Huge Crowds Line Up To Buy 'Hamilton' Tickets In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Though it is months away from opening night, hundreds of people were lined up Monday morning to try to buy tickets for the anticipated San Francisco debut of the Broadway hit 'Hamilton.'
Some people lined up to buy tickets to see the hip-hop musical about the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton at the SHN Orpheum Theatre box office as early as noon on Sunday.
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"I am here to get the tickets that I've been dying to get for a really long time," said 'Hamilton' fan Vanessa Candelario.
The box office opened at 10 a.m. Monday morning. Some ticket buyers had been working in shifts to keep their spots in line. Two fans KPIX 5 spoke with were at the front of the line at 4 a.m. in the morning.
"HAMILTON" IN SAN FRANCISCO - Show Dates & Info
"Her and her best friend waited here for like 18 hours, but they had to go to class. So we took their spot in line and now we're just waiting to get the tickets," said Reid Cammack of San Francisco.
While most of the people KPIX 5 talked with are huge 'Hamilton' fans, some admitted that they had been paid by other people just to stand in line for a ticket.
Others planned to sell the coveted tickets at a premium. 3rd party retailers like Stubhub.com showed tickets for the show running between $1,000 and $3,000 each.
"I might sell some of them," said Taylor Grove of Oakland. "Probably hold on to most of them."
"I'm buying an extra set of tickets so I can sell them at my school auction," said Oakland resident Sarah Gahl.
Selling tickets at more than face value is technically against the theatre company's rules. But with this kind of popularity, there's no shortage of buyers.
"It's kind of celebrating the diversity in the United States," said fan Elizabeth Bowman of San Francisco. "Obviously the music is really hip and fun. It's not your typical 'The King and I' type musical."