Travel & Hotspots

Marie Claire in Malibu

This week I traveled to New York to see the musical Hamilton on Broadway before it leaves the country. I don't know if this musical is known in the Netherlands, but since its premiere in August on Broadway, everyone has been talking about this epic musical. I had to witness it with my own eyes and ears. I was lucky enough to buy scarce and indeed very expensive tickets. The most expensive tickets went for $12,000 (read: twelve thousand dollars), but then you were sitting right at the front of the orchestra pit. I was in the nosebleed section on the top balcony, as they beautifully call it. No problem, because a theater on Broadway is designed in such a way that no matter where you sit, you feel like you are completely part of it. The atmosphere in the hall before the show started was amazing. Everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting, and you could feel that everyone thought: I am here. The show began, and an overwhelming spectacle of hip-hop, rap, singing, and dancing unfolded in a 2 hour and 45 minute performance.

”You can already feel that this special production is going to change the current musical world”

The creator and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda read the biography of politician Alexander Hamilton while on vacation and decided to tell his story in an unconventional performance. You can already feel that this special production is going to change the current musical world. With a diverse cast in a setting and costumes from the 18th century, rapping and dancing, it feels as if history is repeating itself, but in an Obama era. It checks all the boxes. Educational, funny, emotional, and incredibly clever. How wonderful that I was part of this. Or as they sing in the hit of the show: I was in ’the room where it happened.’