Jeri and Doak Gintert are the first to acknowledge being the luckiest people in the Bay Area on Friday night.

Not only did they win the SHN ticket lottery for the first showing of “Hamilton,” the $10 tickets were closer to the show’s climactic duel than some cast members get.

“I bought the tickets … thinking that we might have obstructed views, or that we might be separated. We have center stage, Row 2,” Jeri Gintert said. “I screamed. I thought my daughter was playing a trick, and he thought it was a hoax. Until we got tickets here, we had no idea it was real.”

Front row or back, the 2,200 or so people with the first San Francisco “Hamilton” tickets were feeling more than satisfied. Friday night’s performance at the Orpheum Theatre was the first of two weeks of shows before the official press opening on March 23. “Hamilton” has a run through Aug. 5.

Renee Jossen and 11-year-old daughter Avery were so enthusiastic about their “Hamilton” tickets, their response came out in stereo.

“I’m excited!” they exclaimed simultaneously, just minutes after learning their tickets were in the eighth row.

The mood outside the first showing of “Hamilton” was its own kind of theater, filled with broadcast media trucks, curious onlookers and ticket-holders who still couldn’t believe their fortune — even though most got their tickets in December.

The musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, about the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton, premiered in New York in 2015. It won 11 Tony Awards in 2016, plus a Pulitzer Prize for drama. A very tough ticket in New York, it has been no easier in San Francisco — arguably exceeding the hype surrounding the SHN-hosted run of “The Book of Mormon” and, further back in the day, “The Phantom of the Opera,” which sat down here for five years.

There was a festival atmosphere as fans gathered in front of the theater before the doors opened at 7:20 p.m. for the 8 p.m. showing, taking photos in front of the murals on the side of the 91-year-old Market Street theater.

“Hamilton” superfan Grace McNally, 17, showed up in period clothing including a blue George Washington-style coat that she wore for Halloween. McNally said she has been “obsessively listening to the album for about a year.”

“I’m freaking out,” she said. “My legs are shaking. I’m so excited. This whole thing doesn’t feel real yet.”

A few feet away, brothers Jordan and Justin Corley, ages 16 and 14, had differing levels of enthusiasm.

“Honestly, I’ve been hyped since we got the tickets,” Jordan Corley said. “The soundtrack was amazing.”

Justin, less of a fan but still having a good time, confirmed that the tickets, a Valentine’s Day gift from their parents, made an impact with his brother.“He freaked out,” Justin Corley said. “He went crazy. He was like jumping over the walls.”

Off to the side, Janae Corley may have been having the best time of all.

“It’s hard to make teenagers happy, but if you can do that with theater tickets, that’s a family win,” she said. “My kids want to spend the night with me on a Friday night, and be in the city and just be a part of all of this. I can’t think of anything better.”

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicle’s pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub

“Hamilton”: Scheduled SHN run through Aug. 5. Ticket information and more: www.hamilton.shnsf.com