If you don't know about the Broadway phenomenon, "Hamilton," let me inform you right now about what it is and why you should be listening to it.
Hamilton is about our founding father, Alexander Hamilton -- or, as you know him -- that guy on the $10 bill. He was never a President, although some people think this to be true, and this musical follows his life from when he was born in the Caribbean, to his arrival in New York, to his death in a duel with Aaron Burr. (It's not a spoiler if it's taught in history textbooks.) Now, I'm going to list some reasons as to why I think "Hamilton" is so important, and why you should listen to it:
The cast.
Now, you might be wondering how this cast is so diverse if the founding fathers and the people surrounding them were white? Well, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of "Hamilton," says that this is the story of America then, told by America today -- and should look how America looks today, which is a great thing.
This musical really spotlights actors and actresses of color, with only one full-time white actor as King George III, which is great because American history doesn't just belong to white people, but to all Americans. Also, another great thing about this musical is that it doesn't just focus on the men who made history as founding fathers, but also the women of that time.
The main trio, The Schuyler Sisters, are a revolutionary-set Destiny's Child, that preach about equality and have as much an impact on the show as Hamilton himself. This musical shows that while the men of history are important for doing all that they did for our country, some of their stories wouldn't have even been told if not for the women of that time.
The Schuyler Sisters
The musical's backstory.
How did this musical come to be? A hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton? The idea sounds crazy. Well, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote "In The Heights," decided to pick up a biography about Hamilton for light vacation reading, and in the middle of reading it, he found Hamilton's life so interesting that he decided to write a whole musical about it. So, the beginnings of this musical go all the way back to 2009 when he premiered the first song, "Alexander Hamilton," to President Obama at the White House, which you can watch here.
The music.
While reading Hamilton's biography and adapting a musical from it, Miranda thought that rap and hip-hop were the music that worked best for the revolution and Hamilton's life. Hamilton's story is similar to a lot of rapper's stories in that he used his gift of writing to get him out of his situation, which was being an orphan born out of wedlock in the West Indies and come to America to be one of the founding fathers. T
he music is so wonderful because a lot of it is music that would be on the charts today if it wasn't already in a musical, and the Hamilton album is actually number nine on the overall iTunes chart as of Jan. 26. The music is great because it's not just stuffy show tunes or music that sounds like it's from the 1700s' its music that could be heard on the radio that really connects with our culture, which is part of why this show is such a success. Two of the songs are called, "Cabinet Battles," where Hamilton and Jefferson start rap battles during a Cabinet meeting. Miranda talks about one of them, below.
Ham4Ham
Because this show is so hard to get tickets to and is now going on a national tour, the Hamilton cast does these sideshows for people waiting for lottery tickets and now digitally so everyone can see them called "Ham4Ham." These shows are funny lip-syncs or singalongs that just brighten your day if you're interested. My favorites are The Schuyler Georges, where all the men who played King George lip sync to "The Schyuler Sisters," and The Ladies of Hamilton, where the women of the Hamilton cast sing the men's parts.
.
The revolutionary set
My thoughts.
So since I dedicated a whole article to this musical, you must assume that I love it and I do! The songs are so wonderful and motivating. Hamilton did so many things by 19 and while sometimes I'm like, I'm 19 and I'm not a founding father and haven't been in charge of a trading charter yet! What am I doing with my life? Other times I feel very motivated by how much Hamilton accomplished in his too short of a life.
My favorite characters are Hamilton, Lafayette, Angelica, and Eliza. I just feel the most for those characters. My favorite songs are "Alexander Hamilton," "My Shot," "The Schuyler Sisters," "Wait For It," and "Guns and Ships," but every song on this album is honestly awe-inspiring. I still cannot believe how much I love a musical based on our founding fathers.
If you take anything away from this article, I hope that you, at least, try listening to Hamilton. It really is worth the listen and within three songs, I guarantee you'll be hooked. You can listen to it for free on YouTube or Spotify and even find some clips of the performance on YouTube as well. If you end up listening to Hamilton and tell me, my reaction will probably be something like this.
