Hamilton - Landon's first musical

 I was gifted two tickets to Hamilton.  It came through Calgary this year.  I was planning to go to this for years, but then it was streaming on Disney, and the show was coming in the summertime when my family would be in B.C.... it became less and less a priority.

But then I got an offer to take Lurene and Tims tickets because they were in B.C. and couldn't come back.  What Luck!  What a gift!!!!  

I called my first choice, then second, then third, but I wasn't having luck on the person that I'd bring with me.  My family was in B.C., so I couldn't take one of my children.  Not my wife, etc etc etc.  Then I called Miranda and she proposed that I ask Laynie.  What a good idea!  A great choice, but for some reason it didn't dawn on me.  

After asking Laynie she said "oh no, I'm going thursday, I can't go two days in a row!!!".  But shortly after her refusal she got in touch and proposed... what about Landon?  

LANDON!  What a fun idea.  He was interested, and he fits all of the boxes that I like to fill.  Family.  Impressionable.  Eager.  Adorable.  Interested.  This is going to be so fun!  I'll take Landon.

In the hours before the show, I rushed home to get dressed up.  Before home, I swing through superstore.  I get licorice, chewy candies, coke bottle gummies, gummy bears, and that seems like it's probably enough.

I looked at my shoes, and the could use a good polish.  If we're going to present, then lets present well.

So out come the shoes, out comes the polish.  it is SOOOO HOT.  I'm sweating just sitting upstairs in the house.  I've cleaned up, but even brushing the dirt off, and then brushing the first polish on, and then the second... is making me drip with sweat.

I take my system downstairs to polish in the basement.  

We don't have a ton of time.  The show starts at 8:00, Laynie is going to pick me up at 7:15... So no later than 7:00 I have to be ready.

Once the shoes are fresh, I'm feeling ready to go.  

The day before the show, Laynie told me that I shouldn't wear socks, because she'd bought matching Hamilton socks for Landon and I, and that I should be ready to wear matching socks.  Adorable.  I also wax poetic with her about how men don't have purses so I'm not sure exactly how I' mgoing to get the candy into the show, but that I find it critical to keep young ones busy when they hit little walls of exhaustion.

I get picked up by my buddies and we're off to SAIT for the show.  Just a quick trip and we get dropped off at our dropoff/pickup location and off we go walking into the show.

While walking from the Northill mall parking lot, over the 14th street bridge, down the grass, and into the building I am preparing him with as much knowledge as I can.  He tells me that this is his first musical.  He's never BEEN to a musical.  While we are coming over the bridge he translates my explanation of intermission and asks back "so at halftime, can we get a pop".  In the lineup of people walking from the mall, those in front of us are listening in and give a giggle and say sometime nice to him.

As we walk up to the front of the Jubilee, I wonder if my candy is going to make it.  I made two nice big ziploc bags of candy, and to mask them I decided to bring two sets of binoculars in a cloth grociery bag.  I've got a single piece of disposable paper over the candy and below the binoculars but I'm skeptical that it'll pass.

The lovely old man doing "bag check" at the doors opens the bag wide, I can see my candy.  He says "BINOCULARS, NEXT!!!!"  We did it!

Just past the bag inspections there is a nice back drop to take photographs.  I steer Landon over to get some photos.  I am very focused on recording and making sure that we can make a blog post about this experience for memories.

Before the show, we've got ten minutes or more.  I'm not exactly sure where our seats really ARE, so I say that we are going to go up and down all of the stairs to see the art everywhere and explore the building. 

 But before going to level 2 we get in line and grab as much Hamilton show swag as we can get.  Landon chooses a sweatshirt, I choose a scarf.

On the second level I notice that he is showing those socks off as much as he can.  They are up to the top and his pants are tucked into them.  So adorable.  Laynie has done a great job of grabbing those socks at yesterdays show.

I see this beautiful exhibit on the first staircase.  I like it.

We figure out that our tickets are left side on second floor.  So on the seats that sweep down between floor and first balcony.  So off to the second floor to get over and down to that left wing.

Those binoculars, although planned as a distraction to get candy into the show end up being CRITICAL.  When we were leaving the house I was joking that we would look up the noses of the actors with the binoculars, but instead watching regularly gave a broad view of the show and the binoculars were excellent to focus in on the one singing, or watching people in the background.  Lucky for that.

At intermission, we went out to get in line for some water.  We sat in line the whole intermission and still only barely got our waters before going back in.  It was SOOO hot at home, and even in the jubilee it was still abnormally hot.

Thats not true.... before sitting in line for the water I directed us both down to the floor.  We ran up to the pit so that I could show Landon the pit full of adult professional musicians who do this for a living.  I tell him about how the show is nothing without all of that beautiful music in the background but it is also easy to overlook those professionals making the emotions pop with this music.

Just barely with water, and back to our seats, and the show begins.  During that intermission I ask Landon who his favorite three characters are so far, and say that by the end they might change.  He chose Hercules Mulligan, and I can't recall the others.  Maybe George Washington, the king, and Hamilton.

During the end, I catch a few photos with my camera.  I have my flash off, I think I get away with it.  But I'm not going to try too hard.  I know that the screen light bothers those behind me the most.  So I take these photos with the camera pressed up against my chest.

I also get a short clip of the gun battle at the end.  It is such an incredible scene.  Truly spectacular.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kn6zXD7iRAHqYhZx7

Walking out after the show, 11pm, Landon was tired.  He was probably getting tired at about 10.  On the walk to the Jubilee I told him that if he got tired he was allowed to close his eyes.  Many people take a nap or a snooze and that it was totally acceptable.  On the walk back to our rendezvous he revealed that he had closed his eyes, but just for two seconds.  A loud noise woke him up.  On the walk back I realize after watching this show 20 times... that Hamilton sings "I will not throw away my shot".... but that his son dies because he tells his son to throw away his shot.  It only dawns on me now.  A new reveal for me.

And this brings us to the end of the story.  A gift from Lurene, an opportunity to invest in one of the youth in our family, and a new scarf that I can wear around.