In the Room Where it Happens

Back in September, I first heard the soundtrack for Hamilton. I immediately became obsessed, listening to it 3 or 4 times a day. It wasn't long before I decided that I simply had to see it on Broadway with the original cast. Luckily, this was back when it was still possible to get tickets. And if they were for the worst seats in the house seven months in the future, well, at least I had them.

It wasn't long before it became impossible to get tickets at all, and I felt more and more justified in my impulsive purchase. Even with openings in new cities and a tour starting next year, it seems impossible to get tickets. The Kennedy Center wants people to buy season passes for this year and next year (roughly $650 per person, total) to get a shot at the tickets.

Some day, I'm sure, the excitement will die down and tickets will be available for reasonable prices. But it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon.

It's a shame. This show is spectacular, and I'd like nothing more than to see it again. And again. And again. There's so much happening on stage that there was simply no way for me to absorb everything. Seeing it performed live adds so many layers to the show. The staging is fantastic, especially during the flashback song "Satisfied", and the Rashoman sequence in "The Room Where it Happens". I didn't even realize that was a Rashoman sequence, but it makes perfect sense to have the same few beats repeat several times with slight variations to illustrate the varied and incomplete accounts of that deal.

I also discovered new things that I hadn't found, even listening to the soundtrack countless times. Like the whoa-whoa-whoas coming back in "Right Hand Man". Or that fact that Washington definitely says Virginia, not Virginny (I was almost sure it was the latter).

And I was in no way prepared for the stunning presence that Okieriete Onaodowan (Mulligan/Madison) has. I knew that Daveed Diggs and Leslie Odom Jr were amazing, because everyone raves about them. And I was excited to see Javier Munoz play Hamilton. But Onaodowan absolutely blew me away. I had a hard time not looking at him every time he was on stage. Which is really saying a lot, given that cast and choreography of this show.

This show was absolutely incredible, even from the back (top?) of the theater. It helps that the theater is small enough that there aren't really any bad seats. And it was nice to get the bird's eye view of everything, even if the actors become a bit blurry from that distance.

I really hope I get a chance to see it again in the future. Hopefully not the distant future. Or that they decide to film it, so I can just watch it over and over until I know the choreography as well as the lyrics.