The Room Where It Happened: Hamilton on Broadway
Sometimes, just sometimes, life provides you with an opportunity. And in those moments, it’s best to not throw away your shot.
This is what happened when the incomparable Leslie Odom Jr. announced his return to Broadway for a 8 week reprisal of his role as Aaron Burr in Hamilton: An American Musical. The moment this was announced, I KNEW I had to be there. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Mr. B and I saw Hamilton back in 2019, when the touring company set up shop in Tampa for a few weeks. We went into the show completely blind and unspoiled; we never listened to the soundtrack, saw any clips….nothing to clue us into what we were about to experience. Tickets were SUPER hard to secure, so we were sitting up so high that our backs were practically touching the wall. And even with our seats in the stratosphere, we were completely blown away by the show and became OBSESSED with all things Hamilton. The Original Broadway Cast soundtrack went triple platinum in our house; even my daughter (who was 4 at the time) asked for “My Shot” repeatedly whenever we were in the car.
For this reason, Broadway HAD to happen. We are fortunate to now live much closer to NYC, so I managed to survive the Hunger Games and snagged three tickets for the November 2nd matinee. Our anniversary weekend. But with a third wheel – our offspring.
Then the wait began. Over 6 months of waiting for November to arrive. We endured a government shutdown, the death of a family member, the threat of a Broadway strike, and the nightmarish possibility that we’d end up with an understudy after all this waiting. (No shade, I’m sure the understudies are immensely talented).
GETTING TO NYC
I chose to utilize Amtrak to get up from Maryland to New York. It’s an easy 3 hr 45 minute ride, even on the Northern Regional train. (We did the Acela earlier this year because I was feeling fancy and wanted to try it). We purchased coach tickets, which is tricky for a party of three because, since there aren’t assigned seats, we had to PRAY that we could find family seating with seats facing each other. Fortunately it worked out – the train was COMPLETELY full once we got through Philadelphia, so there was a short period of stranger danger when someone had to sit next to me. It was fine…he was nice, didn’t talk much and smelled pleasant.
Amtrak arrives to Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station, located at 8th Avenue and West 33rd Street. Our hotel was located on 8th Avenue and West 40th Street, and Richard Rodgers Theater (where Hamilton is performed) is located on 8th Avenue and West 46th Street. So the location was PERFECT – it was an easy walk from Penn Station to the hotel, and an easy walk from the hotel to the theater, Times Square, and anything else we wanted to do.
LODGING
Fun fact – finding a hotel room for three people in midtown Manhattan is a little harder than you’d think. I am admittedly hotel-bougie, but finding a room that weekend was more than a notion.
Unbeknownst to me, the New York City Marathon was ALSO happening on November 2. I wouldn’t have known because I’m allergic to running. But this explained a LOT!
I ended up booking the Delta Hotel on West 40th Street. Delta is a budget friendly (shudder) brand that falls within Marriott’s Bonvoy hotel collection.
The hotel was fine. The room was extremely simple and compact, with a weird shower with no actual door. The hotel lobby had a bar that served coffee and alcoholic beverages. My favorite feature was the Pantry, which was only available to Marriott Platinum Elite members. The Pantry was an all-inclusive grab and go type spot with juices, coffee, snacks, light snacks, candy and ice cream. You know…all the stuff you’d normally grab at the snack bar. This was a really nice feature.
The hotel also allowed us to store our bags at no additional cost. We had to do this twice – upon arrival since we got there before check-in time, and again prior to seeing Hamilton, since we’d be back after our late checkout time.
THE MAIN EVENT
Alright, enough logistics. Let’s talk about the reason we were there.
HAMILTON.
I was vibrating all day because I was soooooo excited. After eating brunch at Ellen’s Stardust Diner (THAT was a whole experience), we walked a few short blocks to Richard Rodgers Theater. The doors were set to open 45 minutes prior to showtime, but they were opened by the time we got in line for security screening.
Once inside, it was a bit chaotic. The lobby area is NOT large, so you were confronted with hordes of people with a lot of different missions — some were trying to get to their seats, others were in the merch line, others in the bathroom line, and yet more people in line at the bar. It was hard to tell what was what. The theater staff did a good job helping people get in the right spot…clearly they were used to this.
We went to our seats first. I admittedly splurged on these tickets, so we were center stage, 5th row. Insane. You don’t realize how close that actually is until you’re in the theater. (Richard Rodgers isn’t huge). I sat down and that little white slip of paper announcing the cast for that particular performance fell out of the Playbill into my lap.
That’s all I needed to see to know I’d be okay!!!
I left to grab some merch for the family and me, and was situated back in my seat when that amazing man, Leslie Odom Jr, stepped out to open the show. The place erupted in screams and applause. I had tears in eyes, taking in this moment that I’d never forget. And for the next 3 hours, I was transfixed. The ENTIRE Broadway cast ATE…they came and did what needed to be done. Tamar Greene’s performance of “One Last Time” gave me chills. Bryson Bruce’s Thomas Jefferson was perfect. Thayne Jasperson – the last member of the original Broadway cast still performing in the show – played John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.
And Leslie.
I cannot begin to explain the talent of this man. The ACTING. That voice. I had goosebumps when “Wait for It” began, knowing I was about to watch him sing this song live, a song I’d been listening to repeatedly for the past 6 years. “The Room Where It Happens”…do I need to even explain? The way he performed “The World Was Wide Enough” at the end of the show — the emotion he brought was so different than the Disney+ movie version, and I wasn’t ready for it. It was at this moment, with tears and snot running down his face, that he locked eyes with me and held eye contact. This happened.
Once the show was over and finished wiping the tears from my own face, we headed out in the direction of the hotel. I didn’t realize that the stage door was RIGHT THERE, so we hung around long enough to see Thayne Jasperson and Jisel Soleil Ayon (Angelica) emerge. I wanted to wait for Leslie to do his wave from the stage door, but my daughter’s bladder wouldn’t let us be great.
So we walked away, got our bags from the hotel and walked to Moynihan to catch our train home.
Did this cost some money? Absolutely.
Do I have regrets? Only walking away from that stage door. Otherwise – NOPE.
Make the memories, do the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Tell the story of tonight. I promise you’ll be satisfied.