Hamilton Takes The Stage In Pittsburgh

Hamilton: An American Musical became an instant success when it opened on Broadway in 2015. It portrays the life of the ten dollar founding father, Alexander Hamilton. With its catchy music and progressive cast, it has quickly grown into the musical of the century. It not only holds a residency on Broadway but holds a full-time residency in Chicago and London. Along with a national tour that is currently in Fort Lauderdale, Pittsburgh, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the creator and original star, Lin-Manuel Miranda is reprising his role as Alexander Hamilton.  

Hamilton just started it’s 1-month residency in Pittsburgh and just like with all the tour stops, tickets went fast. To find tickets now, you would be spending anywhere from $200-$800 for scalped tickets. However, if you really want to see the show, you can leave it up to chance and enter the daily lottery on the Hamilton app, available in both iTunes and Google Play stores for a chance to win up to two tickets for just a Hamilton a piece.

But what makes Hamilton such a popular musical? It may be due to it not sounding like a musical at all. It’s not the normal show tunes that are custom to Broadway, it’s rap. One song has the actor spitting out 19 words in just 3 seconds while jumping off of a table.

It appeals to both young and old theatergoers alike. With its strong connection to history, people like Lauren Sigut go to both Trinity Church in New York and Weehawken, New Jersey to see both the burial sites of Alexander and Eliza Hamilton and the dueling grounds of which Hamilton was shot. While she didn’t have the chance to visit Trinity Church herself she did go to the duel site. “There’s a bunch of houses and you look out over the water and then boom there’s a bust of Alexander Hamilton and you wouldn’t expect that to be it,” said Sigut. There is a plaque that goes along with the bust explaining what happened below on a platform next to the river, the exact spot where Hamilton was shot.  

She went and saw the show opening night after receiving tickets from her aunt. She wasn’t prepared for the energy in the room. “The crowd got excited when just about anything happened.”

One of her favorite parts was in Satisfied when the turntable on the stage reverses to go back to the setup from the previous song Helpless. “The stage is really cool because it’s a circle and a rotating stage. When in Satisfied starts with its rewinds the stage turns back to where it was in the last song.”

The costumes are a highlight of the show. The dresses of Eliza, Angelica, and Peggy all have a shine to them when the lights hit them. “They are really cool, everyone has one to two costumes but it helps you identify people.”

Some of the actors are double cast so that the actor that plays John Laurens in act one plays Philip Hamilton in act two. Some of the other roles that are double cast are Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, and Hercules Mulligan/James Maddison. So the costumes and wigs help with identifying who is who without having to have different actors.

Emotions were all over the place, by the time the show was over lots of people were crying. “There was a lot of people crying when it was over. My mom kept telling me to breathe.”

Overall she really enjoyed the show and encourages others to go and see it. “It was amazing and if you get a chance to go see it, go. Enter the lottery every day.”