joined: 11/12/12
#8How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:15am
It was on here. People were talking about it non-stop, but I was sure it wouldn't be my thing (I'm not American and don't like hip hop/rap music). I was fine with that and figured that if/when I got back to New York I wouldn't have to stress about fighting for tickets. Eventually all the hype here and from a few Aussie performers on Instagram got to me and I bought the cast recording in November. The next day I bought tickets for September.
#9How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:23am
gypsy101 said: "He's the guy on then ten-dollar bill"
Thank you so much.
They/them.
"Get up the nerve to be all you deserve to be."
#10How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:27am
I remember back when they did the staged reading up at Vassar under the name "The Hamilton Mixtape". The next instance was when they were gearing up for the Public run, and that is where I saw the show first. The rest is - well, you know. 
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we’re all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.” --- Patti LuPone.
Updated On: 5/11/16 at 03:27 AM
#11How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:28am
Gymfan15 said: "Pretty sure it was here, or from a Broadway.com video. I didn't sit down and listen to the soundtrack until fairly recently; around Christmas? I can't remember what convinced me to finally sit down and give it a try but I'm glad I did. I don't usually listen to cast albums before I've seen the show.
Same here. I like to be surprised at the theater. But in my investigating and learning it was Lin. I gave the cast recording a listen and it became months of listening! Thanks for sharing!
#12How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:30am
Scarywarhol said: "IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE.
Wowee
That was deep! Thanks for the passion!
#13How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:31am
Basically everyone about Hamilton.
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we’re all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience.” --- Patti LuPone.
#14How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:32am
gypsy101 said: "I remembered Lin's performance from the White House but thought he had given up on it. The next time I heard it was about to open at the Public. I listened to the recording the day after it was posted on NPR as a free listen. I preordered the CD and listened to the free recording until the album came! And it's been magic ever since.
"That album DOES put you in a trance! And compels you to wanna learn more and go deeper!" Thanks for sharing!
#15How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:35am
CindersGolightly said: "The TheaterPpl Podcast had an interview with Lin in November of 2014, and that was the first I had heard in depth about it, but I had known about the workshops since 2012 maybe? I just didn't know who the heck Alexander Hamilton was.
"That's okay! I thought AHam signed the Declaration of Independnce! My husband and I have learned so much and he loves that era in American history that's we've been able to learn so much more!"
#16How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:39am
StephieElise said: "It was on here. People were talking about it non-stop, but I was sure it wouldn't be my thing (I'm not American and don't like hip hop/rap music). I was fine with that and figured that if/when I got back to New York I wouldn't have to stress about fighting for tickets. Eventually all the hype here and from a few Aussie performers on Instagram got to me and I bought the cast recording in November. The next day I bought tickets for September.
That's the kicker! Many don't think it's for them and find themselves enjoying the whole mix of sounds! You're gonna love the show
#17How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 3:40am
ClumsyDude15 said: "
Basically everyone about Hamilton.
LOL! Yeah! In my house with me alone for sure! My husband is about to send me "to the other side"! LOL!
#18How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 4:12am
I was out
In the yard,
Taking down the bed sheets,
When my neighbor yelled across
"Hamilton the Musical"
I remember where I was,
Just exactly where I was,
In the yard out back--
"Opening on Broadway"
I was getting me a shoeshine--
--Folding sheets--
--When I heard--
Suddenly there's shouting in the street--
"I can't get tickets to Hamilton the Musical!!!"
I mean, he was crying--
He was crying--
She was crying--
I'll remember it forever...
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
indytallguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
#19How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 4:47am
@qolbinau For the Win!
I think Lin mentioned it to me when we were out at brunch. But he is always talking a mile a minute about some new thing he is thinking about doing. At some point you just nod politely while wondering why your frittata is taking so long.
#20How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 5:56am
Definitely here, shortly after the run at the Public started.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
Fan123
Broadway Star Joined: 8/30/08
#21How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:07am
Here, as with most new musicals. I didn't bother opening the Public production thread for ages, because the subject matter sounded boring and, to me, irrelevant; and what I knew of In The Heights as my main point of comparison seemed pretty mediocre. I eventually deigned to read through the thread and when more than one poster seriously compared Hamilton's quality to Sweeney Todd, that done me in. Thanks again, BWW!
nolanativeny
Stand-by Joined: 3/29/16
#22How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:27am
I can't remember exactly when it was, seems like a little over a year ago and I was scrolling through Facebook and one of my more theatre savvy friends had posted an article about it and I read the headline and it said something like "In the Heights composer to Pen Musical about Founding Fathers". I remember thinking then "that's going to be an impossible ticket" and then I didn't keep up with it and kept assuming it had already opened and it was already impossible and then I missed out on it when it actually was possible 
my fault I know.
aaaaaa15
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/31/15
#23How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:40am
Lin's Twitter sometime before they started at the Public. I remember watching the White House video at some point in 2014. I honestly thought that it didn't sound like my kind of thing but that if it went to Broadway and was there when I was in New York that I would give it a try. Then when it started at the Public I read the 'Hamilton Previews' thread on here and within about a week I knew it was something special from what people were saying. Then came the impatience of waiting until August to see it with no music to listen to and very limited clips. Worth it!
#24How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 7:21am
qolbinau said: "I was out
In the yard,
Taking down the bed sheets,
When my neighbor yelled across
"Hamilton the Musical"
I remember where I was,
Just exactly where I was,
In the yard out back--
"Opening on Broadway"
I was getting me a shoeshine--
--Folding sheets--
--When I heard--
Suddenly there's shouting in the street--
"I can't get tickets to Hamilton the Musical!!!"
I mean, he was crying--
He was crying--
She was crying--
I'll remember it forever...
^^^ I think this just made my day.
Just give the world Love.
Petrichor
Understudy Joined: 3/29/16
#25How Did You First Hear About Hamilton?
Posted: 5/11/16 at 8:05am
Tumblr, around the end of 2015. I didn't really start getting into the show until a couple of months ago, so I too am very late in the game...and definitely sad I didn't know about it sooner.
