Our founding father, Alexander Hamilton, once said, “Look around. Look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now.” Okay. He didn’t say it, but his character in the Tony Award winning show Hamilton did. And he was right when one looks at the epic line-up coming to 2018-2019 Fairwinds Broadway Across America series at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando.

The Broadway Across America series has always brought fantastic shows to Central Florida, but this years’ is more anticipation than ever before. The series starts in October and runs through June and includes classics like, Hello Dolly, White Christmas and Fiddler on the Roof, and new blockbusters such as Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away and perhaps the most anticipated show of them all, Hamilton. There is even a more family-oriented option in the adaptation of the classic, Anastasia.

There is so much buzz about this season, that the only way to guarantee tickets to the shows was to be a season ticket holder for the 2017-2018 season, thus giving patrons the first rights to buy ’18-’19 season tickets. Dr. Phillips added more season ticket availability in anticipation of the surge in sales. They were right! Currently, there are no season tickets available until after April 14 and even then, there won’t be many due to a lengthy waiting list.

Patron’s drive from hours away to enjoy the show and these monthly shows make for a great date night. Patricia Martinez, from Deland, has been a season ticket holder (and the cause of many friends’ envy) for three years. She and her husband, Carlos, enjoy these “mandatory” date nights, as she calls them, as a way to reconnect with her husband, while enjoying musical theater and having a little time away from their three children.

 “Since we have season tickets, we have a scheduled date night each month. It’s a time that we get to take a moment to slow down our schedules and I love that this year I’m excited about every show,” she said. “We may even buy extra tickets to take our kids to see Anastasia, because they love the theater, and we love exposing them to culture, art and being able to do that as a family in a fun environment,” she added.

The season was just announced in mid-March and so the individual show tickets aren’t available yet, but when the are you’ll want to get online ASAP, and “Don’t throw away your shot.” (Hamilton)