Summer vacation is here, but all my two school-age daughters want to talk about is American History. Alexander Hamilton, to be precise. They’re not alone; the whole country seems to have Hamilton fever, thanks to what might be the most popular musical in decades.
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the now Pulitzer Prize-winning musical sets the life of the aforementioned founding father to a hip-hop score, portraying Hamilton and his crew as a bunch of sharp-tongued, ambitious freedom fighters. For the Tony Awards this weekend (the Tonys are like the Oscars of Broadway, for the uninitiated,) Hamilton has racked up 16 nominations. People have been joking they ought to just call the ceremony the Hamil-Tonys, this year!
My eldest daughter, Emily, has been into Broadway musicals and theater for quite some time. She has performed with my band, and takes the stage in local theater productions. She also recently traveled with her choir to New York City, where the very talented group performed at venues including Central Park and the World Trade Center memorial. (More on that in an upcoming Thought for the Weekend…)
I’m a huge history buff, so of course, I was thrilled to hear my daughter so excited about Alexander Hamilton. With her love of the score, her interest in Broadway, and an annual family trip to The City on the docket for later this year, I thought scoring tickets to my girls’ new favorite musical would be the ultimate treat.
But I think I may have underestimated just how popular this Hamilton thing has gotten – tickets start at $700! I’m pretty sure back in Alexander Hamilton’s day, you could buy a theater, pay a cast, and get a nice house in the city for that!
I looked into it, and some cities are encouraging people to subscribe now for tickets in 2018. At this rate, it’ll be Emily’s high school graduation gift – but by then, I’m sure she’ll have moved on to the next musical sensation.
I guess I’m lucky – if my girls are going to be crazy about a boy already, at least it’s one who’s been gone for two hundred years!
Don’t throw away your shot this weekend,
~Bob
