The Exhausted Dad: The 'Hamilton' trickle-down effect

In the summer of 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney+ released a live stage recording of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s mega-acclaimed “Hamilton.”

Like many longtime fans of the soundtrack who hadn’t traveled to New York to see the production, I was elated to finally see the thing that I’d heard on repeat for so long, especially at a time when entertainment options were limited because of the pandemic.

My kids watched it on Disney back then, but didn’t think twice about it after seeing it. Admittedly, they were a little young for the story, as well as their dad’s “fun fact” callouts about some of the hip-hop references in the song.

Cut to 2022, when a stage production of “Hamilton” came to Spokane. For whatever reason, I didn’t go, and the kids seemed to forget about its existence altogether.

I regretted not seeing it then, and I not-so-subtly made this known to MY dad, who goes to many of the stage productions in Spokane as part of the Best of Broadway series. About a year before its scheduled run here in April 2025, my dad generously gifted my wife and I tickets to see the show.

Coincidentally (or not), my oldest daughter, 12 at the time, started listening to the soundtrack on repeat from her Spotify account. Her band teacher then added “You’ll Be Back” to their middle school spring concert.

The requests soon came fast and furious.

“I could go to the show with you next year! Mom would be OK with it.”

“Or you can just buy me an extra ticket.”

By this past fall, my now-13-year-old daughter knew every word of every song. She could perform the Lafayette “Guns and Ships” rap (almost) as well as Daveed Diggs.

At that point we knew we’d be buying her a ticket to see the show. But sometimes you need to hold some leverage over the teenager in the house.

This winter, we then noticed my younger daughter, age 9, mumbling lines from the show. She shares a room with her sister, so she’d been picking up most of the show (even though her sister always wore headphones). Then she started watching the Disney+ version repeatedly.

Look, we have four kids. I’m borrowing thousands of dollars to attend school. We can’t be buying ALL the “Hamilton” tickets! We hadn’t even bought the older daughter’s ticket yet.

My younger daughter never really asked to go, so we used that to our advantage. Anyway, she’s the only one in our house to attend a Gonzaga basketball game. Plus, when will it end? She keeps turning the show on Disney when her younger brother is in the room. Now he knows all about the “Ten Duel Commandments” and wants to see it too. Luckily, the “Minecraft” movie came along at the same time as a welcome distraction. Much cheaper tickets.

So, last weekend, my wife and I took our oldest daughter to see “Hamilton,” though she sat in an entirely different section (a cheaper ticket). Luckily, she’d never been to a musical production before and thought it was the best seat in the house.

“Oh my God, I can see everything. This is perfect.”

We met up with her again at intermission so we could all wait in line to use the bathroom, then inevitably return to our seats without going to the bathroom because intermission lasts only 15 minutes.

I bought my younger daughter a souvenir (I’m not a monster), and … what else can I say? “Hamilton” is a masterpiece. Don’t let the cool kid Tik-Tokers out there tell you otherwise. Haters always hate.

My daughter got to take a picture with THE Alexander Hamilton of the show in the lobby, and she raved about the show the entire ride home without stopping for a breath. This continued into the next day.

So even though I didn’t sit with her during the show, I’m thankful to share such a fun and meaningful connection with her. Not surprisingly, 13-year-old girls and their 40-year-old dads don’t always share the same interests or agree on what makes something great. She still won’t admit that “Jurassic Park” is the greatest movie of all time. Nevertheless, we have “Hamilton” and I’m excited to continue seeing it trickle down to my other kids as well.

I promise to take my younger daughter next time, OK? I have student loans!

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Tyler Wilson is a freelance writer, full-time student and parent to four kids, ages 7-13. Parenting is Non-Stop. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.

    The Exhausted Dad
  

    People walk near the "Hamilton" marquee at the Richard Rogers Theatre on Saturday, July 9, 2016, in New York.