Making Harlow's Hamilton Dreams Come True

Mike and I saw Hamilton a few years ago, pre-pandemic. We liked it a lot. Did it blow us away? Sure. That’s what I told people. But the truth is, we sat pretty far back and I didn’t prep by listening to the music first like everyone said. I had this idea that I wanted to see it fresh. As a result, I spent most of the time with my brain in overdrive trying to digest all the words coming at me at 100 miles an hour (without being able to see any faces clearly) and process them into some kind of coherent story. I was about 60% successful. Mike was was probably more like 25%. Truth be told, the man fell asleep. In our liberal, cultural, diverse NYC community, YOU DO NOT ADMIT THIS TO ANYONE, but I’m telling you guys anyway. THE SHAME.

Do you remember that scene in Succession, when the Roys are all at that secret society Republican event trying to decide the next President? Greg asks, “What is this exactly?” Tom responds, “It’s a safe space where you don’t have to pretend to like Hamilton.” Greg says, “But I do like Hamilton.” And Tom answers, “Sure you do Greg, we all do.” OMG, I laughed so hard. That was us! Minus the Republican part.

That was the entirety of my relationship to Hamilton up until the summer of 2020 when we were all sheltering at home with not much to do and the live production came out on Disney+. Harlow wanted to watch because she loved Lin Manuel Miranda in Mary Poppins. I thought we would make it about 20 minutes into the show before she had enough, but she sat there in stunned silence for the whole first half. I kept the closed captions on and actually enjoyed it a lot more than when I saw it on stage, because now I could see the faces and follow the words. Harlow could not read at the time, but nevertheless, she seemed to be following the story just fine. What I’ve learned about Harlow since, is that she makes up for her reading disability by being particularly skilled with processing audio. Sometimes I think she has the audio version of a photographic memory.

When Act One was over, Harlow wanted to keep going, but it was late and we forced her to go to bed. The next day, she woke up and asked to finish it. For the next few months, much to Mazzy’s dismay, Harlow listened to nothing but Hamilton. Any time there was a lull in the day, Harlow would get this look on her face, put her hands on her hips and yell across the room, “Alexa! Play Hamilton soundtrack!” At first she just liked dancing to the songs (which she did CONSTANTLY), but then I realized she was also memorizing the words pretty quickly. That year, I bought her the Hamilton stickers for Hanukkah and she used them like dolls to act out the songs, switching which sticker she was holding depending on which character’s lines she was singing. I’m not gonna lie, it was crazy impressive. At the time, we were trying to diagnose her reading difficulties and switching schools, so I think it gave me a lot of comfort to watch her brilliance shine through in another area.

Harlow decorated her furniture and her school supplies with those Hamilton stickers. She went as Hamilton for Character Day at school. She made friends with other kids who loved Hamilton equally as much. Clearly, being a Hamilton fan was now part of Harlow’s identity.

When Broadway started reopening, and it looked like the kids would be vaccinated soon, I decided to surprise Harlow with Hamilton tickets for her 9th birthday. Covid sucks in many regards, but I’ll give one point in its favor— it made the good seats more affordable. I was able to get fourth row orchestra on the aisle. We arranged to go with a friend whose daughter Harriet is a fellow Hamilton lover. You can see the video when I surprised her with the tickets here. It was awesome. She jumped up and down like a game show contestant winning a car on Wheel of Fortune.

And then there was the waiting. I bought her a Hamilton calendar so she could count down the days. As we started getting closer, Covid cases came back on the rise, with Delta and then Omicron in full effect. I got worried numerous times that the show would be canceled, but since there so much time between the purchase and the actual show, there were two whole Covid waves that came and went. By the time February 4th rolled around, it felt relatively safe again.

On the big day, Harlow emerged from her room in an outfit that could only be worn by a true Hamilton fan. Little did I know, she had coordinated with her friend to also wear black and gold.

We arrived at the theater, met our friends and went inside. The girls grabbed booster seats and we headed to our row, which was probably one of the best seats I’ve ever had at a Broadway show. The theater was very strict about vaccinations and masks, but the usher led the girls to the stage where they could take a maskless photo. Harriet had made a special Hamilton sign just for the occasion.

Before the show started, I watched Harlow and Harriet scan the playbill, matching up the names of the characters with the headshots, which took me back to my own childhood love for musical theater, and Broadway in particular.

On my 10th birthday, my mom picked me up early from school, drove me into the city and surprised me with the show Cats. Every birthday after that, my mom would take me to Broadway shows— A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon. My dad lived in the city and would often take me and my sister to Broadway shows on our weekends together too— Barnum, Starlight Express, Into the Woods, La Cage Aux Folles. Have I ever mentioned that “Broadway” was my Bat Mitzvah theme? The seating cards were tickets and each table was named after a different show with the Playbill in the middle of each centerpiece. My parents and I collected those playbills ourselves.

After a few minutes in our seats, the lights dimmed, King George told us to put away our recording devices and the show began.

It was SPECTACULAR. As I said above, I’ve seen Hamilton before, but seeing it with Harlow was a completely different experience. For starters, the seats made a HUGE difference. I mean, obviously better seats make for a better experience, but I think I really underestimated just how extreme a difference it was. Not only could we see the actors’ expressions, we could see the sweat on their faces, the spit droplets coming out of their mouths and the creases in their costumes. There was something about seeing the amount of energy and work that went into each song and dance that made the performances that much more powerful.

But perhaps even more significantly, this time, thanks to Harlow’s obsession, I already knew the story and the lyrics and got to truly enjoy the singing, the dancing, the staging and the straight up exuberance of the entire cast. It felt like such a rush. A rush that didn’t dissipate all through the first and second act. Even the intermission was a rush, as we ran next door to the Marriott for a bathroom break and snacks (that’s my Broadway theater hack) and made it back to our seats just before the lights went down again.

I don’t think I was lying when I said I loved Hamilton the first time around, I just don’t think I really understood how large it can loom. I was thinking it was more of a cerebral thing, but now, I felt the THRILL. I get it. Harlow helped me hear what she hears and see what she sees, and ultimately, reminded me why I loved theater so much as a kid.

I wish I had pics of Harlow’s eyes all lit up as she watched, but as you know, no pics allowed! She sat there in stunned silence just like the first time she saw it, fully captivated and hanging onto every word. (I’m pretty sure she was mouthing them all underneath her mask.) When it was over, Harlow clapped her hands over her head, stood up in her seat and yelled “wooooooo” at the highest pitch possible. Knowing we had shared that same thrill together felt very special. During curtain call, Harlow and Harriet held their sign up high and because we were so close, we could see the cast members trying to read it.

After we exited the theater, we called an Uber and waited by the stage door for the cast to exit. First out was Thayne Jasperson who usually plays Samuel Seabury, but on our night, played John Laurens. As he came over to us, Harlow told me that he is only cast member that has been there for the entire run of the show. I don’t know how she knew that, but she did!

Next up, Tamar Greene who plays George Washington came out the door. He came right up to us and told the girls that he had seen their sign from the stage.

“Who’s that?” Harlow asked as the next masked cast member exited the stage door. He also started walking toward us because he recognized the sign. It was Marc delaCruz who played Hamilton that evening.

Night made.

I’ve talked at length about Harlow and her high expectations. They can typically cause lots of problems as reality never quite stacks up. This is one of the only times I can remember Harlow saying that something was even better than she imagined. And for that, I must thank Lin Manuel Miranda. You gave my daughter something to focus on during the pandemic and you gave her a way to celebrate what is hopefully the end of it.

On the ride home, Harlow sat looking through the playbill. “Mom, can we go to more Broadway shows?”

Of course, we can. I told her. The excitement I felt going to Broadway shows with my parents is probably half the reason I chose to live in New York City as an adult.

“I promise, we are going to go to so many more shows together.”

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