Students Surprise NJ History Teacher With 'Hamilton' Tickets

PLUMSTED TOWNSHIP, NJ — Thomas Corby isn’t a huge theater fan. He isn’t the type to pop up to Manhattan to catch a Broadway show on a whim.

For the last four years, however, he’s been on a mission, trying to win tickets to see "Hamilton: An American Musical," the wildly popular show by Lin Manuel Miranda.

"I was entering the lottery for tickets every day," Corby said Wednesday afternoon. "I put the app on my phone. I was even entering when I couldn’t get there, just hoping it might give me a chance."

Corby, a history teacher at New Egypt High School, said it even became a running joke with his classes. "My phone would go off. 'Oops, lost again.' I never really realized how much they were paying attention."

On Monday, Corby found out, as his students granted his wish: They purchased the tickets for him.

"There were more than 30 students who chipped in," said Hanna Downs, one of the organizers of the effort to purchase the tickets for Corby and his wife, Kelly. The cost: $610.

Their favorite teacher’s reaction at receiving the tickets? Priceless. You can see the video here:

Downs shared the video on Twitter Monday afternoon, and the post has been retweeted nearly 4,000 times and liked nearly 32,000 times as of Wednesday evening.

"I thought they were gag tickets," Corby said. "They gave me the most beautiful card and I thought the tickets were a joke. Then Megan holds the poster up and says 'you're going.' "

"It just shows how much they do care, because it’s such a personal gift," he said.

Downs, who is a student in Corby’s Advanced Placement Government class, said the students wanted to do it for him because of the kind of teacher he is.

"He's always there to give you advice if you need," she said. A couple of years ago, there was a death of one of the school’s teachers, who also was a coach. It hit the community hard, she said. Corby helped students work through some of the grief.

"He helped us by having us write on and reflect on our memories," Downs said. "He helped us make his (the coach’s) memory live on."

"I haven’t met one student who didn't like him," she said.

It’s not just his ability to connect with his students as people; he also makes history fun, Downs said.

“I’ve taken all five of his classes," she said. "He always finds ways to make it exciting, with new lessons and activities."

"History is exciting and fun," Corby said. "It’s not about dead people and dates."

Though it seems natural that a history teacher would be interested in a musical that delves into an important piece of American history, Corby said it wasn’t until he heard Miranda perform one of the songs from the musical at the White House for President Barack Obama that he became excited to see it.

"One of my students (four years ago) told me about it and said we ought to go see it," Corby said, adding that he hadn’t really heard of it at first. "I told him (the student) to go ahead and get tickets."

The student came back and told him the show was sold out, he said.

" 'So pick another date,' I told him. 'It's sold out for the next year,' he said." Corby said. "Here I am, as naive as can be, thinking, who is doing a play about Hamilton that’s sold out?"

After hearing Miranda’s performance for Obama, he understood. And he felt a kinship, too.

"I try to teach history the way Lin Manuel teaches in a Broadway show," he said. "We make it fun. We make it interesting."

Two days after being surprised by his AP Government and History students, Corby is still in a bit of shock. The tickets, purchased for the July 25 show, were chosen with the cooperation of Corby’s wife.

"(Corby’s) sister-in-law works in the front office," Downs said. "She put us in touch with his wife."

"Basically the whole entire school knew except him," she said. "I can’t believe we pulled it off."

"My wife was so excited, and she knows nothing about history. I can’t believe I was that oblivious," Corby said with a laugh. He said they are turning it into a full evening, with dinner and plans to stay in the city overnight. "My mother-in-law is all lined up to watch our three kids. We can’t wait."

"We were so excited seeing how happy he was," Downs said. "He was genuinely so happy," even shedding a few tears.

Now the students are on a dual mission: to get Corby on the daytime talk show hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, and to have him meet Miranda. They’ve been tweeting at both Miranda and the staff of Ellen’s show, hoping to get their attention.

Miranda already has responded to the Downs’ tweet of the video showing them presenting the tickets.

"Making your teacher cry happy tears is SO many bonus points for The Good Place. Great job Hanna, great job kids. Enjoy, Mr. Corby." he said, retweeting the video.

But Downs said they’re continuing to work on it because they want to make it happen.

"I'm not going to doubt a thing these kids say," Corby said. The response already has been overwhelming, with text messages from former students and others setting his phone off continuously. A thread on reddit had 20,000 likes early Wednesday, and national media, including Good Morning America and Inside Edition have picked up the story.

"You give yourself to them as much as possible," Corby said. "You have to connect with every student."

"For them to see how they could make this better for me is really touching," Corby said.

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