The Minneapolis engagement of "Hamilton" is virtually sold out, and scalper tickets can cost as much as a used car. But a lucky few will get prime seats for $10 each through a daily lottery announced Friday morning.
Forty tickets in the first two rows will be distributed through a digital lottery for each show during the blockbuster musical's Aug. 29-Oct. 7 run at the Orpheum Theatre.
There's also a cool resonance to the lottery price: Hamilton's face graces the $10 bill.
Those who wish to enter the lottery must first register online at hamiltonmusical.com/lottery or via the official "Hamilton" app, available at the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. (As a bonus, the app includes "Hamilton" trivia and even karaoke.)
Starting Aug. 27, the lottery will open at 11 a.m. two days before the designated performance and close 22 hours later. (On days with both matinee and evening performances, you can enter the lottery for both shows.)
Entrants will be notified whether they won or not at 11 a.m. the day before the show, via e-mail and text message. Winners then have a five-hour window, until 4 p.m., to purchase tickets (online only, by credit card).
Winners can pick up their tickets at the Orpheum box office starting two hours before showtime. They must present a valid photo ID. Tickets are void if resold.
Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton — immigrant, revolutionary and founding father — opened on Broadway three years ago and has spun off two touring troupes plus productions in Chicago and London. Each offers a daily online lottery.
The lottery is intended to keep the show within reach of fans, especially young Hamilton-heads who may not have the big bucks that ticket prices command.
What are the odds of winning?
"I have no idea," said spokesman Dale Stark of Hennepin Theatre Trust, which is co-presenting "Hamilton." For past touring shows, it has offered a student rush line. Typically, 200 people might contend for a couple dozen tickets, at perhaps $25 apiece. "We expect 'Hamilton' to be significantly more," he said.
Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390 Twitter: @rohanpreston
