Hamilton on Broadway
By Tom Morrone, CFP ®, CPA
This past Christmas, Paul and his wife Jill and Kelly and her fiancé David gave us tickets to see Hamilton, the smash hit on Broadway.
We went into NYC to see the show on Saturday of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. We found a great deal on a room for Saturday night so we made a mini trip out of going to see the show. There were two parts of our little overnight excursion. Seeing Hamilton was the pinnacle of the trip but also spending some time in NYC is always a treat and an adventure. Years ago we would drive into NYC, navigate around and pay the crazy price to park the car overnight. Now, we drive to the West Haven train station, where it is free to park on the weekends, and train in to Grand Central. This is so much more relaxing to us and seems to make the trip that much more enjoyable. We were fortunate to get a great price on a room at the Grand Hyatt on 42nd Street, immediately adjacent to Grand Central so it was very convenient. We got off the train, walked to the 42nd Street exit of Grand Central and walked about 75 yards to the entrance of the Grand Hyatt. Our room was ready upon arrival so we were able to drop off our suitcase, freshen up a bit and were ready to hit the streets and explore all that the city has to offer. The show was a 2:00 matinee and by now it was right around noon so our first order of business was lunch. There are no shortages of places to eat in the city so that was easy. On our walk towards the theater district after lunch, we came across a blocked off section of Park Avenue with street vendors selling every type of jewelry, clothing, artwork and food and just about anything imaginable. It was very easy to “kill some time”. After some shopping, it was time to make our way to the theater.
We have been waiting for this day for months so we were very excited. We had great seats with an excellent view of the stage. Lights, camera, action! The show lived up to all of our expectations and then some. The music, the choreography and costumes were all that one would expect while seeing a Broadway show. What was captivating to me was the historical significance of Alexander Hamilton and all that he accomplished including the establishment of our financial markets as we know them today. What was so very creative was how the show was mostly done in a Rapper style of music. At times the lyrics were difficult to understand but it made for such an entertaining delivery. We laughed, cried, applauded and cheered throughout the performance. I would without a doubt see the show again to be further entertained and to pick up on tidbits that I missed the first time.
No trip to NYC would be complete without a nice dinner. After the show we started walking from the theater district on the west side to a little Italian restaurant that Cathy found in a quiet neighborhood on East 56th Street. The food and ambience were both wonderful. After dinner we walked back to our hotel and recapped the fabulous day.
It was another great day in the city. Thanks again kids for such a wonderful gift.
Until the Next Tom’s Take…
