Hamilton.

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Since Hamilton came to Disney+, I’ve watched the entire play about ten times. I’ve watched the first half an additional ten or more. The second half tends to make me weepy and I’m not always in the mood to cry.

Each time I watch Hamilton, something new seems to stand out to me.

Here’s a few things I’ve noticed.

1. Christopher Jackson’s face during the final song while Eliza sings about his story and slavery.

2. The brilliantly subtle moments of foreshadowing woven throughout.

3. (or technically, 2a) Burr’s ‘like I said’ comment at the first scene in the bar where Hamilton meets Lafayette, Mulligan, and Laurens.

4. The Bullet. If you know, you know.

5. David Diggs. His pure joy in performance.

6. Brilliant word play and musicality.

7. Leslie Odom, Jr’s masterful performance.

8. The emotion evoked by Renee Elise Goldsberry in Satisfied.

9. Jonathan Goff’s laugh after One Last Time.

10. The interplay between Hamilton and Samuel Seabury during Farmer Refuted.

What am I reading?

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My goal for 2020 was to read at least a book a week. I did brilliantly in January. And then didn’t read a thing in February. Ahh well. I’m going to try to catch up since I’m in between WIPs.

So, here’s what I’ve been reading lately.

1. Lavender Blue by Laura Childs – I have mixed feelings about this one but overall I enjoyed it.

2. Thicker than Water by Becca Seymour – Adored this. 5 stars!

3. Follow My Lead by Louisa Masters – Also adored this one.

4. Julia Chase’s Kitty Couture series for a second time. Such a fun cozy series.

5. Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Late to the Party.

I’m currently writing Cosplay Killer an MM Cosy Mystery featuring two men who are into video games, music, and musical theatre.

In doing research, I had to brush up on some Broadway stuff. I’m not massively into plays. It’s never been my thing, though I have a lot of friends who are. I knew a little about Hamilton from friends and also because I think Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius of a wordsmith.

So, I found this video of him performing Alexander Hamilton at the White House.

I watched it twenty times. I was mesmerized. History has always been an obsession of mine and I was entranced by his performance.

Now, I’m autistic. I frequently fall down rabbit holes into new obsessions. And I haven’t had a new ‘special interest’ in a good while.

And I certainly didn’t intend to find one while researching a new cosy mystery series.

But there I was, going from one video to quite literally watching every Hamilton thing I could find on Youtube. Now I’ve listened to the soundtrack of the original cast a hundred times at this point.

Christopher Jackson and Lin-Manuel Miranda performing One Last Time are particularly brilliant.

The things I do for book research.