Longtime follower, first-time poster here. I've found this thread really helpful over the past few months, so I thought I'd share my experience trying to see Hamilton for the first time!
I was determined to see the Saturday matinee at 2:00 pm on July 30. I had read on here that since Lin left, they tend to give away 15-20 tickets a show. Just to be safe, I decided to get there at 6:00 am. I went with a friend who was coming from a different location and who got there about 20 minutes after I did. I was fourth in line. The three people in front of me were getting a total of four tickets (everyone in line can buy up to two), making mine ticket number five. The first people in line arrived around 4:30 am. We were confident that we and many people behind us would get tickets given the recent posts on here.
Everyone in line had a great time and got to know each other pretty well! We played mafia for awhile, sang a few songs, mused at the Scientology building across the street, etc. The eight hours could not have gone by quicker! People are super nice about letting you leave the line to use the bathroom on the eighth floor of the Marriott or grab some food (I'd highly recommend the pizza place across the street!).
1:00 pm rolled around, and an employee came to shoo away everyone except the first 20 people in line and tell those after 20 to come back at 5:30 pm for the evening cancellation line. 1:30 came, and there were still no tickets! We were getting quite nervous but were still confident.
At about 1:50, a box office employee took in the first person in line inside, then the next three people. I don't know whether they got premium, regular, or SRO. My friend and I were next in line. Finally at about 2:03, the employee came out and said she has only ONE SRO ticket remaining and said she could offer it to me if I leave my friend, or she could give it to the next person who wanted it in line. My friend was an absolute saint who told me to take it, so I went in, paid $40, ran to the back of orchestra seating, and the show started! I was the last person to get in, meaning they had ONLY FIVE CANCELLATION TICKETS for that show.
The people who were behind me in line got there shortly after 6:00 am and had come in from Philadelphia that morning but didn't get tickets. I'm telling everyone this as a cautionary tale because there's no guarantee of the number of tickets they'll have.
All in all, it was a fabulous experience for me, but I would recommend getting there NO LATER THAN 6:00 AM on two-show days. The show was obviously phenomenal, even with the OBC gone (the general consensus is that Javier is better than Lin was anyway). I was quite tired after all that time in line, so I found a little unoccupied wheelchair spot in the middle of SRO where I put a towel down and kneeled for the show. Those who were standing had a hard time seeing the action on the second tier of the set, and even I on the ground had to bend down to see it because of the mezzanine. It was also a bit distracting back there because a woman began to go into labor on the stairs and had to be carried out on a stretcher. But for $40, what more could I ask for?!?
I hope this (long) post helps, and good luck to all future queuers!
