By Jay Handelman / Herald-Tribune
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ground-breaking musical “Hamilton” has been one of the hardest-to-get tickets since before it opened on Broadway in 2015.
Theater lovers in the Tampa Bay area will be able to take an almost sure shot at tickets when the touring production of the award-winning hit comes to the Straz Center for the Performing Arts Center in the 2018-19 season.
Producer Jeffrey Seller and Straz Center president Judy Lisi announced the musical’s Tampa engagement early Sunday, though exact dates have not been released.
The touring production was previously announced for the Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Broadway series during the same season.
The musical uses hip hop, rhythm and blues, rap, jazz and other musical styles to tell the life story of Alexander Hamilton, who emigrated to the United States from the West Indies, became a chief aide to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War and the nation’s first Treasury Secretary. It also has won acclaim for its non-traditional casting choices.
The production is expected to sell out during its tour, but the Straz Center is guaranteeing patrons at least one way to ensure tickets to “Hamilton” in Tampa by subscribing to the 2017-18 Broadway season.
Subscribers to the upcoming season “who renew their subscription for the 2018-19 season will be able to guarantee their tickets for the premiere Tampa engagement of ‘Hamilton’ before tickets become available to the general public,” according to a statement from the Straz Center.