By Amy Diaz
When Gregory Plantamura first heard the buzz around Hamilton: An American Musical about two and a half years ago, he was skeptical.
“How could anything be that good?” he wondered.
When he decided to check it out, his question was answered.
“It was amazing. The music, the story, the intricate lyrics, the foreshadowing, the rhyming, the history which makes it so much more impactful. It’s inspiring,” Plantamura said. “When I’m driving in really bad traffic, I put it on and it takes away all the stress.”
Plantamura said when people get into Hamilton, they really get into it. And that’s what he did when he developed HamilFest.
He found out Mary Anne Hamilton, the widow of Alexander Hamilton’s great-great-grandson is a retired real-estate agent living in Seminole.
He learned that Rand Scholet, the president and founder of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society, lived in Pinellas County, too. Scholet was a historical adviser for Lin-Manuel Miranda when he was writing the musical.
“I figured, hey, with the people we’ve got here, we have the makings to put together a Hamilton festival,” Plantamura said.
Plantamura has experience organizing community events.
Courtesy of HamilFest
He put together the biggest Comic Con in Pinellas County: the free, non-profit Pinellas Comic & Maker Con at the St. Petersburg College Seminole campus, which drew around 5,000 attendees in its third year.
“I really enjoy being able to put on free events like this,” Plantamura said. “A lot of people don’t have money, and comic cons have been getting so expensive and crowded. I wanted to bring it back to something for the community.”
Plantamura put on the first annual HamilFest last year at the SPC Gibbs campus, using the same model he used for the Comic & Maker Con. There were educational portions of the festival, with speakers, professors and Mary Anne Hamilton, as well as food, music, a costume contest and a talent show.
The festival drew about 250 people last year, and this year, Plantamura expects that number to go up to about 400.
“Hamilton is a much smaller audience, but the Hamilton fans are extremely passionate,” Plantamura said.
This year’s HamilFest will take place Feb. 9 at the SPC Gibbs Music Center, 6605 Fifth Ave. N., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free, although some activities will require a small fee.
Attendees are encouraged to dress up, participate in the costume contest and perform in the talent show. Musical performances aren’t limited to Hamilton; any Lin-Manuel Miranda production will do.
Historical costuming, themed mini-golf and tarot card readings are also on the line-up for the festival.
Additionally, there will be a fundraising raffle with proceeds benefiting Puerto Rico Connect, a non-profit organization which helps connect county residents displaced by Hurricane Maria.
If you aren’t a Hamilton fan, you might not see the connection between the charity and the event, but it’s there.
“Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis before coming to America and was one of the first immigrants in the United States to make it big. Lin-Manuel Miranda is also from Puerto Rico,” Plantamura said. “Hamilton fans are well aware of this fact.”
If you can’t make it to this year’s HamilFest, it will be live-streamed by Diversely Geek, an organization that aims to promote positivity and mental health through fandoms and pop culture.
HamilFest is not officially affiliated with Hamilton. Plantamura describes it as “our own thing, just getting together as friends and fans to show our love of the show.”
