It’s a brisk Tuesday night, and although the little town of Glen Rock has long turned out its lights, the city that never sleeps is still going strong.

  Among the many New York City theaters letting out their audiences after the final performance of the day, one seems to glow with energy and anticipation, the crowd ready with autograph books in hand and smiles on their faces.

  As the stage door of the Richard Rodgers theater opens, one lucky Susky student creates a precious memory to last a lifetime.

  Senior Brigit Duffy, an avid theater fan and member of the stage crew, had the increasingly rare opportunity to see the wildly popular Broadway show Hamilton and meet some of its cast on February 23, an experience that she says has been months in the making.

  “I got to meet Lin-Manuel Miranda [Alexander Hamilton] and then I also got to meet Daveed Diggs [Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson],” Duffy said. “I’ve been slightly obsessed with Hamilton…for a while, so I think being able to get the experience of what it looks like and getting to meet Lin, who pretty much created the whole thing, was such a good moment, and it was just so good.”

  Duffy’s mother, Jennifer Duffy, is a fellow fan of the show and believes it is truly unique to any other production in the world.

  “I thought that it was so well done, how they used such a diverse cast, and made history fun, like learning a whole lesson of history in a fun way,” J. Duffy said. “…It was interesting that the set was just one scene all the time, that they just sort of changed up with chairs and furniture, but it wasn’t like a closed curtain and, you know, different sets every time. I thought that was very different, and…just the way the music is…rapping and…so much of the musical is singing, it’s not a lot of speaking in the musical.”

  However new the experience of seeing such an in-demand show may have been for the Duffys, they’re not the first representatives from Susky to immerse themselves in this revolutionary retelling of history – senior Maggie Kaliszak saw the show in December, along with her family and a few friends.

  Kaliszak insists that, while the show may seem strange to the first-time listener, its themes and style prevent its story from being stuck in the past.

  “I mean, at first, when I heard about it, I was like, ‘Okay. This is just about…some old dude in history,’ but it ended up being more because you saw not only the struggles of him throughout his life, but also of our country as it became an actual country,” Kaliszak said. “I think it kind of shows how freedom was important to them and how it can even still be important to us today.”

  Even for the person who has listened to the Hamilton cast recording on loop since it’s been available for purchase (you know who you are), Duffy assures that seeing the show in person brings something special to the familiar melodies and lyrics.

  “…I was ready for all of the songs and stuff, but it was just so surreal seeing it live, and I think my favorite part was that, because it’s live theater, it won’t be exactly the same,” said Duffy. “…This one time, Leslie Odom Jr., who plays Aaron Burr, broke character when Jonathan Groff, who plays King George, was just being ridiculous and it was funny, and so then Aaron Burr broke character and started laughing and I thought that was awesome…”

  After the silliness and sorrows of the show itself have passed, it’s time to head out to stage door, the nightly meet-and-greet location where Duffy, Kaliszak, and so many others convene for pictures and a few seconds of treasured conversation with their favorite performers.

  “I just told them how thankful I was for the thing they created and how much their music meant to me and how great the show was,” Duffy said. “…They were so gracious with their time and so happy that I enjoyed the show, and…they were awesome…I feel very grateful…because…to say that I got to see it is definitely something I’m really thankful for.”

  Whatever your opinion is on the subject of history or the idea of theater, Hamilton is a musical that gets everything right, and with tickets getting scarcer by the minute, take Duffy and Kaliszak’s advice: in the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, do not throw away your shot.