Are Your Kids Obsessed with Hamilton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean? So many of the parts in the play are men. My boys love My Shot -- all of the rapping etc. and their friends too.

Men?

I guess that depends on what your definition of a man is.

Actually, based on this comment I suspect you are the one who has limited understanding of what really defines a man.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We aren't theatre people. I mean that in a "I love my children but I can barely make it to their school plays" kind of way. I just don't get theater.

I know nothing about Hamilton or the music or the play. Don't need to either.

I'm going to assume that this is like "beaches" or "the bodyguard" or "titanic" or "Annie" or "cats" or other performances that everyone ooohs/aaaahhhhs over and then finally years later society admits that it wasn't that awesome.

I have to think of a better cover story for when we visit friends in New York and they try to get us tickets for various events and we think of lame excuses that are actually true- that we would rather hang out with our friends than sit there watching that crap. But I don't want them to insist (fill in the blank whatever show) will change my mind and I must see it.

I don't like ballet, but I don't assume that ballet is crap. I just assume that it's not my thing, but that other people do genuinely like it, and there is genuinely good ballet. Assuming that something is terrible and overrated when you know nothing about it doesn't make you cool or superior, it makes you ignorant and stupid.

Personally, I loved the musical. My husband, who does not like musicals in general (he did like Spring Awakening), also really liked it. We have several friends who have seen it and also thought it was excellent. I am sure some people don't like it, but that doesn't mean they are right and we are wrong. I don't get the appeal of dumping on something just because it's popular, or of thinking that makes you better. Sometimes, things are popular because they are good.

[Anonymous]

Normally I am a huge Hamilton fan along with my 9 year old. (We've talked about the bad words.) I have been trying to get tickets in NY for a long time but the really good ones were $500-$800 dollars. I thought this "verified fan" presale was going to be the answer to my dilemma and that I could get a great seat without getting gouged. The sale opened at 10:00 this morning and I had a 10 minute delay because I could not manage to purchase from the ticketmaster app I had specifically set up on my phone just for this purpose, had to move to the laptop. The only seats I was able to get that didn't have a restricted view were all the way in the top balcony in the back!!! I wasn't even trying to buy the whole 8 allowed, just 5 together. At least the seats were only $200 each, but I kind of feel like from previous online searches I could have gotten tickets that cheap for an even earlier performance all the way in the upper back.

I thought I was going to get better treatment as a verified fan, but dammit we're all the way in the upper back for over $1,000, plus travel and hotel. I love the show but dammit wtf do I have to do to get my family great seats at a decent price?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normally I am a huge Hamilton fan along with my 9 year old. (We've talked about the bad words.) I have been trying to get tickets in NY for a long time but the really good ones were $500-$800 dollars. I thought this "verified fan" presale was going to be the answer to my dilemma and that I could get a great seat without getting gouged. The sale opened at 10:00 this morning and I had a 10 minute delay because I could not manage to purchase from the ticketmaster app I had specifically set up on my phone just for this purpose, had to move to the laptop. The only seats I was able to get that didn't have a restricted view were all the way in the top balcony in the back!!! I wasn't even trying to buy the whole 8 allowed, just 5 together. At least the seats were only $200 each, but I kind of feel like from previous online searches I could have gotten tickets that cheap for an even earlier performance all the way in the upper back.

I thought I was going to get better treatment as a verified fan, but dammit we're all the way in the upper back for over $1,000, plus travel and hotel. I love the show but dammit wtf do I have to do to get my family great seats at a decent price?

I just bought Verified tix too and also could only get the $200 way back seats. One good thing is that the theater is small so I don't think the seats are actually that bad.
Re: the Verified, the only options that showed up exactly at 10 am were the $200 and $229 ones, so I am guessing that the best seats weren't actually included in the presale. Kind of a bummer, but not that surprising.

However, I bought tickets months ago during a regular sale and was able to get really good seats through the regular sale. The tickets were $800+, so not cheap, but that was the 'real' face value price, not a resale, and I didn't do anything other than go online within a few days of the tickets going on sale. If you want really good seats you might try that.

[Anonymous]

We saw the show last spring - sitting in the last row of the theater. The seats are not bad at all. We paid about $200/seat, and felt great about getting to see the show at that price. It's amazing, and you will see it all no matter where you sit.

I had been completely and utterly obsessed with the show too. I was super-tempted to pay thousands to see it before original cast left, and ultimately I'm glad I did not spend that amount of money on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normally I am a huge Hamilton fan along with my 9 year old. (We've talked about the bad words.) I have been trying to get tickets in NY for a long time but the really good ones were $500-$800 dollars. I thought this "verified fan" presale was going to be the answer to my dilemma and that I could get a great seat without getting gouged. The sale opened at 10:00 this morning and I had a 10 minute delay because I could not manage to purchase from the ticketmaster app I had specifically set up on my phone just for this purpose, had to move to the laptop. The only seats I was able to get that didn't have a restricted view were all the way in the top balcony in the back!!! I wasn't even trying to buy the whole 8 allowed, just 5 together. At least the seats were only $200 each, but I kind of feel like from previous online searches I could have gotten tickets that cheap for an even earlier performance all the way in the upper back.

I thought I was going to get better treatment as a verified fan, but dammit we're all the way in the upper back for over $1,000, plus travel and hotel. I love the show but dammit wtf do I have to do to get my family great seats at a decent price?

If you got five face value tickets, I'd say you did really well today! I saw Hamilton about midway up in the balcony last fall, and our tickets were $199 each - and they were worth every penny. If it makes you feel better, look up those same seats for a different date - I guarantee someone is selling them for much more than you paid today.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. I feel a little bit better that my 10 minute ticketmaster app delay didn't make me miss out on seats in the front-to-middle orchestra.

I could have bought seats in row V of the orchestra that were "partial view" maybe because they were off to the side, but I just couldn't justify spending >$1000 on obstructed view seats.

Someone on this board once wrote that they were able to get great Orchestra seats when a new set of seats was first released for only $200 per seat, so I thought I might be able to do that. But from the first response above it sounds like the front-to-middle orchestra seats just don't sell at $200/seat ever, so I must have misunderstood and gotten my hopes up in error.

Still frustrated, but it does sound like the seats will be good. Thanks for the responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the responses. I feel a little bit better that my 10 minute ticketmaster app delay didn't make me miss out on seats in the front-to-middle orchestra.

I could have bought seats in row V of the orchestra that were "partial view" maybe because they were off to the side, but I just couldn't justify spending >$1000 on obstructed view seats.

Someone on this board once wrote that they were able to get great Orchestra seats when a new set of seats was first released for only $200 per seat, so I thought I might be able to do that. But from the first response above it sounds like the front-to-middle orchestra seats just don't sell at $200/seat ever, so I must have misunderstood and gotten my hopes up in error.

Still frustrated, but it does sound like the seats will be good. Thanks for the responses.

That might have been me.

Sorry. I should have clarified what I meant by "great" Orchestra seats. They were 11th row, right orchestra. From what I could tell on-line, the sight line is clear (except for a bit of the upper stage on one side) and close enough to see the actors' expressions clearly. But no, not center orchestra. Those go for MUCH more than $200, even at "list" price when released on ticketmaster. Too much for me.

BTW, the other "great" seats at the $200 price point are the Mezzanine level. The balcony in that theater comes down quite low and close to the stage (above Row 10?) So many of the Mezz seats offer an excellent view at a better price than the Orchestra level.

[Anonymous]

Kennedy Center is selling the tickets with a season pass. So the cheapest ticket is over $600.

[Anonymous]

This is what you like?

around 13 . . . seems a little off key, no?

I'd rather clean my ears out with a rusty nail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what you like?

around 13 . . . seems a little off key, no?

I'd rather clean my ears out with a rusty nail.

Yes!!! I saw the original cast. Worth every penny. Amazing high energy performance. Creative and unique.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what you like?

around 13 . . . seems a little off key, no?

I'd rather clean my ears out with a rusty nail.

One of the things that's awesome about being human is that different people can like different things, and can sometimes have intelligent conversations about those things. I like Hamilton; you don't. That's fine.

However, I'll never understand people who try to knock down things other people like, as though that makes them smarter or otherwise better. Conversation is good. Condescension isn't.

- someone who has a degree in theatre history & criticism

[Anonymous]

PP, I'm not against the idea of you cleaning your ears out with a rusty nail, if you're determined.

Not everyone hits 100% of their notes every night, and that's fine by me. Rex Harrison was a notoriously horrible singer but I still loved every minute of My Fair Lady when I was a kid. And Daveed Digs (the guy you think goes flat) is amazing on the Hamilton soundtrack -- hits every note -- and for the live performance the speed at which he does some of his most complicated lines is really something to behold.

Maybe not to you, because you don't appreciate that sort of thing. Whatevs. It's hard enough to get tickets the way things are now, so I'm glad a huge swath of America thinks the show is UnAmerican or anti-Trump or non-artistic or what have you. Please convince all your friends you're right, also.

[Anonymous]

Hamilton really sucks. Embarrassing, "hide under the couch" bad.

[Anonymous]

Shitty schoolhouse rap musical that is loved by the same people who would have owned slaves in Hamilton's era

Liking this is crap is how they make themselves feel better.