When I was in San Francisco last month, I made a dream come true. I got to see Hamilton: An American Musical, live on stage. (Sidenote, what do they call seeing broadway shows in San Francisco? It’s not seeing a show on Broadway. Is it just seeing a show in San Francisco?)
Anyways, in addition to Hamilton’s residency on Broadway, it’s also in Chicago, San Francisco, and now starting a National Tour. Hamilton is actually coming to Omaha (yay!) but not until 2019 (boo!). So when I decided to spend a weekend in San Francisco after my trip to Napa, I knew seeing Hamilton had to happen.
I became a fan when most of the country did, if not a little later, after reading the buzz online, seeing the TV segments, and hearing about the Tony nominations. I remember when Lin Manuel Miranda hosted SNL and did a riff on My Shot and I was like, “Who is this guy?” My how times have changed. 😉
I was gifted the soundtrack by a family friend and started listening to it in the car on the way to work. Listening to the songs in the car quickly wasn’t enough, so I bought the digital soundtrack so I could listen to the songs everywhere I went. Then the Hamilton Mix Tape came out and I had to buy that too. I remember packing headphones in my suitecase for our Christmas cruise with the sole intention of listening to Hamilton as I walked around the ship deck.
So needless to say, getting to see Hamilton live on stage was a pretty big deal for me. Hamilton is playing in the gorgeous Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco.
I bought tickets direct from the Orpheum a few weeks before my trip. One of the nice things about being a party of one is I could buy the totally random leftover seats. I scored a partial view loge seat for a total steal at $197 (insert sarcasm here). The really good orchestra seats were $800+. (And this was not on a ticket resale site, this was the face value!) It was definitely the most I ever paid to not have a 100% full view of the stage, but you only live once, and when you get the opportunity to see Hamilton, you see Hamilton.
You may be wondering why this picture looks like it was taken from the floor. It’s because it was.
The traffic from Napa to San Francisco was pretty bad that day, so I arrived to the city later than originally expected. I had to push back my Soul Cycle class as a result, and while I totally thought I would have plenty of time, I didn’t. So straight from Soul Cycle I had to hoof it to the theatre. That means no dinner, no shower, and no change of clothes.
The walk to the theatre was about a mile, which didn’t sound bad, until I started to go through some sketch areas. I quickly decided that as a solo female traveler I would need to Uber back to my hotel after the show that night, which was fine, until I looked down at my phone and realized my battery was at 10%.
Thankfully I packed my charger, but the only place to charge it was on the floor in the Orpheum lobby. So I did just that in the ten minutes I had before the show started. I was laughing to myself at how everyone was so dressed up and there I was sitting on the floor in sweats. I’m sure they must have been wondering who gave a ticket to a bum.
While I had invisioned dressing up and having a nice meal out before the show, frantically racing there hungry, sweaty, and more than a little frazzled was worth it. Once I sat down in my seat, saw the stage, and started drinking my overpriced but absolutely delicious wine, I was lost to the Hamilton magic.
The atmosphere of the crowd was amazing. I loved how this show brought the soundtrack to life for me. While idealy I would have been a little closer to the stage with a more central view, it was an incredible experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.
If you get the chance to see Hamilton I highly recommend it. Hearing the songs and seeing the story unfold is truly a life-changing experience.
Questions of the Day: Are you a Hamilton fan? Have you seen Hamilton? What’s your favorite song? (Mine is Wait for It!)
The theatre looks so beautiful! Seems like you had an amazing time 🙂 ! Glad you could see it !
I’m so jealous that you got to go. I missed out on buying tickets for SF!!! Sounds like a great time.
Totally on my bucket list, and that theater looks gorgeous! Thanks so much for sharing your experience 🙂
I’ve always wanted to see Hamilton! It looked amazing! Thanks for sharing!
LOVE Hamilton! It’s my go to soundtrack for long flights or drives. Counting down the days to it’s residency in Boston (in 2018)
This sounds amazing! Even not being able to fully see the show would be worth it! Tickets here in Denver start at $400, that’s crazy you got a ticket so cheap!
I would love to discover San Francisco, well done for a great post!
Wow, very lucky, I can’t wait until it comes to my city!
I saw Hamilton in NYC and it was phenomenal!! It was my wedding gift to my husband who just ADORES the musical so much! Maybe even more than me? LOL! Honestly, the set in San Fran looks 100% identical to NYC – so I am pretty sure you saw a super legit show!
What a great place to see this musical. I love San Francisco. It sounds like your trip was great and this was the perfect finish.
Wow I’ve always wanted to be able to experience this! I’m jealous! The theater looks incredible! Awesome read (:
Let me start by saying – JEALOUS!!! It must have been fantastic. It’s almost impossible to score tickets to the Broadway show now (unless you have $$$$ to spare of course lol). It’s set to start its run here in 2019 too but already people are thinking of ways to get a ticket because I am certain it will get sold out in 5 minutes.
What a gorgeous theater. I would love to see Hamilton, I’m so jealous! I’m going to have to buy the soundtrack!
I am insanely jealous! Congratulations on getting to see it.
Ahhhh jealous! Great post!
What an incredible experience! I am DYING to see Hamilton- and it’s coming to LA in the next few months- but tickets are completely sold out and CRAZY expensive. Would love to somehow make it work, we will see. So happy for you that you got to go!
Xx,
Caitlin
Hey, amazing trip! I’m a bit of musical fan, but haven’t told that to many people. It must have feel great to see Hamilton live!
I’m so glad you were able to see Hamilton!! The national tour is coming to my state next year and I am hoping to see it 🙂 I need to buy the cast recording so I can memorize all the music first! To answer your question at the beginning of your post about what to call it since you weren’t seeing it on Broadway, you can call it seeing a show in SF or seeing a regional production of Hamilton or something similar, so you were right on 🙂 It is considered regional theatre, which is one of the three major ways of seeing professional productions of plays and musicals (Broadway, national tours, and regional theatre are the three).