Iowa Girl on the Go

I can’t tell you how long it seems I’ve waited to see Hamilton on stage. I’ve been obsessed with this musical ever since we bought the cast recording well over a year ago. I read somewhere that fans who can’t get tickets to the show and listen obsessively to the music need to have a restraining order – and I totally get that. The music gets under your skin, and you really just HAVE TO SEE THE SHOW.

Unfortunately, back then, tickets to see the original cast in New York were nearly impossible to find – unless you wanted to spend something like $3,000 on them. So the original cast came and went and still we hadn’t seen the show. But we were optimistic, because Des Moines Performing Arts announced it would be bringing Hamilton to Iowa at the Civic Center during the 2017-18 season. And, even sooner, the show was playing an open-ended run in Chicago starting last fall.

The day the tickets went on sale for the Chicago performances (June 21, 2016), my husband Dave and I got all our computers and iPads and cell phones going at the same time to see if somehow ONE of the devices would score tickets to a show that hundreds of thousands of other rabid Hamilton fanatics were also trying to buy. My heart was racing, but unfortunately the Internet was slow and kept kicking us out of the Ticketmaster system. I thought we’d never get tickets. I thought I’d go crazy. I thought I might cry. But, miraculously, a couple of hours later we were the proud owners of tickets to a performance on Wednesday, Feb. 15. A lifetime away.

It seemed like forever, but the day finally came. Meanwhile, I had seen clips of the show on the Tony Awards and the Grammy Awards and 60 Minutes and YouTube and a documentary. I’d bought the book Hamilton: The Revolution, which chronicles the making of the show, and I’d started following Lin-manuel Miranda on Facebook, so I was pretty well in the inner circle, right? That, and the cast recording, would have to be enough to hold me over until February.

February seemed like kind of an iffy time to drive to Chicago, but we lucked out and the weather was actually pretty nice. We drove to the city last Tuesday – Valentine’s Day, as it turned out – and spent the night at the Palmer House. Our show was a Wednesday matinee and we were so excited we didn’t know what to do with ourselves Wednesday morning. We tried to sleep late, tried to make breakfast last a very long time, tried to keep up with work emails and read the newspaper. But mostly I was just like a little kid on Christmas morning, waiting for time to open presents.

And then, it was time. We walked to the Private Bank Theatre – literally less than a block from our hotel. Stood in line. Bought an outrageously overpriced Hamilton T-shirt. Took a selfie from the mezzanine, where we had fourth-row seats. Tried not to be disappointed that three of the biggest roles in the show – Aaron Burr, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson – would be played by understudies from the ensemble.

But here is what I learned about this show: The staging is phenomenal, the costumes are awesome, the music is spectacular, and the performances are terrific (even the understudies blew me away). But the real star of the show is Lin-manuel Miranda’s words. And I had been hearing them all along on the cast recording. The full visuals just added a new dimension. And now when I listen to the songs, I can see all the staging and choreography in my head.

I remember the first time I saw the musical Les Miserables. When it ended, I didn’t want to leave the theatre; I just wanted to turn around and watch it again. And again. I feel the same way about Hamilton. I can’t wait to see the show in Des Moines, and maybe in New York, and wherever else I have the opportunity. It’s really an amazing experience, and I just want to do it over and over.

So, obviously, Hamilton was the highlight of my trip to Chicago (and the highlight of 2017 so far, and maybe one of the Top 10 Best Days of My Life), but Chicago is an amazing city, even in February, so here are a few more things we did there:

We ate breakfast at Wildberry Pancakes and Cafe, a yummy breakfast-and-lunch place just north of Millenium Park where, after eating, we had to do the tourist thing and gawk and take photos of Cloud Gate (above), the reflective bean-shaped sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor.

We spent a few hours at the renowned Art Institute of Chicago, with its seemingly limitless collection of art ranging from Impressionism to early European to Modern. I love visiting my favorites – Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks, and Paris Street, Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte (below) – and dozens of other recognizable and wonderful paintings.

The view through the Art Institute’s sun shades is even sort of a work of art!

We ate some great food, did some shopping, and listened to blues at Buddy Guy’s Legends club. And it was a real treat to stay at the elegant Palmer House (above), which was the first place I ever stayed in Chicago when I was 16 years old.