Why wasn’t Hamilton around while I was in High School? I’ve been known to take Billy Joel lyrics and use them as part of a history paper. There’s no doubt I would have used this show to help me through school.
I remember hearing about Broadway’s Hamilton years ago; something attracted me to the idea of the show. I remember thinking this Lin Manuel Miranda guy might be someone to watch. What I’ve learned since then is that I wasn’t wrong for feeling these things.
Being from New York gives us the benefit of having Broadway as our neighbor. We were lucky enough to go on field trips to see shows, watch others with family and come to appreciate theater as we got older. You may have heard us joke that Papa Dillo is big into sports movies and usually cries at the end. Hopefully he doesn’t mind us calling him out, cause here’s the thing-I do it too. I also cry when someone wins a game show and when the actors take their bow on stage at the end of a Broadway show.
I’ve had the Hamilton Lottery app on my phone for a long time. I tried time and time again, only to receive the ‘sorry try again’ message. I was determined that one day it would work!
..it didn’t.
But that’s ok! And that’s because tonight, Mr. Snydillo and I finally got to see the show we have been waiting so long to see. You might say we were willing to wait for it…and it was worth the wait.
There is a chance someone out there did not take advantage of the show being released on Disney Plus today and watch it immediately. For them, I’m not going to do a full in depth review. Instead I will talk about the feels I had while watching:
To be able to research Hamilton and then take what you learned to write his story in this way is mind blowing. The style of each song, the staging, the execution of each performance was beyond words. It only enforced that feeling I had long ago that this Lin Manuel Miranda guy was one to watch.
I miss Broadway. I miss seeing live theater. I miss the performances of so many talented actors. I miss the feeling it gives you. But I am so thankful that we were all able to get a piece of that back today. We are able to share the experience of this amazing show. We can talk about it, share thoughts, opinions, feelings. It’s like we all got to rent out the theater for a VIP performance.
I will be watching it again.
Going back to my second point, a few months ago all of our lives got turned upside down. There are still surges happening across the country, restaurants aren’t at full capacity, businesses haven’t opened and Broadway won’t return until 2021. So many you saw on stage and so many you didn’t see off stage are out of work. The Broadway Cares Covid-19 Emergency Assistance Fund helps entertainment professionals meet coronavirus-related expenses and other challenges brought about by the pandemic. If you’re able to donate, please consider doing so by clicking on this link: https://donate.broadwaycares.org/campaign/covid-19-emergency-assistance-fund/c276873. Once the lights go back up on Broadway, I want to see all these talented performers doing what they love once again!
Maybe I’ll do a spoiler filled review after my second viewing….stay tuned!
-Jen