My parents LOVE the theater! When Hamilton started getting such wonderful reviews, tickets became hard to come by and I was recruited to get tickets. My father also called Ticketmaster, the box office, asked if I’d seen anything every other day, or just tell me “they’re going on sale tomorrow,” for about three weeks. Fortunately, my husband was also paying attention and we were lucky enough to get four tickets for a performance TEN months later!
Now over the past few years I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews. I have one friend who loves the soundtrack and listens to it with her kids and they also love it. Many friends on social media have gone to see it and post about how much they loved it! Therefore I had also expected to love it too! I have to say I didn’t love it. However, I did love one aspect of it that no one told me about.
I had heard a song by Kelly Clarkson or so I thought it was her song. The lyrics didn’t seem to go together for a typical song, but I didn’t think too much of it. The song is called “It’s Quiet Uptown” and low and behold it’s actually from Hamilton. I figured this out during the show when they started performing it after a child dies in the play. There is a whole scene and song dedicated to parental grief in this show, and it displays how strong a marriage can become after a couple loses a child.
No one told me about this part of the show and therefore I didn’t expect to cry a little but I did. I wish I had known so that I could have prepared mentally for that scene since I am a mother who has lost a child. It came as a surprise that none of my friends or family had mentioned this.
It’s not often you can personally relate to something in a Broadway musical, but I did. I was happy to see this reality for some of us grief stricken parents, who often go unacknowledged, in a lovely way. Thank you to Lin-Manuel Miranda for highlighting such a hard subject and showing the strength and love that those of us “…going through the unimaginable…” need.
