If you had told 16-year-old Gabriela that she would be able to see Hamilton in Puerto Rico with Lin Manuel Miranda in the lead role and with other actors from the original cast, she would have laughed in your face.
But that is exactly what happened.
Back in November 2017, it was announced that Lin Manuel Miranda would bring his Tony, Grammy, and Pulitzer winning musical to Puerto Rico. Expectations were high since he would reprise the role of Alexander Hamilton for the first time since leaving the Broadway production in July 2016.
Lots of things happened leading up to the production, everything from issues with getting tickets to a last minute venue change. It was an entire ordeal that upset many people. Still, despite all of that, people still wanted to have a good time at this once in a lifetime opportunity.
I saw the show on January 13th, opening weekend, and let me tell you, I was a nervous wreck leading up to that night. I had been waiting so long for this moment and part of me could not believe it. Arriving at Bellas Artes felt like a blur, it said Hamilton on the outside and it was completely decorated, but I was still in disbelief. I was more nervous because since I had been relocated, I worried that there would be something wrong with my ticket, but it was just my anxious brain playing tricks on me. Everything was fine.
The show was absolutely spectacular, way better than I anticipated. And more than what I expected. I could not stop looking at the stage, at the choreography, and at all the actors who brought the songs, I knew by heart. I was in awe. There were so many elements that made me fall in love, all over again, with the play. The actors of the production perfectly fit their roles and did the characters justice. Aaron Burr is one of my favorite characters from the show, so when he appeared on stage for the first time I was in shock. I was in shock for the first couple of songs of the show too.
I silently sang along to the songs, because I wanted to be able to notice if there were any “rewrites” as Lin had previously stated in past interviews. In my show, there was only one actor who forgot a line, but it was not one that was important enough to be noticeable or confuse anyone.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to say that I cried, a lot, just listening to those songs and seeing how they were staged still brings me chills when I recall it. Shout out to Donald Webber for making me ugly cry in “Wait For It”.
I think the most impactful moment in the show was actually the song “Hurricane.” Lin Manuel was crying while he performed the song, normally it isn’t the most emotional, but now with everything that happened here it should be no surprise that that changed for many. Hurricane is now in my list of the most emotional numbers of the show. The most mind-blowing thing to me was the use of the lights, I loved how they played with the colors depending on the scene and which character was singing. It was fantastic! Also the staging of the show and how they used the turn wheel in every scene, it was genius. I think it’s clear that I loved every second of this show and every aspect.
It was perfect and definitely worth all of the years of waiting and dreaming about being in the room where it happens.
To all of us who got tickets back when they went on sale or got the student tickets, I HOPE YOU LOVED THE SHOW!
To those of you who played the lotto, I HOPE YOU WON!
Image Credits: Gabriela Burgos