Hamilton

We bought 4 resale tickets to 'Hamilton' 10 months ago : the primary bookings were sold out well before then. The day of performance threatened a sideswipe from Hurricane Jose, and we did get caught and well wetted at lunchtime, but the evening was dry and public transport running on time. We reached the Richard Rogers theatre about 40 minutes before start time and joined one of 2 long queues down the street. The doors opened about 20 minutes before start and the throng poured in the single entrance.Theatre publicity said this is for democratic reasons- everybody has to use the same entrance no matter who they are or where they sit. OK, but all must use the same set of toilets at interval so the upstairs crowd where we were pours downstairs and according to gender joins one of 2 queues several hundred long and disciplined by marshals... it sort of worked. I got back to my seat with lights blinking, but W missed the first post interval number. 

The show itself is the definite highlight of our visit.

The hip hop saga is politically complex, the characters are naturally somewhat simplified, but the ideals and biases emerge clearly to make this a a drama to be taken seriously, and drive you to sources for more detail. Most of the cast are on stage most of the performance, and the choreography is splendid. The main set doesn't change but props are used with ingenuity. The singing is almost continuous, so makes demands on the cast comparable to opera.

Next day we visited what is left of Hamilton's last home in Harlem. Much of the estate remains, but the house has been shifted twice to make way for streets etc, so the kitchen and other service quarters have not survived: Hamilton was a very active anti-slaver so his servants were paid. There is some original furniture,  including a dining table centrepiece and a small pianoforte.

In the church grounds next door a bronze.