Don’t throw away your shot to see groundbreaking ‘Hamilton’ at Morrison Center in Boise
Alexander Hamilton, we’ve been waiting for you.
The award-winning musical’s run at the Morrison Center was first announced in 2019 for the following season. In anticipation, people who bought 2019-20 subscriptions had first pick for “Hamilton” seats. Then the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, and the Boise stand was postponed.
But now, it’s finally on.
“Hamilton” will take over the Morrison Center on Wednesday, Dec. 8, and the show will run through Sunday, Dec. 26. Tickets are available for each performance. What is coming to Boise is the And Peggy company, one of three “Hamilton” tours currently on the road in North America.
The production also brings its signature lottery for $10 tickets. Find details below on how to enter.
“Hamilton” is one of the biggest breakthrough musicals of all time. It ranks right up there with “Oklahoma,” “A Chorus Line,” “Hair: The American Tribal Love Rock Musical,” “Les Miserables” and “Rent” — shows that not only changed how musical theater is produced, but what audiences expect.
It sparked a new interest in theater by embracing a different musical style for Broadway — hip-hop and rap — and blending it with traditional musical theater techniques. With revolutionary spirit and verve, the 2015 theater sensation about the “$10 Founding Father” won a record 11 Tony Awards — it was nominated for 16 — and a Pulitzer Prize. It propelled its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the show’s stars to worldwide fame.
Using racially inclusive casting to tell the story of the American Revolution and the rise and fall of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury secretary, the show created a cultural earthquake that introduced a new generation to the art form — and at the same time forever changed it.
But beyond the on-stage craft, it also changed perceptions of the people who create that craft, from performers to musicians.
Finding a woman in the orchestra pit of a Broadway show — or on any conductor’s podium — was a rarity up until the past 10 years. Even now, there are only a handful. One of them is Lily Ling, music director for the And Peggy company.
Ling represents the growing presence of women in the theater world working at the Broadway level. And as a Canadian-Chinese immigrant, she also is the first Asian to hold a “Hamilton” baton.
“I came up at a time where I remember being a woman and someone of color played against me,” Ling said in a phone interview from Tuscon, Arizona, where the company played last week. “Now since the pandemic, it seems, after years of screaming into the ether, things have shifted.”
Following opportunity
Ling’s journey to this point was filled with twists and turns, encouragement and sheer luck. She arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, when she was 7. As a child, she played accordion and piano, and while her family dreamed of her becoming a doctor or lawyer, she felt drawn to music — even though her first foray into college was pre-med, before switching to piano performance at the University of Toronto.
She also started hanging out in the theater department.
When it came time for graduate school, “I thought I would try something different,” Ling said. “I was sitting there with a copy of the LSAT in front of me,” but going to law school wasn’t what she wanted.
Instead, she was accepted at Penn State’s master’s program for musical direction, at the time the only one like it in the country.
Since then, Ling has worked Off-Broadway and in other gigs that led to her breakthrough position as associate music director for “The Lion King” in Shanghai. It was the musical’s Chinese language debut, and Ling not only worked with the score, but also coached Chinese and South African actors on how to translate the lyrics with cultural depth and meaning.
What does a music director do?
Everything you hear during a “Hamilton” performance is somehow touched, nurtured or created by Ling. She rehearses the 10-piece group of musicians; works with the chorus and individual cast members; works with the resident director and dance captain to maintain the quality and cohesiveness of the show; tweaks the sound in all the different venues; and even serves as the musician’s union representative.
Being a woman in this leadership role has been something she has downplayed in the past.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Ling said. “There are so many who think I got the job because I am a woman, so I’ve kept my head down and wanted my reputation to precede me. It must be clear that I’m the best person for the job. I just happen to be a woman of Asian descent.”
Before the pandemic, she led the Philip Tour, which was the first national “Hamilton” tour. Now this band of musicians is breaking more barriers with Emily Rosenfield, the first female guitarist to play in a “Hamilton” band, and two assistant music directors, both of whom are Black.
Go see it
What: “Hamilton”
Where: Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane, Boise.
When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8-9; 8 p.m. Dec. 10; 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 11; 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 12; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14-16; 8 p.m. Dec. 17; 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 18; 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 19; 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20-22; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 23; 7 p.m. Dec. 25; 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 26.
Tickets: $59-$199, with a limited number of premium seats starting at $299 for all shows. Ticketmaster, 208-426-1110.
COVID-19 Protocol: Masks are required for everyone, regardless of vaccination status.
How to enter the lottery
Download the official “Hamilton” app for iOS and Android devices. The lottery opens at 10 a.m. Fridays and will close at noon the following Thursday. You must be 18 or older to enter. Only one entry per person.
Winners and non-winners will be notified by mobile push and email between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursdays for the upcoming week’s performances. You’ll have two hours to claim and pay for your tickets. No purchase is necessary to enter.
This story was originally published December 2, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
