#2031 Hamilton in SLC

T and I went to see Hamilton today at the Eccles Theater in downtown Salt Lake City. It was phenomenal and I loved every minute of it, even when I was silently weeping.

A little background: T heard about this show back in 2016 or so. A guy who was in a rap group he liked, Daveed Diggs, was in the musical on Broadway. T bought the soundtrack and listened to it. I remember him telling me about it, that it was a history story told in rap about Alexander Hamilton. I was skeptical because it sounds pretty crazy, right? I have never been an early-adopter of anything.

I began to hear more and more about this musical; how it was changing Broadway and how it was nearly impossible to get tickets. I listen to The Dan Patrick Show, a sports radio talk show that is on every morning. One day Dan was talking about how he had gone to see Hamilton on Broadway. Sometime after that, the Hamilton Mixtape came out and Twitter just about blew up. Of course T already had the Hamilton Mixtape, so I homeshared it with him and listened to it sort of obsessively. I didn't expect to be able to ever see the musical performed live, so I didn't really listen much to the cast recording of the soundtrack.

But then, in 2017, I got an email from Broadway at the Eccles saying that the travelling show of Hamilton would be coming to Salt Lake in April 2018. I asked MT to try to get tickets for me as a Christmas gift, and he said he looked into it but wasn't able to find any. I found out that the tickets to the general public went on sale in February, and I decided that I would take a chance at getting a ticket or two if I could.

On that fateful day in February, I got in the virtual waiting room promptly at 9AM. Tickets went on sale at 10AM. Being in the virtual waiting room didn't guarantee that I would get a ticket, but it guaranteed me a place in the virtual line. Finally, at close to noon, I actually had a chance to purchase tickets. I'd made a list of dates that I would like to go, then I started clicking to try to get two seats together. I finally got what I wanted on my third or fourth try. I truly believe I may have got the last pair of seats together in the whole run. Tickets sold out completely within about ten minutes after I purchased mine.

When we got to the theater this afternoon, I was all about getting my photo taken in front of the Hamilton backdrop and buying a t-shirt (I was greedy and got two). We made our way up to our seats. They were on the top row of the box section, on the second level of the theater, and just barely left of center stage. Pretty good seats. The place was packed, sold out, and there was a definite buzz in the air. When Aaron Burr comes out with the first line "How does a bastard orphan son of a whore and a Scotsman..." it apparent that the audience was all in. When Hamilton makes his first appearance, seriously, the audience kinda lost their shit. There was cheers and applause. It must be a normal thing because the actor and the orchestra paused before continuing. It was kind of magical. There was thunderous applause after nearly every number.

The thing about the show, too, is that there is no dialogue, per se. It is all sung and/or rapped. The show is beautifully choreographed. The stage doesn't change. It's simple and effective. The focus is completely on the words. The performers were all terrific with amazing voices. The costumes are lovely.

As I was watching, I found myself more and more struck by the talent of the mastermind behind it all, Lin-Manuel Miranda. The dude is amazingly talented. I can't even wrap my mind around how his mind came up with all the words and the music and all of it. AND he played Alexander Hamilton in the original Broadway show. I follow him on Twitter. He seems like an awesome person, too. I've got a little crush, I think :)

In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Hamilton this afternoon. The theater is gorgeous. The show lived up to every one of my expectations. I was telling T that Lin-Manuel is going to be performing in Hamilton in Puerto Rico in January. How cool would it be to see Lin-Manuel himself in the musical and in Puerto Rico? (His parents are Puerto Rican.) Most likely that will not happen, but I can dream!

#satisfied