it’s taken me a little time to get around to this post, but it is finally time!

quick backstory: seeing a broadway show has been on my 35before35 list from the beginning, but it somehow kept getting put off. when i was in new york in july 2016 i faithfully entered the lottery for hamilton every day, but sadly i never won tickets. as the calendar rolled over into 2017, i decided this would be my year. not only would i tick this off my list, but i would do it with the musical i had been obsessed with for going on two years.

in early april, i decided it was time to pick some dates and look for tickets. i figured october was far enough away to find reasonable prices, and i started playing around on ticketmaster. eventually i found my golden ticket: thursday, october 5. front mezzanine. row a. center aisle seats. no one to block my view or get in the way of my experience. it was almost too good to be true, and i clicked purchase before i could talk myself out of it.

originally maggie was going to accompany me, but as the date neared we realized she might have a work trip that conflicted with the show. have no fear, however, because molly the middle stepped in and graciously offered to serve as my date for the evening.

we were like two giddy schoolgirls in the weeks leading up to the show, and we arrived early to wait in line outside the theatre and release some of our excitement. once the doors opened we entered, showed our tickets, and made our way up to our seats to get the lay of the land. as i mentioned, i purposely bought seats in row a so that no one would obstruct our view, and we had a perfect line of sight to the stage.

molly got us some drinks, and we settled in with our playbills to study everything around us and get ready.

and then the lights lowered, and the show began.

as i told everyone who would listen after, words cannot describe what an amazing experience it was to see this show come to life. each performer so fully embodied the character they were playing that it was easy to forget it was a performance and not their real lives. we could feel the full effect of the emotions on display, and seeing it in person brought a new dimension to each song. the facial expressions and movements added so much depth, and the choreography was stunning. there were so many things to see that i could watch this show over and over and still find something new to catch my interest. in short, it was one of the best nights of my life.

i am still in disbelief that i actually got to see this show, and i am so thankful that it happened. it was incredible and an absolute dream come true.

xx