‘Hamilton’ opens in Puerto Rico with emotional performance by Lin-Manuel Miranda: 'I just love this island so much’ (Chicago Tribune):
[…] “Hamilton” has caused a stir wherever it has landed, but the scene outside the Centro de Bellas Artes Luis A. Ferré in San Juan still was extraordinary.
In one corner of the plaza, a high-school student named Gustavo Rosa was surprised by his drama teacher Miguel Rosa (no relation) with a ticket to the sold-out show, even though the young man had thought he was just getting to watch a few celebrity arrivals of the likes of Shonda Rhimes, Leslie Odom Jr. and Jimmy Fallon, who had brought his “Tonight Show” to the island in honor of “Hamilton.”
Such was the prolonged scream and dance of joy that came from the younger Rosa at the sight of the prized ducat that many of the scores of security officers watching the plaza turned their heads. “I have been a musical theater student for seven years,” Rosa said, jumping around. “I have been dying to see this show.”
At the front of the crowd barrier was 13-year-old Patricia Schaffer from San Juan. “I have been obsessed with ‘Hamilton’ since I was in sixth grade,” she said, seeming almost too excited to speak. “This is the highlight of my year.”
Indeed the opening, which commanded a huge exterior footprint filled with sponsors, theatergoers, gawkers and police officers, seemed like the highlight of everyone’s tough year here. Even the group of protesters on the plaza arguing for statehood said they were glad Miranda and “Hamilton” were on the island.
“We welcome the musical here because it gives us a chance to air our issues before every leading newspaper in America,” said Jose Olmos, who said he was both a veteran of the United States armed forces and a statehood activist looking forward to protesting in front of the large delegation of members of U.S. Congress expected to see “Hamilton” in Puerto Rico on Sunday night.
“I want to ask them, are they really living up to the standards of Alexander Hamilton, a disenfranchised immigrant, a poor man from the Caribbean?” Olmos said.
Standing next to Olmos was Dan Santiago, clad in “Hamilton”-like attire. “Puerto Rico should be the 51st state,” he said, grinning at the cameras and reporters looking his way.
Across the plaza was a Chicagoan named Carolyn Kaiser, who had bought a T-shirt for her niece, Zoe, only to find herself the winner of a raffle in aid of the Flamboyan Arts Fund, a philanthropy dedicated to the arts in Puerto Rico and a main beneficiary of the decision by “Hamilton” producer Jeffrey Seller to price some tickets affordably so local residents could attend while dedicating most of the best seats as costly fundraisers.
On Friday, Miranda’s first entrance as Hamilton was greeted by a prolonged standing ovation that at first seemed to threaten the ability of the show to proceed. Even by “Hamilton” standards, it was an extraordinary burst of affection for a favorite son, returning at the peak of his influence. Onlookers wondered if he felt the obligation that comes with such adoration.
“I couldn’t see anybody,” Miranda said of the moment, after the show, “but I felt my hair move.”
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