It’s been a year and a half since the Eccles Theater announced that “Hamilton” would be returning to Salt Lake City.
A month after that announcement, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Theaters across the nation shut down. Productions were postponed and canceled. Broadway had its longest closure in history.
In Utah, “Hamilton” got pushed back from December 2020 to July 2021 to December 2021.
But based on the enthusiastic reception the Broadway smash hit received during its 2018 debut in Utah, it’s safe to say that fans were likely willing to “wait for it.”
Now, after a few delays, the wait is almost over.
On Sept. 16 — just two days after “Hamilton” reopens on Broadway — tickets for the second run of “Hamilton” at the Eccles Theater will be available to the public, according to a news release sent to the Deseret News. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. MT.
How to get tickets to ‘Hamilton’
Tickets for “Hamilton” — which runs from Dec. 28, 2021, through Jan. 23, 2022, at the Eccles Theater — can be purchased at Broadway-at-the-Eccles.com and ArtTix.org. There is no in-person box office service at this time, according to the news release from Broadway Across America.
People interested in purchasing tickets to “Hamilton” should make sure they have an account set up through arttix.org beforehand — tickets for all “Hamilton” shows in 2018 sold out within four hours.
For “Hamilton,” patrons can purchase up to eight tickets per account. Prices range from $59-$169, with a select number of premium seats, starting at $199, available for all performances.
“Hamilton” will also have a special lottery, with 40 $10 seats available for each performance. Details about how to enter the lottery will be announced closer to the show’s return.
Will there be COVID-19 safety protocols in place?
The upcoming production of “Hamilton” is part of the Broadway at the Eccles series, which is currently requiring patrons to wear face coverings/masks for all performances. Additional COVID-19 related health protocols may go into effect closer to the time of the performances, according to ArtTix.org.
- “We are actively working alongside our colleagues at the Eccles Theater to bring Broadway back to Salt Lake City this fall following local, county, state and federal health guidelines, Broadway Across America said in a recent statement to the Deseret News. “As this is an ever evolving situation, the specific health and safety protocols for each engagement will be communicated to ticket holders within two weeks of the performance date.”
‘Hamilton’ in Utah
“Hamilton” was already vastly popular when it came to Utah in 2018. But now, even more people in Utah are likely interested in seeing it since a filmed version of the production hit Disney+ last year, making it available to a wider audience than ever before.
The demand for “Hamilton” hasn’t waned since its 2015 Broadway debut. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical has sparked greater interest in American history — in Utah, 2,300 high school students did extra schoolwork for a shot to see the production at the Eccles Theater in 2018.
“We didn’t have to beg them (to do this). They were on it,” Lani Baker, a teacher at Richfield High School in Sevier County, told the Deseret News at the time. “The incentive to be able to participate in seeing ‘Hamilton’ drove (students) in a way I’ve never seen — ever — as a teacher.”
Granger High School students applaud for their classmates after performing a “Hamilton”-inspired rap at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Friday, May 4, 2018. “Hamilton” returns to the Eccles Theater starting Dec. 28.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Utah has at least one other connection to “Hamilton”: Actor Thayne Jasperson, a Springville High School graduate, was in the original Broadway production and can also be seen in the Disney+ version portraying Samuel Seabury.
Jasperson previously told the Deseret News that he was somewhat skeptical when he initially received a pitch from a casting agency that said, “We have a new musical about Alexander Hamilton. It’s told through rap. Are you interested?”
But after participating in the show’s first workshop, which started in January 2014, he changed his tune.
“It’s crazy because right from the get-go, hearing the music and going through the whole story in our first workshop … I thought, ‘This is incredible. This is going to be a huge hit,’” said Jasperson, who will be in the “Hamilton” production reopening on Broadway Sept. 14.
“I don’t think anybody knew the way that it would become this outlandish show that everyone is dying over now.”
Now, “Hamilton” continues to sell out fast everywhere it goes. And in just a few days, Salt Lake City will likely play a part in keeping that trend alive and well.