Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Hamilton

My husband and I were in a rental car in Arizona this past March.  Well, my pandora settings were messed up and we kept getting the same songs over and over and over again.  I think we heard a lot of Chicago and several Disney songs and my husband and I were getting quite frustrated at the mix of music.  When my husband complained and groaned about the repeats, I told him to figure the app out.  I was driving.  So, he did.
Soon, a song from some unknown musical called Hamilton played.  Brad remarked that it was Hamilton.  I said, ya so?  He explained that there was a lot of buzz about the musical in the theatre community and that everyone says it's really great.  That was my first exposure to Hamilton.  I honestly cannot remember the song.  I don't think I was impressed.
I returned home and strangely, like the principles of the secret, I started attracting a whole bunch of information about Hamilton.  I found out that tickets were sold out for over a year at Broadway.  I found out that tickets for horrible seats were going at over $1000 and soon, I was intrigued.  OK.  I was very intrigued.  What can be so amazing?
During my cousin's engagement, I asked a relative of mine about Hamilton.  She had watched it and she said that she had known about Emanuel Lin or whoever the main person was and she knew his works were phenomenal and so she watched it before it became "Hamilton".  I asked her what she thought about the musical and she said "it was life changing!"  "Life changing?" I asked.  "Yep!  Life changing!"  Well, being that she's younger I thought that maybe she was exaggerating.  Then I saw a skit comparing the excitement of finding out one is pregnant with the excitement of getting Hamilton tickets.  Of course, the concept of "life changing" came up again and I think the skit really hit it home to me that I had to watch this musical.  There was no choice in the matter.  Recently, another acquaintance of ours had gotten the opportunity to see Hamilton in NY and while I don't know how she got access to tickets, I followed her FB post.  She was an older woman with 4 children and I would think, more mature.  Her FB status basically talked about how she couldn't express her emotions at the musical, it was not possible to put on paper.  She had stated how phenomenal it was and "life changing".
Fast forward this weekend.  My husband and I wake up and are both still in bed browsing through our phones before getting up.  My husband mentions my name and when I turned my head to ask him what he wanted I saw his shocked face.  "What?" I ask.  I thought someone had died.  "Hamilton is coming to the Fox!" and in the same breath as he's reading the article of the announcement, he says, "But you do realize we won't get tickets!"  He goes back to reading the article.
I pick up my phone as he's talking to me about not getting tickets and reading the article out aloud.  I dial my Fox contact.  He answers.  I explained that Fox had announced its 2017-2018 lineup and that I wanted 2 tickets to Hamilton.  He said that I was the 6th person to call him and that he was only allowed 2 extra tickets so he wasn't sure he could swing it.  My husband says, "I told you so!"  I say, "No!  I will not quit.  Hold on."  I text a Jewish friend of mine.  The religion is important because this was a Saturday.  Jews practice Shamas or something where there don't use any electronics from sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday.  My text basically said that I knew he won't get this message 'til sundown but that I had found out about Hamilton and wanted tickets.
Well, the only other way to get tickets is by getting a subscription to the 2016-2017 season and that would secure tickets when you renewed the 2017-2018 season.  I told my husband that if I didn't hear back from my friend by Sunday, I was going to get a subscription to Fox.  I checked out the 2016-2017 season and the shows were all ones I hadn't watched before and would be really interested in.  So, it was win-win.
Sunday came around and no, I did not hear from my friend and on Monday morning I called Fox theatre and bought a subscription, 2 tickets, to the 2016-2017 season.  I checked if that would secure tickets for Hamilton for the 2017-2018 season when I renewed and they said it would.
Last night, my friend called.  He said, "I can get your Hamilton tickets.  I'll get the pre-sale form and fill it out for you."  He apologized for not calling but apparently 2 Jewish holidays were back to back so he didn't have his phone 'til Sundown Monday and I was the first person he was calling.  I explained that I had figured when I didn't hear from him that I thought he had other people he had promised the tickets to and so I had bought a subscription.  No harm done.  He thought getting a subscription was a great idea for me anyways because I loved musicals.
I was going to get a symphony orchestra subscription this year, but Fox tipped my hand.  So, I will God willing be going to 6 Fox shows this season and come next season, I will finally be able to talk about what the Hamilton hype is all about.
A good friend of mine said that I'm going to be getting new best friends overnight when they find out that I have a subscription to the Fox.  When I can get pre-sale tickets I will find out how many.  I know 2 people who already want the tickets.  I will save one for my niece, even if she doesn't ask!  We'll see how this whole thing plays out.
For now, I'm just excited to have the opportunity.
Best to you all,
TTR

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