Submitted by Joshua O’Donnell on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in London, England sponsored by the Department of English and the Department of Theatre…
With the study abroad program coming to an end, it is beginning to become crunch time in terms of what I still want to do in London. I got to see a lot of things this weekend including Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the London Eye.
However, I was recently able to experience my favorite part of this entire experience in something that encapsulated the theatre aspect of the program fully. On Thursday, January 31st, I got tickets to see Hamilton.
Hamilton is a show that originally got me interested in theatre and where my love for it began. I decided on a whim to go to the box office on Monday to see what their cheapest tickets were and surprisingly enough, they were only 100 pounds. Though still expensive, I decided it was worth the cost to see the show that helped shape my love for theatre live and in person.
Needless to say, it was the best show I have ever seen. The seats I got were in the middle of the second balcony and you could see everything on stage with the actors still being relatively close.
This experience really helped me learn that it is okay to spend a little extra money on things that you want to do. Throughout the program, I’ve been basing whether or not I do certain things depending on how much I was willing to spend on them and seeing this show helped me fully realize that it was well worth the price of admission.
In addition, seeing this show was one of the perfect ways to rap up the experience with only a few days remaining in the program. It helped me see why I wanted to come on this program in the first place. In my opinion, there is no better form of entertainment than live theatre, especially when it is done well. There is a connection built between audience members, as well as the performers on stage that you just don’t get when seeing a movie or watching television.