This is Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda performing at the White House Spoken Word Jam in 2009. He was hard at work on his “concept hip-hop album” about a man he says “embodies hip-hop” … Alexander Hamilton. He performs the first song, an Eminem-inspired introductory narrative (I hear a lot of “Lose Yourself” in there), called “Alexander Hamilton.” This was in 2009 which just goes to show you how long it takes to bring a show to production time.
Hamilton was one of the most incredible and revolutionary shows I have ever seen, in this oh-so-conservative theatre town. A hip-hop musical. Rap on a Broadway stage. Angry rap too. N.W.A.-sounding rap. The Battle of Yorktown sung in rap? The writing of the freakin’ Federalist Papers as a goosebump-inducing rap production number? Or the secret meeting between Hamilton/Jefferson/Madison where they carved out a compromise involving the placement of the Capitol and Hamilton’s financial system – a gigantic thrilling production number? Debates in the cabinet between Jefferson and Hamilton conceived as a “rap battle” a la 8 Mile? Have I died and gone to heaven? The production has an extraordinarily diverse cast (the most diverse I’ve seen since Rent). The Schuyler sisters, for example, were three different races. Yes! This is what college productions look like, community theatre productions: why is Broadway so far behind? The show is not only ferociously educational but hilarious, in its lyrics and in some of its conceptions of characters: Thomas Jefferson was reminiscent of Prince, with his big hair and head-to-toe purple velvet suit, as well as a lackadaisical rock-star “I don’t give a fuck” attitude – so perfect! STILL LAUGHING. Or King George III: The audience around me was literally rocking back and forth laughing: he had only three numbers but he brought the house down and by the third time he appeared, people started laughing before he had even DONE anything. (Side note: unlike most Broadway shows, this one had a diverse audience as well.)
Ron Chernow, when he came to the first rehearsal, describes his feelings when he saw this first number (which is a big group number in the production). Chernow said in re: Miranda’s lyrics, “He got the first 40 pages of my book – every bit of it – into one song.”
Those of you who have read me for a long time know my feelings on Alexander Hamilton. I know his story backwards and forwards. He was a complex, fascinating figure. Self-destructive. Driven. Brilliant. I felt vindicated (almost personally) by Ron Chernow’s book. But it’s one of those lonely obsessions. It’s not like being obsessed with, say, George Clooney or One Direction where you would have lots of company. Hamilton maniacs are a small hearty group. We also are in the minority – in certain circles, anyway – in that we don’t just go around dismissing all those guys because they were “dead white males.” Hamilton was a penniless immigrant (one of the lines in the show: “Immigrants get shit done” elicited ROARS from the audience), illegitimate birth, abandoned by his father, he had NOTHING (except for his extraordinary mind), and he rose to the heights of power in his new land. You would think these people would find him an inspiring figure on that fact alone, right? He was an abolitionist. He saw farther than the “other guys” because he was not tied to one region. He saw the future. He saw the disappearance of Land as the currency of the realm, and the rise of industry/cities/factories. He had the immigrant’s perspective on freedom/opportunies/sky’s-the-limit. Nobody handed him anything. We Hamilton fans did not cheer with excitement when we heard Hamilton was getting bumped off the tenner for a woman. We were pissed. But what do non-Hamilton-fans and non-history-buffs people know about him? (If they haven’t read Chernow’s book, I mean.) That he’s on the 10 dollar bill and that he died in a duel. Drunk History did an Alexander Hamilton episode (it was their first episode), and Michael Cera played Hamilton and I was so excited. Not just to see their ridiculous re-enaction (“Alexander Hamilton shot …….. Alexander Hamilton …”) but that the drunk guy telling the story was a fellow Hamilton Traveler. Part of the tribe.
SO. To then sit in the Richard Rodgers theatre, and the lights went down, and the first number began, and people circled the stage, moving in and out, singing quietly, “Alexander Hamilton … his name is Alexander Hamilton …”
It was like stepping into an alternate universe where everybody understands, where everybody “knows his name.” I almost couldn’t believe it was happening.
The show lionizes him, yes. And rightly so, in my opinion. His reputation was in the hands of his enemies for 200 years. Put him back in the pantheon where he belongs. The production is an act of powerful redress. But it does not shy away from his flaws, his impulsiveness, his almost supernatural ability to make enemies, his constitutional inability to “play well with others.” The same with Aaron Burr. As he admits sadly (he narrates the whole production) “I’m the villain of your stories …” but it contextualizes Burr, it contextualizes the relationship between these two men, their similarities, their differences, how the duel seemed to be a date they had from the very beginning.
Sometimes if you know a subject really well, you feel a sense of ownership over it. And so there’s anxiety about any portrayal of said subject. This leads to folks like NASA scientists writing “10 Things Gravity Gets Wrong About Gravity and Space” kind of articles. It’s annoying, perhaps, but I get it. I felt a little bit of that anxiety going in (although every article I’ve read with Miranda has gotten me more and more excited: the enthusiasm, the hero-worship type attitude that Hamilton often inspires). But still, I felt, right before the lights went down: “Will this be okay? Will the production understand him?” (Yes. I need to let it go. But again, this happens when you know a subject well!)
But my anxiety vanished within the first couple of lines of the first song.
Does the production understand?? Oh my GOD yes. Yes it does.
And you can FEEL that in this first number.
I’ve seen a lot of Broadway shows. I have never – and I mean never – seen or heard or participated in an ovation like the one Hamilton received. It was a thunderous ROAR. That got louder … and louder … and louder …
You could have heard it from across the Hudson. You know. Where the duel took place in 1804, the duel where Hamilton shot into the air, and Burr shot straight ahead.
Picture I took a couple years back (before the Freedom Tower rose downtown) of Alexander Hamilton’s bust, presiding over the spot down below where they believe the duel took place. It’s right down the street from me. Which makes sense, right? I swear I didn’t plan it that way.
Sheila,
I will not read, I will not read, I will not read, I will … yikes, peeked a bit (something about a thunderous roar -damn!), I will not read….. bookmarked for comment after I get to see it right before xmas. Sure you had a splendid, mesmerizing evening. best, John
John – ha!! I will say no more – but please come back to share your thoughts after you see it. I’m excited for you.
I want to see it again.
Sounds like you had a fabulous time. So nice when reality exceeds expectations. So happy for you.
Yes – it was better than I could possibly have imagined. Tears/laughter/empathy/rage … all there.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Theatergasm. Sigh. Xoxo
It was amazing – I couldn’t even SPEAK about it for 24 hours afterwards.
I want to try to go again but it’s basically sold out until next spring.
This had the added OOMPH of being about your boyfriend, and having the creative team understand him and celebrate his complexities and contributions. Gypsy Rose Lee must have had a similar experience attending the opening night of Gypsy. I’m so delighted for you! xoxo
Yes! My love of him already made it even more intense. That ownership thing again – at the end (or afterwards when I could collect my thoughts) – I thought – They really did right by him.
Maybe it will do more to restore his reputation than Chernow’s book did – since a lot of people don’t read gigantic biographies. Who knows.
and yes: imagine Gypsy Rose Lee’s response!! It must be very surreal.
Sounds amazing, and so original! Stuff this “out there” must be hard to finance so it’s great it got produced, should give hope to all artists pursuing an original vision.
I like this idea of politicians settling differences with a duel to the death. I’d love to see Trump face off against Cruz tonight!
Todd – it really is that very rare thing – something original.
Buzz has been building for a year – so it’s awesome that it lived up to the hype.
I love that Lin-Manuel Miranda describes being on a vacation and reading Chernow’s biography of Hamilton. Number 1: I love that. It’s a great vacation book: long but compulsively readable. It also shows that he has a curious mind. A lot of people don’t. They only read books that relate directly to them. Books about their demographic, their career, self-help books, etc. He’s not like that. All artists should be curious about topics OTHER than themselves.
Number 2: The first chapter started him buzzing with excitement and inspiration: Hamilton came from WHERE? and wait, THEN what happened?? This guy Hamilton is INSANE, MAN (as the lyrics in that opening song say) – and on the heels of that came the first spark of the idea that just now opened on Broadway.
This is how inspired this guy is. So many people FEEL that inspiration (“man, this would make a great movie” “Someone should write a script about this”) – but he went and DID it.
I’ve often joked that if dueling were made legal again, we very well may have a much more civil society. I put that joke in my script – so I claim DIBS on it. :)
Ok that joke is yours!
Yeah, “feeling” the inspiration and making it happen are about a universe apart, as I’ve painfully discovered. I always laugh when I think of Tom Hanks awarding a screenplay Oscar one year, and saying something to the effect of:
” You’ve just completed a screenplay, and taken the first step towards winning an Oscar. Now there are only 6,872 steps to go.”
// ” You’ve just completed a screenplay, and taken the first step towards winning an Oscar. Now there are only 6,872 steps to go.” //
HA! Frustrating yet true. The people who make it are not the most talented. They’re the ones who never give up. True in so many things but especially in show business!!
Sheila,
I am SO glad you got to see it and that you felt it did him justice!
I can’t count how many times I’ve watched that White House clip–I absolutely love it. Not just the song (which is marvelous–if only all exposition could be that astute, emotional, and thrilling)–but how nervous Lin-Manuel Miranda seems during the spoken introduction and then, as soon as the music starts, he transforms into a completely confident storyteller–I especially loves how he uses dynamics and tempo changes. And how much everyone (especially Obama, who seems to be grinning unrestrainedly from about the second line on), is completely transported. I mean, the imagery and wordplay in that song is so unbelievable!
Just out of curiosity–did that number survive pretty much intact to the show? Also, did you have any favorite performances, or was it more about the performances in the context of the music and the writing and subject matter (if that makes any sense?)
Lizzie :
// how nervous Lin-Manuel Miranda seems during the spoken introduction and then, as soon as the music starts, he transforms into a completely confident storyteller //
Yes, I love that! I love his kind of frantic pacing as he gets ready to “go in” to the story. Beautiful – this story means so much to him.
I loved how Michelle Obama was snapping!!
I need to write more about it!
Briefly, some of the things I really loved about it:
— the show is obviously post-modern to some degree. It’s “spinning” on reality and breaking it down. But the perspective is not one of total snark. The whole thing is treated with a degree of respect. Which I really thrilled to – because it IS a great story – and this whole period is often treated nowadays as just a bunch of dead white males who owned/traded slaves being jackasses. There is far more nuance and subtlety and sources of inspiration in that whole time – and if we cut ourselves off from that history, we are losing out. The show really GETS how phenomenal all of this is: the defense of the Constitution (Federalist Papers), the jostle of politics in a brand-new situation, the extraordinary courage of Washington (as well as his smarts in choosing Hamilton as his secretary) – Thomas Jefferson’s whole THING at this time – his “Oh I’m above politics” stance while all the time he was manuevering behind closed doors. He DESPISED Hamilton and yet he was willing to work with him to get what he wanted. Anyway: the STORY is paramount and of course the show comments on the story, but it’s not ALL “comment.” The story itself rules. I really really appreciated that.
— As I sort of mentioned briefly – it was the conception of the characters that was so great – and often so so funny!! Thomas Jefferson was in France as the whole Revolution went down – so he doesn’t enter the scene until pretty far in. (The same actor played Lafayette in the earlier scenes – which was a perfect choice due to the French-ness.) The actor playing Jefferson is black – another beautiful choice that made perfect sense the second he entered. Jefferson gets a bad rap nowadays and for some very good reasons. But there was more going on there and this actor totally gets it. Jefferson was an aristocrat. He was high-end in his tastes. The actor playing Jefferson first enters on top of a rolling staircase, in a purple velvet suit, like a rock star – and his jaunty dance number of introduction is called “What’d I Miss?” I just … I am STILL laughing.
— King George III. I cannot even explain why he was so hilarious. It would sound silly. And it WAS silly. The show makes fun of him so hard and the song – which he sings three times – by himself on the stage – has such a funny melody (almost a “Nyah Nyah Nyah” melody) – that he looked childish, ridiculous, uptight, and literally insane. (Which, of course, the actual King did go insane a couple years later.) I loved that the show used comedy to “comment” on the characters – but the comedy often got right to the heart of things, of a person’s essence/role. Same with Jefferson.
— We did not see Miranda playing Hamilton (his understudy takes the role on Sunday matinees.) The understudy was just amazing: he really GOT Hamilton’s drive and where it came from (poverty, shame).
— The actress playing Eliza Schuyler (who ended up being Hamilton’s wife) was amazing. The trajectory of Eliza is fascinating: she was born into wealth and privilege. The name Schuyler STILL dominates in upstate New York. But she fell for Hamilton and he fell for her. (He also maintained an intellectual and emotional connection with her older sister – their letters are AMAZING – and the show dealt beautifully with all of that). Eliza stood by her husband – but when he had an affair (America’s first sex scandal) she was devastated. Betrayed. The marriage shattered. They stayed together but everything had been destroyed. It was the death of their son in a duel that brought them back together. She screams, “NO NO NO” when she sees her son lying on the table, dead – and my breath caught in my throat. Hamilton died in such a scandalous way. In the years leading up to it, he had made enemies of everyone, and had been isolated politically – in almost a total way. Everyone shunned him. Eliza lived another 50 years after he died – 50 years! – and she spent that time protecting and advertising her husband’s many accomplishments – as well as starting the first orphanage in NYC – a tribute to her husband’s orphan past. Her line: “I see your face in all of theirs” was devastating. All of this was there in the show – and the journey of that character was beautifully portrayed. Again: empathy for her. The show had empathy for everyone (except maybe King George who was the butt of all the jokes. He sings to all the colonists: “I love you so much … I will kill all your friends and family … Nyah Nyah Nyah …”)
— I could not believe that anything would make me feel sorry for Aaron Burr who comes off as an unpleasant envious conniving guy in all the stories. Aaron Burr narrates the whole story – and the actor playing him!!!! MY GOD. He’s black – not that that matters – but the diversity of the cast is one of the reasons why this show is so unbelievable – why it taps into some kind of primal need to feel like we all come from the same story – even with the sins of the past. It somehow … magically? … addresses all of that – by the music, the compassion of the storytelling, the understanding that these guys were all flawed, messed-up, but they were trying to DO something. Burr has one number that brought the house down. And made me take a new look at Burr. There is this famous “secret meeting” that went on – a private meeting – between Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison – enemies in public. But they needed to compromise on something and it took a private dinner to do it. Burr narrates that story – the song is called “In the Room Where It Happens.” I have goosebumps just writing that song title. He’s describing that nobody else was in the room where “it” (meaning power – getting shit done) happens. By the final verse, the stirring thrilling production-number changes pace, slows down, and Burr admits to the audience, “I wish I was in the room where it happens.” What a beautiful and hUMAN way to understand Burr. To contextualize him. This is all Lin-Manuel Miranda’s doing. He knew that there was no black-hat villain in this story. The story would be better if we could see all sides. AMAZING.
— The staging was superb. The dancers – who were female, male, black, white, Latinos, everyone else – played soldiers, politicians, rabble-rousers, Redcoats – and the dance of the ensemble was not “Broadway”-ish. It had to do with shapes on the stage: people scattered, focusing on the action in the middle – suddenly swooping into a straight line – before dispersing. There were all these levels in the set – balconies and ladders – and people would perch all over them. Beautiful: The dancing FIT the action/mood of the stage. With hip-hop inspiration too.
— The actor playing George Washington had gravitas, smarts – he was tall, imposing – and deeply emotional.
— The SONGS. The hip-hop, the spoken word stuff – the inspiration from Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, NWA, Ice Cube – each perfectly chosen for the event of each song.
And finally – and this may be the best example of the show’s understanding and Miranda’s deeply humanistic approach:
Hamilton’s son died in a duel. He was defending his father’s honor. Hamilton disapproved of duels (ironically). He was devastated at his son’s death (the son was 19). Both parents were. In the grieving scene, as husband and wife grieved, slowly coming back together after their crack-up following his affair – their hands reached out to one another – the ensemble became passersby on the street – the neighbors – the city-dwellers – all strolling past this unimaginable family tragedy. The song sung at this time is called “Can You Imagine?” It’s the refrain. What the song asks of the audience – what it demands – is that you try to “imagine” what these people went through. What this moment felt like. It was a quest for the audience – post-modern, far away from these events, perhaps not knowing the whole story of this man’s life, perhaps judging him without knowing his journey – it’s asking the audience to understand, to empathize, to imagine what this moment was LIKE for this man who died over 200 years ago.
“Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Can you imagine?” asks the ensemble, as they slowly move past the grieving husband and wife who can’t even speak or sing their devastation is so great.
I think that that best encapsulates Miranda’s approach: he has imagined. He wants us to. Empathy is always the best road. Chernow’s book opened up empathy. Showed us the human-ness of all “these guys.” But Miranda was able to translate that into song.
Amazing.
I hope you get to see it!
I want to see it again but it’s sold out until next spring practically. There are resale tickets available that are outrageously expensive although there are some exceptions – so I’m gonna try for one of those in the next couple of months.
The fact that this show is on Broadway – and not just playing in a warehouse theatre in Brooklyn or something – is so RADICAL. It feels like a game-changer, although we shall see.
Oh and sorry, one more thing – and this is me being a nerdy fan-girl:
Hamilton was 15 or something and a huge hurricane hit St. Croix and caused massive devastation. He wrote an essay about it which was published in a local paper. It’s an amazing piece of work for a teenager – I’ve quoted it often!
And it was that essay that got the attention of a local pastor who was so impressed he did “take up a collection” to send Hamilton to college in the colonies – hopefully Princeton. (Hamilton, when he arrived at Princeton, informed them that he would like to go at his own pace and finish as quickly as possible. Balls. They were like, “Uhm, no. You’ll go through your studies at the same pace as everyone else.” Hamilton thought, “Eff that” and went to King’s College (Columbia) in New York – which ended up being fortuitous because it put him in the middle of Revolution.)
But anyway: Miranda mentions that hurricane repeatedly (there’s a whole song about it later in the show – where Hamilton sings about feeling in “the eye” of a hurricane – of politics – but it connected him to the hurricane of his childhood that so changed his fortunes.)
I LOVE that Miranda understood the importance of that hurricane. In this opening number – “a testament to his pain” – what a great line.
THANK YOU for all of the additional detail! I’m loving everyone’s reactions I’m seeing online and how people are gravitating towards different songs (just shows what an achievement the score is). I haven’t even listened to the whole thing yet–after a couple of songs, I get overwhelmed. (So far, I love the rewind from Eliza’s “Helpless” to Angelica’s “Satisfied”–their relationship is painted in such a lovely, loving way–and “In the Room Where it Happens” is a toe-tapper, but the lyrics are also so smart).
You’ve probably already seen this, but if you haven’t, you will love it: a cut song dissing John Adams (so mean!!! so FUNNY!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUI8b17YGx8
Also, have you heard that Encores! is doing 1776 and specifically calling for a multi-ethnic cast? Thrilling!
Broadway is way behind the times in diverse casting, and Hamilton has definitely helped turn that tide (so far). There is no reason that roles shouldn’t be played by black, Latino, Asian, whatever. This happens in college theatre, community theatre … come on Broadway, get a grip.
A friend of mine was in an all-female cast of 1776. Super fun. Why not??
Thanks for that clip of the cut song.
The fact that John Adams doesn’t even APPEAR in the show!! – Poor guy. He was always afraid that he would have a bad reputation in posterity, or be forgotten. (I love John Adams. But in terms of the Hamilton story – he’s very peripheral, an enemy and a critic.)
Somehow I had it in my head that this musical was more like Brad Neely’s George Washington rap but wow it’s all just true? Sounds incredible & so glad it lived up to the expectation! That video is amazing — almost my favourite thing is the pianist’s face — almost like he’s shocked!
YES!! I love the pianist’s face. He’s getting such a kick out of it – but yes: blown away too. So great!
That George Washington rap is so so hilarious.
I didn’t recognize his name outside of the context of the Broadway show, but when I saw the performance clip from the White House I knew I recognized the actor. He had a two show arc on House MD, where he played a bipolar patient who often rapped. Here’s a clip – https://vimeo.com/9728372
And Metatron is glimpsed in the clip. Small World Alert!
He became a pretty big star here in the theatre world with In the Heights – but wow, haven’t seen House MD – good for him! I will watch the clip!
and wow, yes, very small world.
It’s Great with a capital “G.” It’s a new favorite of mine. It’s historic in more than one sense of the word.
I could go on.
And I can’t think of a more appropriate use of color-blind casting given the show’s postmodern approach. I don’t think it works for any show, but this one couldn’t have been done any other way.
Joey –
// It’s historic in more than one sense of the word. //
Yes, I agree.
The fact that Hamilton is celebrated in this way, that a whole audience of people who may only know that he died in a duel/is on the tenner – are being introduced to his awesomeness – his flaws, his brilliance – is thrilling to this particular old old Hamilton fanatic.
And agree, in re: color-blind casting. A brilliant choice. Inclusive. As this story, indeed, is, to begin with.