The end of an era as Lin-Manuel Miranda leaves the cast of “Hamilton”

Yesterday was a big day for Broadway musical/cultural phenomenon Hamilton, as Lin-Manuel Miranda stepped down from the title role of the show he created.

It was the event of the year (okay, decade, okay MAYBE century) and audience members did not take Miranda’s leaving lightly. As Entertainment Weekly reports, tickets to the show, which on a cheap day can cost you close to a grand, on Saturday, July 9th, were reselling for up to $20,000. USA Today reports that notable guests in the audience that night included Jennifer Lopez, Rosie O’Donnell, and Secretary of State John Kerry. false

Miranda’s guests that night literally stepped up to the occasion. When the star sang his first lyric (“My name is Alexander Hamilton”) the audience stood up and gave the theatrical auteur a minute-long standing ovation

For those that weren’t able to attend Miranda’s last performance (aka most of humanity), social media kept us up to speed with the #onelasttime, which Hamilton stans will recognize as a George Washington song from the show, in which the first president sings about teaching future presidents how to say goodbye.

The orchestra of Hamilton gave Miranda a beautiful goodbye when, at curtain call, they broke into the theme from The West Wing (Miranda has said in the past that the television show was a major influence on his musical.) false

Miranda did not greet fans at the stage door after the performance (it was pouring rain, after all), but he did appear on the balcony with an umbrella (obviously because of the rain, but also perhaps a nod to his upcoming role in the Mary Poppins reboot?). He then poked his head out of the window a few minutes later, to give the people one last pseudo-stage door moment. false

It wasn’t just Miranda’s last night, but also the final performance of two of his costars, Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Hamilton’s rival Aaron Burr, and Phillipa Soo, who plays his wife Eliza, and is now going on to play Amelie in the screen-to-stage adaptation. false false

And how did Miranda go out and celebrate his last night of Hamilton. Looks like with a haircut… false

And so, in the grand tradition of musical theater nerds, we bid Miranda and his departing colleagues a so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu, and just to throw some ABBA/Mamma Mia in there — thank you for the music, for bringing it to us.