Story By 11 Year Old LA Girl gg.ego
I haven’t traveled in a while so when I started thinking about my dream trip, I couldn’t help but imagine the scenario leading to this voyage. I hope you will enjoy this short story of my dream trip.
One morning, I was listening to the news and all of a sudden I heard Lin Manuel Miranda’s voice. “OH MY GOSH! SOMEONE TURN UP THE VOLUME! IT'S LIN MANUEL MIRANDAAAAAAAAAA!!!” I squealed. Lin Manuel Miranda is my IDOL! He made almost EVERYTHING I LOVE: Hamilton and Encanto! Sadly though, he lives in New York, so I’ll never meet him unless a real miracle were to happen. “GIGI, LIN MANUEL MIRANDA IS REUNITING THE CAST OF HAMILTON AND IS HAVING A CONTEST FOR ONE PERSON TO BE AN UNDERSTUDY!” screamed my brother. I ran to get my phone and checked. IT WAS THE EASIEST CONTEST EVER! It said I had to record myself singing 3 songs from Hamilton. I turned on my camera and started recording.
I finished recording some of my favorite songs: Guns and Ships, What did I Miss and Nonstop. I was super nervous to turn them in, but I was determined to meet Lin Manuel Miranda and Daveed Diggs. A few weeks later, I received a phone call. “Huh… who could this be?” I asked myself as I checked my phone. “Hello?” “Hi, this is Daveed Diggs. I wanted to congratulate you for winning the Hamilton Contest! We are flying you business class to NewYork so you can be my understudy.” I was shocked. Yes, I did really want to win, but I didn’t expect to ACTUALLY WIN!
I got to New York in 5 hours. I took the subway to get to our meeting place, Richard Rodgers Theater. When I arrived I met THE Lin Manuel Miranda and THE Daveed Diggs! I almost fainted! This was my DREAM TRIP! We had lunch at this delicious pizza place called Zero Otto Nove and went back to the theater. After a while of practicing with the whole cast, we took a short break to go visit Central Park. I took a bunch of fun pictures and videos. We also got to visit Alexander and Eliza Hamilton's graves in Trinity Church and it was fascinating. I checked my watch and it was almost time for the show so we ran back to the theater to get ready. I was a little disappointed because Daveed Diggs didn’t get sick or break an appendage, so I couldn’t perform on stage. My disappointment must have been visible since Daveed Diggs called me over. “You know what? I'm not feeling very good,” he said with a wink. “I think you might have to sub for me!” I would’ve screamed, but I didn’t want to seem impolite so I just nodded and said “Ok! Thank you so much for being… sick?” He chuckled. I ran to put on my costume and got ready. That was the BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE! I got to play LAFAYETTE AND THOMAS JEFFERSON IN HAMILTON!!!!! I thanked everyone so much for everything… but unfortunately I had to go back home. Right when I was about to leave, I tripped over a prop and I went flying through the room. I crashed into something and woke up in my room back in LA. That's when I realized that it had all been a dream. Even though it wasn't real, I was amazed at all the things I could do in New York!
11 year old LA Girl gg.ego participated in Pay It Forward Gig, My Sweet Dream Trip; and earned $100 gift card for her sweet New York story. #newyork #payitforwardgig #mysweetdreamtrip #gg.ego @recruitingforgood