Home: A Lippa Story

Chapter 3

Applause like I had never heard before filled the theatre. I couldn't help but smile as the Hamilton cast lined up to take their bows. Lin and I stepped forward to take a bow ourselves. He had a hand over his heart and leaned forward, bending at the waist. I dropped into a perfectly practiced curtsy, holding the pose as the applause grew louder and louder. Once the applause died down, Lin and I returned to the line with the rest of the cast and took one last group bow as the curtain fell over our first Broadway performance of Hamilton: An American Musical.

As soon as the curtain hit the wooden floors of the stage, we all broke out in cheers, congratulating one another.

"You did wonderful!"

"You did better! Your expression in Yorktown was flawless!"

"The audience loved it! I'm so proud of us."

I skipped over to Lin and nearly tackled him with kisses. "I'm. So. Proud. Of. You," I gasped in between kisses. Lin gleefully kissed me back, "I'm more proud of you. Good job, my love." I smiled, blushing under my heavy Eliza makeup, "I love you so much, Lin."

"I love you, too," Lin smiled and took hold of my hand, following the cast backstage to clean up.

Once we had changed into street clothes, the entire cast of Hamilton crowded into a nearby local bar for an after-show celebration. Renee was the first to raise her glass, "A toast to the cast!" The cast giggled, catching on quickly and echoing her words, "To the cast, to the cast, to the cast."

"To the show!"

"To the show, to the show."

"May we always..."

"Always."

"Perform this well."

"This well, this well."

Renee smiled, taking a sip from her glass; the rest of us followed suit. We exchanged a few more toasts, and then split our ways, talking amongst ourselves or heading to different parts of the bar. Lin pulled me into a booth hidden away in a corner. We had previously promised each other that we would each only have one drink; we had another show tomorrow and didn't need to be hung over for it. I was happy to hear Lin tell me that he had already had his drink and was done for the night. The rest of the cast was partying in the center of the bar, and quite a few were noticeably drunk already, but I felt safe and content, sitting in the corner with Lin.

~

I turned the keys to my shared apartment with Steven. It was late, nearly 11 o'clock, and the house was silent. Rehearsals had run late, but I had also stayed with Renee and Jazzy in my dressing room for quite a while, discussing the fiasco with Lin. I tried my best to silently get in bed, next to Steven, but he was an extremely light sleeper, and I woke him up. "Pippa?" Steven groggily croaked. "Yeah, it's me. Go to bed, Steven. It's late," I turned my back to him, hoping to get a good night's sleep.

"I love you, Pippa."

"Goodnight, Steven."

~

The afterparty was still going strong, and so were some of the cast mates, although quite a few had gone home or had fallen asleep, drunk, at a barstool. I checked my wristwatch: 12:30. Lin saw the subtle action, "You want to go home, Pippa, my love?" I frowned, slightly. I was terribly tired, but I didn't want to be that person that split the party up at 12:30 on a Friday night, "No, no. I want to be here for my friends."

"Your friends are drunk."

"My friends can't be left here alone, especially now that they're drunk," I dragged out the last syllable, yawning.

"You're tired, Pippa."

"I'll be fine. We'll leave when Renee leaves," I waved a tired hand at Renee who was still going strong with the shots. I kept a close eye on my Schuyler sisters, trying to keep my heavy eyelids from falling. Lin wrapped an arm around me, "Renee and Jasmine will be fine. A lot of the cast is still here; we don't need to stay for them. Let's go home." I must not have responded, because Lin picked me up, bridal style, and carried me out of the bar, into the cool New York City night air.