Hamilton!

We had a brilliant time in London last weekend. Six of us (me, James, Ally, Cat, Davie and Chanel) all met up to go to the musical “Hamilton.” We booked the tickets more than a year ago, when super fan Chanel told us about it. I even did my homework by reading the Chernow biography of Alexander Hamilton, who was a brilliant but flawed man; ideal hero material. So I was very excited when our long planned weekend rolled round at last.

We all met up for breakfast in a café beside the Thames on Saturday morning - Davie and Chanel had flown down from Dundee the night before, us from Glasgow, and of course Ally and Cat are already residing in London. Then we walked to the Imperial War Museum where we met up with Jennifer, Josh and Ben. This was our museum of choice because James and the Anderson boys were interested in going there, and, as it was going to be a cold weekend, a museum is a good place to wander around and have lunch! It was actually more interesting than I thought it would be, with different sections for various conflicts and it addressed their causes and history. We split up into small groups and met up for a convivial light lunch in the café where we managed to nab an excellent table big enough for nine in a quiet alcove.

Later we walked to Victoria where I had booked an early dinner in Zizzi’s. We had a fantastic waiter who made sure that we were all fed and watered in plenty of time for our show, and he even took some lovely photos of the group. It was a very happy occasion and we all laughed and chatted, I love how the cousins (and girlfriends) all get on so well.

We said our goodbyes to Jennifer and the boys and then it was time for Hamilton! The paperless ticket system (intended to prevent people from reselling their tickets for inflated prices) involved producing an email, credit card and I.D. and we were soon ushered into the lounge beside the dress circle. I thought that the show was marvellous. The music was mostly hip-hop, which contained a great deal of really excellent and witty dialogue. The cast were exceptionally talented and I felt that the whole concept of the show was very original and yet worked so well. The story, which was true to Hamilton’s biography, was funny and thoughtful and sad. I wonder what on earth Alexander Hamilton would have thought of it? 

On leaving, I posed for Chanel to take a photograph of me outside the theatre doors. As I hesitated about whether I was raising the correct arm to imitate the poster behind me, I was reassured by the watching crowd, “Yes, that’s the right one!” which I thought was very funny.

We didn’t want the evening to end just yet so we took the tube to Leicester Square, and went to a pub. It had a great atmosphere with music and even a magician who came to our table and did card tricks! I’m not sure if he was an employee or just another customer who enjoyed doing magic! It was a good finish to a great day.