MOST people wait their whole lives for their 15 minutes of fame. But 16-year old Zoe Coyle, from St Josephs Street in Limerick City, has had that and far more besides.
A big fan of musicals, especially the hit musical Hamilton, Zoe’s recreation of an iconic scene from the multi-award-winning production has gone viral with more than 10 million views on social media and thousands of recreations posted by fellow fans.
The popularity of the ‘@actuallyhamilt0n’ trend on TikTok is such that the Presentation Sexton Street Student even captured the attention of the mastermind behind the show, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
And to her shock and delight, she was invited to attend the premiere of the filmed version of the original Broadway production at a special New York City premiere at the Delacorte Theatre.
Zoe flew to New York and walked the red carpet, where a prop was all set up for her to re-enact her viral post of US founding father Alexander Hamilton climbing out a window to go to the duel where he would he met his end.
Having been to the premier and met the stars, Zoe told the Limerick Post she was “star-struck, but they were all lovely. I was so grateful to be invited.”
When she started to trend, Zoe had 30 followers on social media. Now she has more than 27,000.
During her time in New York, she was interviewed by today.com, the New York Times, Forbes, and Entertainment Tonight.
Hamilton is Zoe’s favourite musical, which she says she has watched “so many times I’ve lost count”.
A lover of musicals generally, she has never performed in one but says it is something she would like to do.
She is working on some new posts which are under wraps at at the moment.
“I’m looking into going to stage school. I’m planning to study to be a vet but if that (stage) opportunity opened up, I wouldn’t pass it up,” she says.
