3rd June - Hamilton

We head for NYC.

A breeze - a ticket machine we understand - 50 minutes to Grand Central Station.

The regional train into NYC - the hall at Grand Central magnificent - it's arrival platform? - aging - narrow - crowded - not a Berlin station!

A taxi to the hotel to drop off our bags - quick - easy - expensive - an Uber back to MoMA - easy to get - expensive! 

We wander MoMA - it's content significant! - Picasso - Paul Cezanne - Van Gogh - Whitten - lunch at the Terrace Cafe. 

We try for an Uber home - a terrible experience - turned out to be a NYC taxi that could not find it's way to the front door of MoMA - we try to contact him - we get a brief response saying he is further up the road - we cannot find him - then he goes quite - does not respond - the trip is cancelled - we are charged a cancellation fee even though we did not cancel and charges an extra fee for an extended waiting time! 

We hail a Taxi - a much better experience! 

We look out on Mulberry Park - a hive of activity - Chinese people everywhere - Chinese dining everywhere - the neighborhood has character. 

We head to the underground at Canal Street in the hope that it can get us safely to Time Square.

We walk from the mulberry hotel through the court district towards Canal Street. There are members of the press corp everywhere - press corp in small enclosures on the sidewalks - press corp in a bull pit being addressed by a successful female lawyer - "this is not just a victory for us - this is a victory for all women" says she.

 we approach Canal Street and make our way down the steps to the station - our memories of the NYC underground are good - those memories have now been replaced by others that could not be described as good. Poor signage - tending towards dirty and smelly and old - crowded - a shortage of kind hearts - an absence of elevators - the trains? - noisey and old - not Berlin - not like most other major cities in the world!

Off at Time Square - we add to the huge volume of tourists that occupy the area - a hot dog then we sit and watch the tourists as they watch us - I must have been tired or maybe it is just my age but Time Square was not the exciting place I remembered it to be.

To the Richard Rodgers Theatre - we have always wanted to see Hamilton! - tonight is the night - we are early - the theatre fills slowly but steadily - the noise increases slowly but steadily until the lights start to dim. The constitution of the audience remarkably young.

The show gets underway - the songs begin with a lot of rap - I have trouble picking up the words - Bernie enjoys - the audience cheers - these performers are celebrities! - the singing becomes more conventional - very good - the choreography exceptional - the cast limited - maybe 25 - King George makes an appearance - his portrayer a great singer and an audience favourite - they cheer him loudly everytime he appears.

A great experience dampened for me by the reality that my hearing is not what it was. I could have done with a detailed statement of the storyline - I should have done my homework - I will attach a ChatGTP version of the storyline below. 

The exit from the theatre is an exercise in survival for the two old dotters - down flight of stairs after flight of stairs - into a bustling Time Square and it's aging subway station - downtown to Canal Street - we ask two young New Yorkers - they guide us to the right train - they sit opposite us and signal our arrival of Canal Street.

We argue about which way home - in the end we decide to let Google Maps decide the route. 

"I really loved that" says Bernie

ChapGTP

Here's your short story about the life of Alexander Hamilton, covering the key aspects of his life as portrayed in the Broadway show Hamilton, in around 1000 words:

The Ten-Dollar Founding Father Without a Father

On a windswept Caribbean island called Nevis, in 1755—or maybe 1757, depending on whom you ask—a boy named Alexander Hamilton was born into hardship. His mother, Rachel, was spirited and strong, but marked by scandal; his father, James, walked out when Alexander was still young. At age 11, Hamilton was already clerking at a trading company on the island of St. Croix, showing a head for numbers and language well beyond his years.

When his mother died of fever and he survived the same illness, people began to take notice of the boy who seemed touched by destiny. After a hurricane devastated the island, Alexander wrote a letter describing the storm so vividly that local benefactors raised money to send him to New York to get a proper education. He never looked back.

The Revolutionary

Arriving in New York in 1773, Hamilton immersed himself in the politics of revolution. He enrolled at King’s College (now Columbia University), but his pen soon pulled him into pamphlets and protests. His writing burned with the fire of a young man determined to shape the future rather than be a victim of it.

When the American Revolution broke out, Hamilton joined a militia, quickly rising through the ranks. His talents caught the eye of General George Washington, who made him an aide-de-camp—essentially, his right-hand man. Though Hamilton longed for glory on the battlefield, Washington needed his brilliance for strategy and correspondence. It was a frustrating role, but one that forged deep mutual respect between the two men.

The Schuyler Sisters and the Duel of Hearts

During the war, Hamilton’s fortunes changed again when he met Eliza Schuyler, one of three wealthy, well-connected sisters from upstate New York. They married in 1780, and for a time, Hamilton found something close to peace. Eliza offered him the stability he had never known. But Alexander’s ambition didn’t rest.

He also crossed paths with Angelica Schuyler, Eliza’s quick-witted older sister. The musical hints at a romantic spark between them—intellectual soulmates who met at the wrong time. Whether or not anything happened, history doesn’t say, but it added to the mythos of a man who could capture minds as easily as hearts.

The War Ends, the Nation Begins

Eventually, Hamilton did get his wish to fight—and led a daring assault at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, helping to seal the American victory. When the war ended, the real fight began: building a nation from scratch.

Hamilton threw himself into politics. He was a co-author of The Federalist Papers, a series of essays advocating for the U.S. Constitution. His pen again proved mighty, shaping the very structure of the new republic.

In 1789, George Washington became the first president and made Hamilton the first Secretary of the Treasury. Here, Hamilton transformed the nation’s finances: creating a national bank, federalizing state debts, and laying the groundwork for the modern economy. His enemies—chief among them Thomas Jefferson and James Madison—called him a monarchist in disguise. He called them naïve.

The battles in the cabinet were fierce, but Hamilton was always ready to "write like he was running out of time."

Reynolds Pamphlet and Scandal

Hamilton’s ambition, however, was both a strength and a weakness. In 1791, he began an affair with Maria Reynolds, who, along with her husband, later blackmailed him. When whispers of financial corruption arose, Hamilton, desperate to protect his public legacy, did the unthinkable—he published a tell-all confession in what became known as the Reynolds Pamphlet.

He admitted to the affair in painstaking detail but denied any financial wrongdoing. The scandal nearly destroyed his marriage to Eliza, who burned his letters and withdrew from public life for a time. It was a moment of staggering self-destruction, and a reminder that even the brightest minds are not immune to poor judgment.

The Next Generation and the Tragedy of Philip

Hamilton and Eliza had eight children, but tragedy struck again in 1801 when their eldest son, Philip, died in a duel—ironically trying to defend his father’s honor. The loss devastated the family. Eliza withdrew even further, and Hamilton was left with grief he could never quite shake.

The Final Duel

Though Hamilton had stepped back from public office, his influence lingered. In the election of 1800, he helped secure the presidency for Jefferson over Aaron Burr, a fellow New Yorker and longtime frenemy. Hamilton believed Burr stood for nothing, and he said so—too loudly, too often.

By 1804, Burr had had enough. He challenged Hamilton to a duel.

They met at dawn in Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton, it is believed, intended to "throw away his shot"—a practice of honor in dueling where a man fires into the air rather than kill. Burr, however, did not hesitate.

The bullet struck Hamilton. He died the next day.

Legacy and the Woman Who Preserved It

Alexander Hamilton was just 47—or maybe 49. He had risen from nothing to help build the foundation of a nation. His ideas—on banking, trade, federal power—still echo in the halls of government. But his story might have been lost to time if not for Eliza.

After his death, Eliza spent more than 50 years preserving his legacy. She founded New York’s first private orphanage, interviewed his contemporaries, and defended his name. “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” the musical asks.

In the end, Eliza answered.