GONZALES — A group of 91 Gonzales High School students, Somavia High School students and staff traveled to the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco to see “Hamilton” on March 27.
The award-winning, musical theater production marked the first exposure to plays and musicals for many of the students, including senior Luis Sainz.
“When I actually got there everything was really formal and welcomed,” Sainz said. “The show itself was mind-blowing with everything that’s going on stage.”
For Cindy Aguilar, the trip to see “Hamilton” has been a long time coming, as awareness for the show arose when she was in eighth grade. Aguilar had become used to the idea that she wouldn’t be able to see the production and would have to wait to be older with a stable job to afford tickets.
“It was just so amazing to be there,” said Aguilar, who shed a few tears along the way because the experience was surreal for her. “I was enjoying every single moment of it.”
Aguilar said she “Hamilton,” written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is a musical inspired by the biography of Alexander Hamilton published in 2004. The production features hip hop, pop and R&B, along with traditional show tunes, and is breaking a mold by casting people of color in roles that would have traditionally been portrayed by Caucasian actors.
“It gives it a really good message,” Sainz said. “That we are all really equal. I thought it was really empowering because we do come from a town that is mostly minorities.”
Junior Destiny Diaz agreed with Sainz, saying that the play was empowering and theater production has evolved over time to allow females and minorities in shows as well.
“Lin-Manuel Miranda is Puerto Rican and just knowing this is very immersed in Latinx culture is pretty empowering,” Aguilar added.
The cast of “Hamilton” includes the first U.S. President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, King George III, James Madison, Eliza Hamilton and many more.
Students had different cast members they thought were their favorite, including Simon Longnight, who played Jefferson, and Brandon Louis Armstrong, who played Madison.
