“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean, impoverished in providence and squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”
So your friend can’t stop talking about the modern musical revolution that is Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton”. Here is my quick guide to understand what said friend is talking “Non-Stop” about.
In 2009, Lin-Manuel Miranda decided that the best way to write a musical about one of our country’s greatest founding fathers was to center it around hip-hop. He began his work, and ended up performing for President and First Lady Obama at a poetry slam at the White House in the same year. At first, people laughed at him, but now, “Hamilton” is one of the most recognizable Broadway musicals of all time. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics for this musical, so, he might as well star in it, right?
Character Analysis
This is the Original Broadway Cast from 2015:
Alexander Hamilton: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Aaron Burr: Leslie Odom Jr.
Eliza Hamilton (Schuyler): Phillipa Soo
Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson: Daveed Diggs
George Washington: Christopher Jackson
John Laurens/Philip Hamilton: Anthony Ramos
Hercules Mulligan/James Madison: Okieriete Onaodowan
King George III: Jonathan Groff
Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds: Jasmine Cephas Jones
If you can only listen to 5 songs out of the 46, these are the ones you should listen to:Alexander Hamilton- The opening number that introduces most of the characters.Guns and Ships- A great lyrical number, where Daveed Diggs raps 6.3 words in one second.Yorktown- A great song that uses a lot of the cast, and is great to watch the live performance of.Burn- This song is sung by Eliza, Alexander’s wife. This is her response to finding out that Alexander cheated on her.Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story- The closing number tells how Alex’s life continued to inspire people even after he died.
Honestly, the whole album is worth listening to at least once, just make sure you have a box of Kleenex nearby. If you have Disney+, I would suggest watching the professional recording, because the album itself is about as long as the recording.
This musical revitalized musical theater and helped to bridge the gap between theater and other genres of music. If “Hamilton” doesn’t satisfy your musical needs, I would suggest listening to The Hamilton Mixtape. It is an album of some of the most popular songs re-recorded in a more modern hip-hop style.
I hope you enjoy the life of Alexander Hamilton as much as I do. This musical not only teaches us to “Talk less, smile more”, but that you should believe in yourself, before you expect others to believe in you.