If you’re like me (cheap and lazy) you might have let the last 10 years go by wanting to see Hamilton, but not actually going. Oh getting to New York is such a hassle! Oh there’s so many other things I could do with that money! Etcetera and so forth.

Then I received an email from a performing arts center that I can actually WALK to saying Hamilton was coming to town and it was now or never time. Let me tell you folks, don’t let it be never. Before I’d seen YouTube videos, their performance at the Tony Awards, and listened to the soundtrack. I’d even downloaded Weird Al’s brilliant Hamilton polka. None of that prepared me for the awesomeness that is Hamilton.

One of the things that surprised me is that Hamilton is essentially a rap opera. Almost every single line is sung, with only a very few lines simply spoken. They’re used for emphasis. When a spoken line is said it’s like hitting a brick wall. The spoken words are a signal that something really serious is going on.

Hamilton himself is like the lead in a Shakespearian tragedy. A great man brought down by his fatal flaw. Aaron Burr too. Despite their strengths both could have been so much more. It’s a story of war and duels, so there are deaths to morn, but now there is an added component of sadness.

When Hamilton debuted it was a celebration of American history. The words remain the same, but in the context of the present day the lines about freedom and safety don’t cause the heart to soar. Instead there’s a real sense of morning for the country they thought they’d created. It too had a fatal flaw, and now we are all bearing witness to its downfall.