I'm sure you've heard about "Hamilton" from at least 10 different friends of yours and the entire Internet. Already a little over a year since its premiere at the Public Theater and it has broken all sorts of records and boundaries. It seems to surpass all bindings of class, race, and age. "Hamilton" was nominated for 16 Tonys and came away with 11. The Tonys are just part of a long list of the many awards they have gotten, including a Grammy.
On February 15, the Grammys made history with a historically based musical that has taken the world by storm. Anyone that has spent a considerable amount of time on the internet must have some vague understanding of the hip-hop musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton. And if they didn’t know about the show, then their performance at the Grammys definitely piqued the interest of TV-watchers nationwide. Trying to get a ticket for the show now will have you on a wait-list until next year.
Even Google tweeted out that searches for “Who is Alexander Hamilton?” spiked four times its usual rate at 9:36 p.m. that Monday night just after the cast of "Hamilton" wrapped up their performance. Searches were also made for “Aaron Burr” and most importantly: “Hamilton tickets.”
It wouldn’t be a big deal—what’s another story about (white) American history? But it is a big deal, and it has to do in large part with the creative genius that is Lin-Manuel Miranda. He chose to flip the script on what most of America believed to be the story of the founding fathers. The actors that play the usual roles of Madison, Jefferson, and Washington are portrayed by black men. In fact, the entirety of the cast is made up of people of color. Starting with the leading man himself, who is Puerto Rican, raised in Washington Heights.
As a young Puerto Rican woman, who comes from a family of Cuban immigrants, my sense of pride surges whenever I hear about all the great strides this show has made, from cast member Anthony Ramos waving a Puerto Rican flag on the stage as they win their Grammy, to seeing the diverse cast perform at the White House for the Obamas and a group of high school students.
This is all not even mentioning the fact that the show uses a style and genre of music that is not usually seen on the Broadway stage: hip-hop. It is incredible to think that not only are people seeing diversity in the color of the actors’ skin, but also in the way in which the story is told. Lin-Manuel has said that this is the only way in which Hamilton’s story can be really laid out. As “another immigrant coming up from the bottom,” Hamilton’s life embodies the life of someone who has had enough with the status quo and is reaching for the top, not unlike many songs that we listen to in the world of hip-hop.
And really, there are no words to express the emotion I feel as Hamilton and Lafayette coyly look at one another and say: “Immigrants, we get the job done.”
