An Evening with Chris Jackson

Aside from Lin, my very favorite member of the original Hamilton cast is Chris Jackson. And tonight I finally had the chance to see him in concert. I just love his personality and of course that gorgeous voice of his, so I was very excited to see him in a more informal setting. Obviously, he knocked it out of the park.

His concert was seemingly off the cuff. He would sing a bit, then chat about a singer he liked or anecdotes about his family or Broadway. He's so sincere, and seemed to be blown away by the fact that he was performing at the Kennedy Center. It was sweet to see him get as excited as we were to see him.

He chose a wide variety of songs to sing, such as classics by Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Harry Belafonte. Those were most of the ones I knew. He sang quite a few others that I'd never heard before, but they were no less fun. He even ended the show with a snappy version of "Happy" by Pharrel Williams. All in all, I liked his choices and they worked well with his voice.

However, I have one complaint, and based on the comments in the ladies room after, it's the same complaint everyone seemed to have. He didn't sing anything from In the Heights or Hamilton. After 90 minutes of not singing "One Last Time", I thought for sure he'd encore with it. Afterall, it's almost made to be the last song of a concert. It's perfect and he sings it perfectly. But I was wrong. He encored with a reiteration of the difficulties everyone has had this week, and sang a religious song that helps him through. While a lovely thought, we all pretty much wanted at least a little Hamilton.

But all in all, he's a fantastic performer. He's personable and a great storyteller. His genuineness comes through in everything he does, and you can't help but smile your way through!