Alexander Hamilton! BookTubeAThon 2018 | Day Five!

It's day five of BookTubeAThon where I give you updates on my reading progress of The Magician's Land and show off my Alexander Hamilton cosplay for the book fashion challenge. Please check out the video below! And to see more of my MEOWexander Hamilton cosplay, click here!

BroadwayCon 2018 - Day 1

Another January living on the east coast, another BroadwayCon. I almost did not attend this year, things were changing and I suffered some health issues in November. I had my ticket though, so come December, when things were starting to get a bit better, I made the decision to go. I'm so glad I did!
These two photos are from the day before BroadwayCon but I had to include them! Julianne (sister-in-law) and Haley (OG VidCon pal) and me...at Shake Shack...in NYC...perfection.
This year's BroadwayCon was something different. One change for me was the fact it was the first time I've ever gotten myself a hotel room alone before. That was nice. Also, getting to see the friends I made the first and second years, felt extra good this time. I can't explain it, but it just felt warm and safe and special. The new people I met and the new experiences I had were no less amazing. (People coming up to me and telling me they like my videos!! Um, what?!?)
The Actors in Activism panel had me in tears. Meeting up with Nat and Kacie and Hannah in all of our Jellicle glory and goofiness (more of that to come) was ridiculous fun. BroadwayCon, not the boat show. And all of the performances, WOW. I know it's been months since the con but I'm going to space out these re-caps/reports. It brings me a burst of joy sharing them and I don't want it to all be over.
This was the only day I wore MEOWexander and it was almost as much fun as the first time. People remembered him from last year! What an honor. That first day was a rush and I'm just going to bask in its memories for a bit.
Thank you for reading! ♥︎
Jenny

aka

MagicCatJenny (on all socials)

MEOWexander Hamilton (Cats + Hamilton) - BroadwayCon 2017

"Pardon me, are you Aaron Purrr sirrr?"

The idea came to me during the bus ride to the first BroadwayCon in 2016. I was scrolling through Twitter on my phone when I found out Cats was coming back to Broadway that summer. It was beyond perfect timing! That year one of my cosplays was the Jellicle kitten, Jemima. I think Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted congratulations of some sort and the hashtag #cats4ham (a play on the hashtag #ham4ham) started to appear. I immediately joked that I should make a Cats/Hamilton crossover cosplay for next year. Welp...jokes on me 'cause I did it!


The costume I chose was Hamilton's opening look since it's brown and off-white. (Good cat colors and I already have my brown and cream arm warmers I made years ago.) Making the costume was a bit experimentation and a lot of patterned sewing. Most of the clothing was from a pattern but I did construct the cravat without a pattern, just looking at photos of Lin-Manuel in the show. I knitted myself some brown and black leg warmers to mimic his boots and a (slightly hidden) tail to match. The wig was the most experimental part, Jellicle cat in the front, Patriot ponytail in the back.

I'll be doing another post about the makeup but I do want to mention the glasses. I realize Hamilton does not wear glasses till the second act but I would have needed to wear glasses anyways...hence the in-character prescription glasses. They really came in handy since I wore this costume 4 days in a row. First for only an evening (to see Cats...video of how that went here) and then for all 3 days of BroadwayCon (Review of day one, two, and three.)




The entire week was beyond amazing, I made some new friends and everyone seemed to really get a kick out of my costume! MEOWexander Hamilton was a success!

Seeing Cats in Costume

My experience seeing Cats in costume!  Watch me embarrassingly fangirl over Tyler Hanes and MORE in this video that makes you question the fact I'm a 30-year-old adult married woman and not a 14-year-old obsessed teenager.

BroadwayCon 2017 - Day 3

Day three! The final day! The day I completed my goal and met Andy Blankenbuehler, the choreographer of Hamilton and the Cats revival. I think he dug my costume. ;)

The rest of the day was one of sad goodbyes, joyful singalongs, and promises of hanging out before the next BroadwayCon. If the first BroadwayCon was about meeting new people, the second was about re-connecting and expanding the circle of like-minded theater fans. America's kind of messed up right now, so it was refreshing to spend a weekend worry free and safe. The ending ceremony explained it so well, I filmed it and you can watch it here. If you prefer a video of the entire experience, you can watch my vlog here.
Feeling good to be done with that makeup, four days in a row is a lot!
Here's the one photo I took at Broadway Sessions. Ben Cameron is such a fun guy. Thanks for letting dance and sing on your stage despite how terrible I am at it! Haha! (Yes video of that exists, no I will not post it online.)

BroadwayCon 2017 - Day 2 & the Curtain Up On Cosplay Panel

A day of Jellicles, that's what Saturday was. So many Cats fans running about in costume, what day! The day started out with the awesome panel I was on! It was called 'Curtin Up On Cosplay' and featured my friend Lindsey of Phantom on a Budget and some other amazing (all women!) cosplayers. It's the second ever panel I've been on at a convention and honestly, it was an honor. (Video of the full panel at the bottom of this post!)

The day was a success. I made new friends, gave away more pins, and saw so many great things. It was such a full day I went to bed early again to get ready for the last full day of the con.

BroadwayCon 2017 - Day 1

BroadwayCon day one, MEOWexander Hamilton makes his debut! He was such a hit! I felt so confident as a founding father jellicle, it was weird and amazing. This year the convention was held in a wing of the Javits Center in NYC so there was much more space but it was a bit longer of a walk than just downstairs. The vendor hall was the main walking area and there were different rooms for the panels. The autograph/photo sessions were at the end of the hall and honestly did not seem as popular as last year. The main stage felt less 'theatrical' and more 'held-in-a-warehouse' but honestly, this year was more about interacting than large-scale events.

The cosplay this year was phenomenal! I put a video together showcasing a selection of great costumes and here's my photo dump from day one:



I ended my day with a free bottle of wine from Felix at the Cassa Times Square hotel and some cable TV (so fancy), and what do you know, Dazed and Confused was on! Our own Anthony Rapp is in that movie! (Ain't he cute?) Half-way through my 'wearing-cats-makeup-4-days-in-a-row' endeavor, I went to bed early.