Hamilton

In Chicago, Music February 3, 2017

A show so nice. I saw it twice.

Italian Village

After dinner at Revival Food Hall, we headed over to the the bar at Italian Village. My friend’s godfather is THE Vinny, who has been bartending there for over 60 years! He only works days so I didn’t get to say hello, but if you’re in the area, he is there for lunch.

Lifers: Vince Masini, Italian Village Bartender For 58 Years (2013)

Marquee Photography

If you want a decent photo in front of the marquee, bring a camera with flash. It works much better than a camera phone.

Hamilton

I’m not sure I can put into words how obsessed I became with the show after seeing Hamilton. What’s funny is I wasn’t very excited to see it and thought I would get a good nap in. What happened afterwards was, I stayed up for a few nights listening to all the songs again, the Mixtapes and reading everything I could find online about the musical, including all the annotations. Since seeing Hamilton, I’ve been studying and listening to each song trying to memorize each one perfectly. I have no idea why.

What was so great about Hamilton? Well, for one, I hated history but only because it was never taught to me in a way that I was able to, or wanted to make a connection with it. Seeing Hamilton made me want to restructure the entire American educational system because it’s all so antiquated. Seeing Hamilton made me sad that I missed years of thirst for American and World history when I was young. It’s bizarre but I want to know everything now, about every country in the entire world.

Musically, the songs were dynamic, melodic and catchy. Transitioning from one song to the next had enough contrast and variety that it kept you alert. Every single grabbing “music hook” was used: harmony, key changes, the minor to major switches, it was all there. I loved the contrast between something so old mixed in with something so new. Petticoats and rap battles. Who knew? There were underlying themes of love, tragedy and forgiveness. There were moments when you saw how our entire country could have been shaped completely differently, had one person done one thing or another.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a true genius in our lifetime.