Posted: September 20, 2017, 1:33pm
In front of the Hollywood Pantages Theater.
This was a moment that’s been in the making for over a year. In May of 2016, my brother and I purchased 2016-2017 Pantages Theater season tickets for our parents and ourselves for their 50th birthday. From that November to this past August, we saw seven incredible shows: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Darren Criss!), The King and I, Finding Neverland, An American in Paris, The Bodyguard, The Book of Mormon, and finally, HAMILTON! The inclusion of Hamilton in this season pass was the highlight of our gift. We heard all about it in the news and loved Lin-Manuel Miranda’s previous work, so we knew that this show would be the perfect ending to a year of Broadway.
Inside Pantages Theater with the Playbill and award-winning Hamilton set!
A few friends that had seen it previously recommended listening to the soundtrack first, and I’m so glad I did (it’s available on Spotify!). Hamilton was originally created and intended to be just an audio album, so 99% of the lines of the show are actually incorporated into the songs and tracks. I would definitely have missed many of the lyrics if I were watching it for the first time since most of the tunes are rap-based and extremely fast-paced. Although I would have preferred the original cast (duh, Lin-Manuel Miranda + Leslie Odom Jr. + Phillipa Soo + Renée Elise Goldsberry + Daveed Diggs + Christopher Jackson + Jonathan Groff + all!), the touring cast did right by them and gave a spine-tingling performance. This is, by far, the best play I have ever seen in my life.
Even if you can’t make it out to see the show, I highly highly encourage you to listen to the album. This is a truly exhilarating piece of work the redefines story-telling, Broadway, and consumable media as a whole. Listen to it now!!
Published on September 20th, 2017
Last updated on December 7th, 2017