Hamilton (it DOES deserve its own post title)

Valentine, 15, wanted just one thing with all her heart, for her birthday and for Christmas for the next 36 years, etc...tickets to see..."Hamilton" in Chicago. Her birthday is in November. The build-up has been long, the hype unbearable, the wait almost eternal, but really, I almost think she was right. Guess who was obliged to accompany her daughter to the performance? Yes, it was I! Ouiiii!

Valentine, pre-show

I dutifully listened to the soundtrack, even though rap is not my thing. I mean, I had happened to have read the book last summer for my lit group, with no idea there was any connection to a new show. There is always some new show, right? What's a musical compared to history?

Then I started listening to the soundtrack, and all the tracks, and trying to keep up with the lyrics.  Then I learned how to download music onto my phone (don't laugh, this was a big thing in my life), and, like the rest of the English-speaking world and beyond, I was hooked.

 Both of us, before the show; almost too excited to eat.

We had a spring break with the children, or the Three-who-still-go-anywhere-with-us, for a couple of days.

 The Field Museum of Natural Science

 Same museum, 3 hours later.

 Our pal, Sue

We did the usual; walk by the lake, try new food, visit Sue (this is how they refer to the Field Museum), and freeze our noses off half the time. Chicago in March; love it!

And...how good was "Hamilton"? It was THAT good; all I expected and so much more. There was so much going on; in beautiful dancing and scenes all over the stage, more in nuance and intonation given by individual actors, more humor and depth, more beautiful voices raised in song, that I would need to see it every night until the end of the Chicago run to take it all in, and still, l might not be satisfied. 

Detail of totem pole statue thing (I forget what the sign said, but it is definitely a reproduction of something from South America, or Central America or...so much for my homeschooling expertise.) I really like it. So there.