I never expected to be one of the lucky few who were able to see the incredible Broadway musical, Hamilton. I thought I would have to wait at least two years before tickets even dropped within my price range. I certainly never expected to see the second-to-last show that the creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, would star in. Yet there I was, in Manhattan on a Saturday afternoon, clutching my ticket for dear life as I stood outside the Richard Rodgers theater, waiting to enter.

For those of you that have been living under a rock, Hamilton: An American Musical opened on Broadway last year and rocketed to superstardom. It tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, our nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury, from the time he was nineteen until his infamous duel with Aaron Burr. Burr is the one who narrates the musical, which is based on a Ron Chernow biography and has a score of hip-hop and rap. It also won eleven Tony’s and multiple other awards. You can understand why I was skeptical of ever getting a ticket. Somehow, my dad managed to get me a ticket for my birthday (needless to say, he’s got Father of the Year in the bag).

Obviously, it was incredible. Words cannot do justice to the absolutely amazing show that I had the privilege of seeing on July 9th.

I had walked by the theater before, and so I was unsurprised by the huge crowd that surrounded the building when I arrived. There were police barricades protecting those who were waiting on line to get in. Two police officers checked all bags, and then we were whisked inside. Now, I’ve been to my fair share of Broadway shows before, so I knew how it was supposed to work. I had my ticket ready for the ushers to read as they directed me to my seat high up in the mezzanine. I tried waiting on line for souvenirs before the show started, but I didn’t want to risk missing a second, so I went back during intermission (though there were about five people ahead of me, the line was still moving, so I may have made it to my seat in time even if I had waited).

The typical “please turn off your phones” speech was made by King George (played by Rory O’Malley), and as he urged us to enjoy “his show,” the lights dimmed, and the crowd cheered. Every time a new actor made their appearance, we cheered. The greatest thing about this cast is that they’ve made every effort to make themselves and the show accessible to everyone; everyone knew the names of the actors, and I’m sure we all could’ve sang along. When Lin-Manuel Miranda came on, the music had to pause so the audience could finish their applause.

The songs flowed one right after the other, with no breaks in between for dialogue. The only break for exposition was near the end of the first act, when Hamilton recipes a letter that explains one of his friends had died in battle. Aside from that, the songs of Act I took us from Hamilton at age nineteen, just arriving in New York, to his time as Washington’s right-hand man, his wedding to Eliza Schuyler (Phillipa Soo), and the final battle of the Revolutionary War. The final song, “Non-Stop,” was a quick run-through of Hamilton’s accomplishments after the war: becoming Secretary of the Treasury, writing the Federalist Papers, even arguing the nation’s first murder trial with none other than Aaron Burr.

After that was a fifteen-minute intermission, during which there was plenty of time for souvenir buying. There’s a several different T-shirts (including one that says #YayHamlet!), hats, a water bottle, a notecard set, a tote bag, a baby onesie, a notebook, and a pin set. I’m not sure if this is for a limited time, but you could also get a free button with your purchase, with the show’s logo and a quote from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Awards acceptance speech, which happened the night after the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida: “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love.” In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the souvenirs do go to a charity dedicated to helping those affected by the shooting.

Act II was just as thrilling as the first one, if not more. Some actors, such as Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Anthony Ramos, change roles (from Marquis de Lafayette to Thomas Jefferson, Hercules Mulligan to James Madison, and John Laurens to Phillip Hamilton, respectively). This takes us through Washington’s presidency, as well as the Addams administration and the election of 1800, where Thomas Jefferson was elected president. Two cabinet meetings are presented as rap battles between Hailton and Jefferson, with Washington as the emcee. We see Hamilton gain everything only to lose it all just as quickly. Did you know Alexander Hamilton had the first sex scandal in our nation’s history? He wrote a whole pamphlet about it, and yes, there’s a song for it.

The lyrics of the entire show are genius. “Guns and Ships” has been hailed as the fastest song on Broadway, with Lafayette rapping about going to France to help the revolution. “Satisfied,” which shows that Eliza’s older sister Angelica’s also had feelings for Hamilton, makes use of the three circular, movable pieces of the stage. The song starts at Eliza and Hamilton’s wedding as Angelica (Renée Elise Goldsberry) gives her maid of honor speech, and then everything and everyone move backwards quickly, so everything happens the same way it did when the sisters first met him. In the opening number, each of the main characters must say what Hamilton was to them. Diggs, Onaodowan, and Ramos each say “We fought with him,” meaning that they both fought by his side and argued with him in Act II. Ramos, who plays Hamilton’s son in Act II, says “I died for him.” Phillip was killed in a duel defending his father’s honor, and Laurens died supporting the cause he and Hamilton worked together on. Soo, Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones (who plays both the youngest Schuyler sister and Maria Reynolds, who Hamilton has an affair with) all say “I loved him.”

The costuming is also important in the opening and the final scene. All the characters, except for Burr, wear white in both of these scenes. These have been dubbed the “storyteller” outfits, and enable the actors to embody more than one character; the ensemble is in white throughout the show for this reason as well. Even Hamilton wears white at first, until he is given a brown coat by Eliza in the first song and his soldiers’ coat by Burr a few songs later. Burr is the only person who is never completely in white. As the narrator, he knows how the story is going to end; even as he sings his final song during which the duel takes place, it sounds as though he’s having a panic attack, knowing he can’t change what’s going to happen no matter how much he wants to. Burr is never allowed to not be himself. He must always be aware of who he is and what he did.

The stage itself is a sight to behold. There's a balcony where characters watch the action (for example, Eliza watches over Hamilton when he goes to war) or simply exist in another place (such as when Hamilton's friends read the letter explain that Laurens has died. Mulligan and Lafayette are on the balcony, while Hamilton is on the main stage). The stage also rotates, and this is used many, many times to signify time passing, a character's stye of mind, a character leaving or simply the distance between two people, such as when Angelica moves to London; the stage rotates her away from Hamilton, and Eliza moves into his line of sight. Additionally, in the scene where Phillip Hamilton is dying, his bed rotates around the stage before coming to a stop in front of his father. This is also used in the three different duels that take place during the show.

In the final scene, all the characters remark on what Hamilton gave to this country, and Eliza “puts herself back in the narrative” by ensuring her husband’s legacy is secure. She interviews soldiers who fought with him, organizes and publishes his writing, raises money for the Washington monument, speaks out against slavery, and establishes the first private orphanage in New York City. It's made clear through the final song that without Eliza, we wouldn't have the show at all. When the song is over, she steps forward, then gasps, and the lights go out. Many people have speculated as to what this gesture means. Phillipa Soo confirmed in an interview that she believes that it's Eliza seeing Alexander again in heaven, and also a fourth-wall break where Eliza sees just how many people came to see her husband's story told. She gets to see how all her hard work paid off.

Hamilton is both electrifying and moving. It's the kind of story that makes you want to go out and leave your mark on the world. The music is beautiful, the characters feel realistic, and it's clear how committed everyone is to their craft. July 9th was not only Lin-Manuel Miranda's last day performing, but it was also the end for Phillipa Soo and Leslie Odom Jr., who played Burr, and ensemble member Ariana DeBose. Daveed Diggs left on July 15th, and Renée Elise Goldsberry is scheduled to leave in the fall. I feel so blessed to have been able to see the original cast of this truly incredible show.