HAMILTON!!!

Way back in March my friends Sarah and Tracy began texting about trying to get tickets to Hamilton when it came to the Kennedy Center in DC.  Tracy was suggesting the three of us try to go, but I knew if by some miracle I managed to get tickets, I would have to be going with Craig and possibly some of my children, too.  Since tickets were limited four to a family, I couldn't very well go with friends, also.  I had figured there was no way I'd be able to get tickets at all and hadn't really been paying attention to any of it, but this put me on high alert and I decided I had nothing to lose by trying.

Craig and I looked up the process and it sounded really complicated.  Basically, you had to create an account (easy) and then before 8am on a Monday, you entered a "virtual waiting room"-- so you had to go to some random website (also easy).  At 8 on the dot, every person in that room was assigned a number at random, and then you waited until it was your turn to buy tickets.  When I got my number I nearly cried: seventeen THOUSAND two hundred and thirty-one.  Yup, 17,231.

Yikes.

I had logged on with our laptop, too, in case that number was better: 32,467.  Ouch.  Craig, at work, was in the 48-thousands.  So I stuck with my first attempt!

Then I just had to wait.

The good news was that the website would automatically keep updating, letting you know how many people were in front of you.  And, you didn't have to sit in front of the computer and watch it.  So I could wander around doing laundry and all the stuff I normally do at home.  But, of course, every time I passed the computer I'd check to see where I was.  As the morning wore on, I figured out that they were handling about 4,000 people an hour.  So really, I should have been able to run to Costco.  But I figured I just couldn't risk it.  (I did run to Food Lion, the store closest to me, for a few things that I needed.)  (And it turned out that I did have time for Costco, but I'm glad I didn't, because the stress would have wrecked me.)

Around noon as it got closer and closer to my turn, I got more and more nervous.  I sat staring at the computer watching the numbers click down.  When there were 2,000 people in front of me some glitch in the system paused the whole line and I started freaking out, but after a few minutes it got fixed and went back to counting down.

When there were about 100 people in front of me it sent me an email that my turn should be in ten minutes (that was nice, but I was glued to my computer at that point, so it really wasn't necessary).

And suddenly it was my turn!!!!  I'd been waiting four hours and my hands were shaking!  I tried to log onto the Kennedy Center website, only to discover that Craig had changed my password.  Thanks, Craig!  Fortunately he'd changed it to one of our standard ones, so that was easily fixed.  I filled in the tickets prices that I could handle (the cheap ones, $99.  The expensive ones were $850!) and it offered me tickets for a Sunday matinee.  I didn't particularly want that-- I don't usually do stuff like that on Sundays AND I don't love matinees.  So I HAD TO DECLINE THOSE TICKETS.  I was so scared!!!!  It started over again and offered me another batch of tickets for a Tuesday, but this time the tickets were $130 each, which wasn't exactly what I wanted either.  I HAD TO DECLINE THE TICKETS AGAIN.  I was dying.  I tried once more.  This time it gave me tickets for a Friday showing for $99 each.  You can bet I took those in a hurry!

Craig was sitting at work and suddenly a charge for $450 showed up on his credit card and he thought, "Does this mean I'm going to Hamilton?!?!?!?"

When the kids got home from school, I told them I'd actually gotten tickets and there was much screaming and hugging with joy.  (Seriously, best hug Bentley has EVER given me!)  We had told Bentley and Kendra we were going to try, but had tried to keep their expectations low.  We'd also told them they had to help pay for half their ticket-- I was happy to take them if they really wanted to go, but I wanted to make sure they were committed.

Anyway.  All that was back in March.

Friday was the day we finally got to see it!

And maybe this is silly, but I was SO NERVOUS for the entire day!  I was worried something would go terribly wrong and it would be all my fault-- what if we got stuck in traffic and missed it?  What if I lost the tickets?  What if we got the day wrong?  What if the touring cast was terrible?  What if our seats were lousy? What if once it was over we were just sad it was over?  What if what if what if???

Who knew I could be such a stress case, right?

The big day finally arrived.  My in-laws were watching the other kids, and they arrived promptly at 2 and we headed straight out.  We drove right into DC without any problems or any traffic at all.  (All the traffic was heading OUT of DC, of course.)  We managed to find street parking and had dinner at the Shake Shack, and then went to the Kennedy Center.  We parked at the Watergate right next to it, and we were there!  With two hours to kill!

Squeeeee!!!!!

Now, that might sound like a lot of time, but when you've only got your 11- and 10-year-old with you and usually you go to the Kennedy Center to wait in line all day for tickets to the Messiah Sing-Along...  well, then 2 hours is like nothing!  We took pictures, looked at the gift shop, read our books, and wandered around admiring the flags in the Hall of Nations and Hall of States.  And then it was time to take our seats!

I was a little disappointed that our seats were in the second to last row-- I had thought they were better than that.  But I guess since they were the absolute cheapest ones available, I shouldn't have been surprised.  The good news, though, was that the seats were also stacked very high, so I didn't have to worry about any tall people blocking my view.  And once the show began, I could see everything beautifully and it didn't matter at all.

The very opening of the show I was worried-- Aaron Burr's voice was really different from the Original Cast Recording that we've been listening to.  He rapped in a high-pitched sing-songy voice that I didn't really like.  But as soon as Hamilton came out and began singing and he had SUCH a better voice than Lin-Manuel Miranda (sorry, Lin-- you're amazing and talented at writing plays, but you're really not that great of a singer or actor), I knew it would be just fine.

We sat absolutely mesmerized the entire first act.  I felt like none of us even blinked, we were so enthralled.  During the intermission I hurried out to the bathroom and discovered this amazing sunset:

Craig took Bentley down to see the orchestra pit, so I did the same with Kendra, and then we rushed back to our seats.  The second act began with Jefferson returning to America from France and-- oh my goodness-- I was not expecting Jefferson to be so funny!  I know he's kind of the bad guy in Hamilton, and maybe it's just my proximity to Monticello speaking, but oh, I LOVED Jefferson!!!  And THEN, when they got to the song "The Room Where It Happens" Aaron Burr was AMAZING.  Any doubts I'd had about the actor completely vanished and I loved him, too.  In some ways, he was even better, because he was a little creepier than Leslie Odom, Jr., so I could more readily believe him as a bad guy (I've always liked Burr, when I'm listening to the soundtrack) (but then again, I almost always like the bad guy in everything, so who am I kidding?) (and how did I manage to marry such a nice guy when I love bad guys so much???).

Anyway, the first act had been wonderful and amazing.  The second act blew my mind.  I loved every moment of it.  Yes, I was a little sad when it ended.  But mostly I was just glowing-happy that I'd gotten to go.

What a wonderful, perfect night!  Long live Hamilton!