I want to tell you all about my new favorite musical, Hamilton. It's amazing. Amazing.
It's about Alexander Hamilton, (the founding father, yes) and it's a hip-hop/rap musical. Sounds ridiculous, right? Wrong. It's awesome. Sometimes the best innovators create things that sound ridiculous. It was written by one person, Lin-Manuel Miranda. He performed what is now the opener of the show, "Alexander Hamilton," in front of Barack and Michelle Obama in 2009 at the White House Poetry Slam. He thinks Alexander Hamilton perfectly embodies hip-hop. Weird, right? It is until you listen to his explanation. Hamilton was born penniless and illegitimate in the West Indies before being orphaned. He became one of the most influential men in the creation of our country, entirely because of his writing skills. He "embodies the words' ability to make a difference."
His story is even more powerful when set to music. One of my favorite things about it is how often the same melodies reoccur throughout the show. Sometimes doing that is risky, because it can take away from the music by making songs too repetitive, but it is done masterfully. Miranda uses the same lyrics or melodies when a specific character is going through something especially important. Characters often have their own hooks they sing during pivotal moments in their story. Somehow the transition from speaking to rapping to singing is done seamlessly, naturally. The music varies from hard rap to borderline operatic and the harmonies are beautiful.
Please please please listen to it you will not regret it I PROMISE
i am absolutely IN LOVE with this musical. sadie's right, it's a must-listen-to. even if you think you don't like rap or hip hop music i guarantee you you will be hooked by satisfied. this show is literally the best.
ReplyDeleteThis musical sounds so awesome and I've been really meaning to watch it. I'm always hearing people talk about how great it is. I love how it relates the old and the modern. I think this musical shows the universal message that anyone can start from nothing and become an extremely influential person regardless of where they started from.
ReplyDeleteYou guys have totally intrigued me, I would love to go see this musical now. I was thinking "wow that would have been cool to see when I was in APUSH" because I don't remember too much about Hamilton, and maybe it would have cemented him more in my brain. As I recall he was a federalist who had the contrasting economic vision to Thomas Jefferson, and predicted a Capitalistic economy that the U.S. embodies today (if I'm wrong, sorry Ms. Cervine). Anyways, if this show's historically accurate that makes it seem super awesome and I want to see it even more (I loved the song Simran posted too).
ReplyDeleteTo expand on the note Saidie made about recurring themes throughout the show in the music–it's also worth noting that this show does something very interesting in line with this idea of repetition, which is use the same actors for different characters in the two acts. While many of the main characters are obviously played by the same actor from act one to act two (Hamilton, Washington, Burr, Eliza, Angelica, and King George III being the ones that come to mind), there are six main characters that are played by only three actors. Daveed Diggs, who currently plays Marquis de Lafayette in act one, becomes Thomas Jefferson in act two. Okieriete Onaodowan, Hercules Mulligan in act one, is James Madison in act two. And of course, Anthony Ramos, who plays John Laurens in act one, becomes Phillip Hamilton (Hamilton's son) in act two. I think this is interesting because of the parallels it draws between these characters, simultaneously making both their similarities and differences very clear. In the opening number, "Alexander Hamilton," all of the characters are wearing neutral costumes as they are introducing themselves. Mulligan/Madison and Lafayette/Jefferson say together: "We fought with him," referring both to their fighting together during the revolution as their first characters and fighting against each other in politics during the second act. Poor Laurens/Phillip says "Me, I died for him," referring to the tragic fact that (spoilers!) both of his characters die. It's also an incredible testament to the versatility of the actors that they are all able to play such different characters with such seamless grace.
ReplyDeleteAnd let's not forget that Peggy Schuyler becomes Maria Reynolds. Never forget Peggy.