It’s been three years since my daughter Katie told me that all she listened to anymore was the soundtrack to the Broadway show Hamilton and that the story of the man on the ten dollar bill, told from the perspective of the man who killed him in a duel, with an all-minority cast was the best thing she’d ever heard. I bought the soundtrack and she was right: it's GREAT. It’s all I listened to during the winter of 2015 and I’m pretty sure it was Spring of 2017 before I could get through the whole thing without crying my eyes out. The story of the ten dollar founding father without a father is a classic, Shakespearean tragedy, filled with political ambition, intrigue, sex, lies and heart break.
I could have seen it on Broadway back in October of ’16, along with my sister Katie and her kids but tickets were insane and I hadn’t seen The Book of Mormon, which was a fraction of the price. Besides, I kind of wanted to see Hamilton with my kids.
Then, Katie and Josie got a chance to see it in Chicago last summer so they did. Without me.
Then, every city in the world got the touring production before Minneapolis, which is BOGUS.
Why does Hamilton hate us??
Several weeks ago, tickets for the touring show went on sale in Denver. One of my sisters lives there so we all tried to get tickets.
Here’s how it worked: at 9 a.m., you logged into a website waiting room. At 11 a.m., those who had done so were issued lottery numbers. The rest of the day would be spent selling tickets to those who were lucky enough to get numbers.
Each number was allowed to buy four tickets.
We figured with four of us logged into the waiting room, one of us was bound to get tickets!
The competition was fierce.
Of all of us, MJ got the lowest number at somewhere in the thirteen thousands. We spent the next few hours getting texts from MJ and Margy regarding what number the sale had reached and how long it should be till it was our turn. It was very exciting and as the time went by, became very tense. Finally, around 3 in the afternoon, our number was up but as Margy tried to buy tickets, each show sold out. She would have just bought any four tickets but its set up so she had to choose a day then a section of the theater etc.
She basically had to guess where there were still seats available and with each wrong guess, the few remaining seats were going fast!
AAAAAAAUUUGH!!!!
We were shut out.
The digital screams of anguish we texted to each other should have melted our phones.
WHY DOES HAMILTON HATE US???
Then I got a text from Margy on a separate thread. It simply said “call me at home.”
So I did.
Turns out her sister-in-law had gotten a number in the low 2000s and had bought four tickets before lunch. Margy had had an agreement with her as well as us, so she had a pair of tickets and knew her husband had no interest whatsoever. Katie had seen the show on Broadway and logistically its much more difficult for MJ to get to Denver than me, so I got the call.
I had a ticket to see Hamilton!!
I just got back from four days in Denver, having rung in the Spring Equinox at the hottest show since Annie rocked the nation for the bicentennial.
The show lived up to my expectations. The set and staging were exactly like the original Broadway show, which we recognized, having watched the documentary on Lin Manuel Miranda’s creation from inspiration to opening. The principal characters all had magnificent voices, which was no surprise. I’m sure all the top folks are vying for parts in this one. I knew the music and lyrics were out of this world and I couldn’t wait to see how it was staged. The set was deceptively simple looking but moving parts and a turntable within a turntable in the floor made a very complicated, multi layered story easy to follow. What impressed me the most was the lighting! It was used to great effect to transport the audience from Gen. Washington’s office to the Schuyler sister’s drawing room to the battlefield in an instant. One scene actually felt like the characters were in a hurricane, due in large part to the way the stage was lit. It was on the same level of genius as the music and lyrics.
Our seats were fantastic: second row first balcony. A tall couple sat in front of us but I had no problem seeing past them…when the fella sat up straight. He had an annoying habit of tilting his head sideways! Who does that when watching a show? I could still see past Twitchy McBighead but really: who does that? I think the poor guy must have had neck problems. He should get that looked at or stay out of the theater if he doesn’t want to end up with blunt force trauma.
In addition to Hamilton, we had tickets to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the science museum. That was cool! We went with Cary, who will end up with a degree in world history or anthropology as well as fine arts and Jeff, who is interested in everything (except theater, lucky me!). We got to touch a huge block of stone that was from the original Temple of Jerusalam, as well as see parts of the ancient scrolls that serve to document much of the old Testament. It gave me goosebumps.
When we weren’t being all artsy fartsy, we binged seasons 6 and 7 of Game of Thrones. Of course, while we watched the Mother of Dragons and John Snow finally get it on, we also made jewelry. So I guess we were artsy fartsy all the time.
We went on several walks around different lakes and hiked up at least one mountain. When you walk around a lake, it’s a ‘walk’ but when it’s up a mountain, it’s a ‘hike’. That’s how we artsy people refer to where we mosey.
We packed a ton of fun into four short days. The weather was beautiful and on the last day, it reached 70!
Then it was back here, to the last gasp of winter in Minnesota.
Winter has come but Spring always wins.