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| Victoria Palace - once the home of Billy Elliot - now where we will see Hamilton - tonight. |
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| They just did a complete renovation of our favorite old theatre. |
Ever since the award winning Broadway play Hamilton was introduced 2 years ago - Lulu has wanted to go see it. It has won 14 Tony Awards. It even won a Pulitzer Prize. It was picked the Best Musical. But ticket prices in New York City are insane. I vowed not to see it - nothing is worth $1500 for 3 hours of entertainment - nothing. Well maybe a couple orbits of the Earth in a spaceship. So my answer - has always been no - no -no.
We are in London now - and Lulu is turning 64 tomorrow. I tried to get Paul McCartney to sing "When I'm 64" to her - but he is out of town. She still kept saying I could do some magic and land some nice tickets to the play "Hamilton." We used to love to go to the Victoria Palace to see the play "Billy Elliot." We saw it 11 times there. They closed the show last year - to take the theatre down to a bare bones restoration. They have cleared the lot around the theatre and are building a garden type entertainment center. They finally opened Victoria Palace up with the play "Hamilton!"
We have been pretty lucky at the Victoria Palace box office. So yesterday - I took the subway to the box office early. It was 10 AM and pretty quiet. The main ticket window was open - but all I could hear - sold out. There was another desk nearby and the lady looked like management. I thought I would try my charm there. I started out with my Florida Drivers License and teacher card. She told me I could go online and tickets become available as people turn in extras. She said the show was sold out for the next 8 days. Lulu's birthday is July 12th. That would not do. The lady started to show me how to look up tickets. She said they were 200 pounds each - that is $266! $532 for two! Maybe Lulu could go alone.
She then explained to me that they have a daily lottery for the front row - 10 pounds. Can you see Lulu's eyes if I handed her lottery tickets for her birthday? Yikes. Next - I pointed to my hearing aids and said that I like to sit close because I can read lips and see better there. I had pretty well given up - my next step was to say I had cancer in 1998.
Just as I was set to leave - she said - how about Wednesday night? Someone just turned in 2 tickets because it is the same time as the England-Croatia World Cup Soccer game. Even though it was against my religion to pay $532 for two show tickets - I said that I would take them. At least it was a lot cheaper than New York City - I lamented.
I whipped out the American Express card and paid. To my surprise and delight - the tickets were only 89 pounds each. They are in the 7th row - exactly middle of the row. We will be able to see and hear great. The price came out to $236 cash. I never asked why. I was way ahead of the game - I was lucky to get out of this Herculean task for that. She gave me a receipt - no tickets. She said she did not want to see these tickets for sale on the street. Not me - your honor. She said once she gave me the tickets - I could not leave the theatre. I must bring ID to the theatre when we come in. Only Harry and Nancy can use the tickets.
I came home and put the receipt under Lulu's pillow. She slept on it all night. This morning she found it. She was very happy but she reminded me the tickets were for July 11 - not July 12 - her birthday.
I have been reading about Alexander Hamilton and the play. Here is a simple review. Hamilton was born on a Caribbean Island - out of wedlock - to a half-French half-English women. The father was a Scotsman who wanted nothing to do with a child. The mother died when young Alex was 12. So he was an orphan bastard.
Another islander raised him. Hamilton was very bright and became a good writer. He moved to New York City in his teens. During the Revolutionary War - he became a personal assistant of George Washington. He was a good administrator and with handling cash. He was also a hero at the Battle of Yorktown - where the colonies beat England. He ended up being the first Secretary of the Treasury. He rode Washington's coat tails. It looked like he might be in line to be president. Maybe after Adams or Jefferson.
In those days - the winner of the election was named president. Second place - became vice-president. Aaron Burr lost to Thomas Jefferson - and he became vice president. Hamilton wrote many bad things about Aaron Burr. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel.
On July 11th 1804 - they sailed across the Hudson River in separate boats. They stood back to back - took 10 paces - and turned around. Supposedly - Alexander Hamilton fired his pistol into the air. Aaron Burr then took steady aim - and hit Hamilton in the belly.
Alexander Hamilton died on July 12th 1804 - Lulu's birthday - in New Jersey. His death was the inspiration for The Sopranos :-)
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| There will be a new subway station next to theatre when done |
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| They call that clock Little Ben |
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