Raffle tickets are on sale now for a chance to witness the runaway hit musical, Hamilton, when it premieres in Chicago at the PrivateBank Theatre, featuring musical direction by Northern Sky's own Colin Welford.

 

Hamilton: An American Musical, winner of 11 Tony Awards for it's Broadway run in New York, is a musical about the life of American Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton. The show, with lyrics and book written by Tony winner, Lin-Manuel Miranda, makes its way to Chicago for its first off-Broadway performance. Tickets for the Chicago production, which went on sale in June, witnessed thousands of people waiting in line at the theater box office and crashed the ticketing website countless times. Certain seats are now being sold by secondary markets for up to $10,000.

 

Northern Sky supporters, Joe and Gwenn Graboyes were able to secure a few seats to the nearly sold-out run and made the generous offer to donate two tickets to the theater to be used as a fundraising opportunity.

 

"We can't help but be fans of this creative retelling of a fascinating American story, and we are grateful to the Graboyes for thinking of us," stated Holly Feldman, Director of Development.

 

Along with a star-studded cast, the Chicago production will feature music direction by Colin Welford. Colin has a long history of working on the Broadway stage, London's West End and at Door County's own Northern Sky Theater. Colin's first production with Northern Sky was Cheeseheads, the Musical, in 2010, and his show Strings Attached, played on their summer stage in 2014 and 2015.

 

Colin met Alex Lacamoire, the music director and orchestrator for Hamilton on Broadway, back in 1991.  Alex won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for Hamilton.

 

"Alex was a 15-year-old in Miami when I met him," stated Colin Welford. "At that time I was a student and showed up at my very first paid job in this country, arriving from England, to do a community theater production for one weekend at a junior high.They had a piano player, a talented Cuban kid (Alex) but he wasn't quite ready to play a show and had too much homework, so they needed someone to take over."

"In 1994, I got a job as music director of the orchestras at the newly-formed New World School of the Arts in Miami. When I arrived, there he was again. It was Alex's high school. I had a community theatre gig a year later and there was a performance that I was going to be late for. I taught Alex the first two songs and the plan was that he would begin the show then I'd leap over the pit rail and take over. I arrived back early, in time to hear him, and he was doing so well I didn't reveal myself but let him sight-read a few more songs," added Colin.

 

Colin left Miami in 1996 and toured the US then lived in Europe for 4 years before returning to New York and the production of The Lion King on Broadway. By the time Colin conducted Lion King on Broadway, Alex was living in New York and was a regular keyboard sub.

"Now after auditioning for him and getting hired for Hamilton, Alex is MY boss!" added Colin. "I don't really know him well, but I will soon - and I hold him in high esteem already. A very talented musician and a genuinely humble, warm-hearted person. Our relationship has come full circle but it seems rather poetic and satisfying, and I'm now looking forward to getting to know him and Lin and teaming up with these seriously creative people."

 

The Chicago Hamilton production opens September 27th, 2016 at the PrivateBank Theatre. The tickets offered through the raffle are for two Dress Circle Seats on Saturday, November 5th at 8:00 pm.

 

In keeping with the tradition started in New York where patrons can enter a "Ham for Ham" lottery for a chance to win $10 seats to the performance, raffle tickets sold through Northern Sky for the Chicago production can be purchased for just $10 (a Hamilton).