Where did you go? What did you say/do? When did you go? 

On Saturday 1/9/18 I went to the Victoria Palace Theatre in London’s West End to see the world famous musical Hamilton.  It premiered off-Broadway in NYC in 2015 and has since taken the world by storm. It was so popular that I had to book tickets in January for September!  As soon as tickets were released, they were snapped up, so I had to be vigilant and be prepared to book the tickets as soon as they were up for sale.  Recently it has also appeared in film version and is currently being streamed on the Disneyplus channel so is more accessible.

What happened at the arts event?

The stage show Hamilton is the dramatisation of the life of America's foremost founding father and first US Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton the stage show is not accurate in its representation of history. However the music in the 2.5 hour long show prompted me to ask deeper questions and go and research it more. The music was gripping and the writer Lin-Manuel Miranda is truly gifted and an expert in his craft.  

Have you seen or done something like this before? What was similar to things you’ve seen or done in the past?

Although I have watched many musicals in the past like Matilda, Everybody’s talking about Jamie and Adrian Mole, this one was completely different as the actors were all playing characters who were real, and the style involved a lot of hip hop and rap which I felt was an extremely effective and innovative way of telling the story 

What have you learned from the arts event?

Watching the musical, I learnt a lot about the history of the USA. Afterwards I felt compelled to learn more about the history of the story.   The excellent stage choreography was also of note - the way the stage transformed around the performances to allow for larger dance numbers or more focussed solo performances was remarkable.  But there were no gimmicks and the music remained focussed on the performers and the music.

How did the event make you feel?

I left the theatre very emotional with a lot of thoughts racing through my head about things I needed to look up, both historical and technical.  I would urge everyone to make some time to watch this show if possible.  

What thoughts or ideas will you take away with you?

Reflecting on it, I have also been inspired to be more conscientious in my efforts and to go and learn more about the rich, tragic and diverse history of America as we did not study much about this topic in school.  What I took away from the show in terms of my musical ability was to add more emotion into my composition and to let the music speak right from the heart.