While I was one of those rare people that absolutely loved HS, my time living at home wasn’t quite as rosy. Whenever I fought with my parents and would be inevitably crying in my room, I would listen to Phantom of the Opera for self-soothing, a habit that eventually extended to breakups and general heartache. Many of my high school friends were obsessed over Rent. They lived and breathed rent. They had cool parents that would take a group of girls up to NYC to camp out for a chance at rush tickets (this phenomenon later morphed into the current lottery ticket system at Broadway shows).
I had 3 different versions of the Les Miserable cast recording (Highlights from the original broadway cast recording, complete symphonic recording and the 10th anniversary in concert edition.) Needless to say, if it ever comes up in conversation about what music I listened to in HS, my answer is usually “um, Broadway?” Yes, thinking NERD is appropriate.
My musical obsession eventually let up to a more reasonable passion, but more recently it has come back in full force, only this time I have the internet. Back in April, I wrote about this phenomenon of a show, Hamilton and my interest has only grown exponentially. This became full blow, let your freak flag fly, fullout crazy obsession once the cast recording came out. I emphatically recommend that you immediately download it. The cast recording was produced by the Roots and has risen to the top of the billboard charts. And if I could figure out how to show the play counts from my cell, I wouldn’t hesitate to share because it is just that good. Don’t believe me (which, by now you should just take my reco and go with it), the media is all over it.
Lin-Manuel Miranda turns his groundbreaking Broadway smash into a cohesive, exhilarating pop experience
60 Minutes covered the making of the cast album
Click the above image to play video.
While I never did get to see Hamilton before it came to Broadway, the stars aligned and I was able to purchase 5th row seats back in October. I cried because I was so happy. I cried because despite hearing the entire show and crying in Act II, seeing it live was an entirely different experience. I am hooked on that feeling and now I still attempt braving 1200 people who put their name in for lottery tickets. Getting great seats for an amazing show has now ruined me for life. There will never be a rear mezzanine in my future (although my future does look chock full of credit card debt.) Beyond the show itself, the cast is active on social media, they perform in #Ham4Ham while people are waiting in the elements for the lottery drawling. My absolute favorite has to be all the King Georges playing the role of the Schuyler sisters.
So now I talk about this show all the time, I tweet about it, I watch endless youtube videos, I listen everyday, I avoid ACT II until I am alone in my car, I let it slip that I occasionally leave work early to make it to the lottery because no one has been this obsession since the mid-90s.
Are you ready to join me in my obsession? Let’s also obsess over the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom’s voice and my mega crush on Daveed Diggs.
