Ok I didn’t know about the Emmy! I looked it up and found out it was for that fabulous opening number called “Bigger” that was done at the Tony awards!! The funny thing is I re-watched that again a few weeks ago and it was just as good as I remembered it. Typically these award show opening numbers aren’t that memorable…
Here it is…
https://youtu.be/danBaPWT09A
I enjoy seeing shows on Broadway in New York City and considered getting tickets for Hamilton in the FAR future until I saw the ticket prices.
Hamilton is going on tour and has scheduled appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. @katliamom As a mere mortal, I hope the tickets will be more reasonable then.
I think every look into Hamilton I’ve had which culminates in someone performing live in-studio has been the absolute worst thing I’ve heard, short of the tunes from Rent. And I love musical tunes and love, love, love some musicals. Not the greatest fan of complete sing-thru musicals, but I am greatly moved when I am.
The rapping in Hamilton where it has been an approved video excerpt of the live show has also proved to turn me off. I would never pay to see this show. I would never sit for this show.
I would, however, listen for hours to the writer/director speak on his influences and motivations for writing the piece, as well as listen to and/or watch and listen to actors in the show talk about their process for entering into character, or speak of their particular artist’s road to Hamilton.
^^^Well, that just proves that art is in the eye of the beholder. I loved the music in RENT and think Jonathan Larson was a genius. I love everything Lin Manuel Miranda writes and think he is also a genius. I do not ordinarily listen to rap music but I don’t think Hamilton is akin to the rap you hear on the radio. Also, his lyrics are amazing. I also think that writing a sung-through musical is quite something because the whole story must be told through song. That also is what my D is doing as a MT writer/composer/lyricist on her next original musical, and she has performed in other musicals that are sung through and is currently in an Off Broadway show done like that.
Truly, eye of the beholder.
I have no problem with the writing. The sound of everything I’ve heard from both of those aforementioned musicals is awful to me.
Best of luck to your daughter, or continued success. Maybe I’ll be reading her in interview one day.
Thanks @Waiting2exhale. My daughter has been interviewed in the press, including the New York Times, but she is not nearly on the level of who we are talking about here!
It doesn’t matter to me that you don’t like Hamilton’s music or that of RENT or Hair…all three have garnered many awards and so clearly plenty of people love these musical scores! As I mentioned previously, even though I also enjoy traditional musicals a great deal, I really admire when shows and their creators are innovative. And that is the case with these particular musicals.
My theater reading doesn’t happen through the Times, so maybe I’ve seen her name already, in trade mags and zines with such a focus.
I made no mention of Hair, fwiw. That is, of course, taking us way, way back.
Saw Rent on B-way and , although did not see Hair on B-way, have been intimately involved in several community theatrical productions of it in several states across the country. Both involved challenging issues of the day.
Hamilton does not do that, but does something different. It takes American history and replaces the players with today’s American ethnicity and music. It makes it current and relatable yet historical and educational. Many are saying it kept Hamilton on the 20 dollar bill. How many of us had ever really thought about or knew much about Hamilton before the play or ever?! It doesn’t really matter if we like rap any more than if we like the actual historical person named Hamilton. It’s the point that this is something completely innovative, and some say brilliant, that makes me want to see it.
Unfortunately, I will most likely not get to see it with the original cast. D1 did. Paid a lot for the tickets, but said it was well worth it. She wanted to specifically see Lin Manuel Miranda and her childhood friend from school and dance school since D1 was 5. She is in ensemble and is understudy for Phillipa Soo. She is only 1 of the 2 or 3 white
woman in the cast.
"How many of us had ever really thought about or knew much about Hamilton before the play or ever?! "
Lots of Black people have. As kids when one learns that Hamilton is from ‘the island,’ it starts so many thoughts of what he looked like, and his ultimate important place in the founding of our central banking system. Seriously.
Conversation in the post office the other week:
Lady: Did you hear they are putting Harriet Tubman on the $20.00 bill?
Clerk: I know. But I didn’t really know what she looked like
Lady: When I first saw a picture of the image they’re thinking about using, I thought, 'Who is that, Aunt Jemima?"
Clerk: I know, right?
Lady: Who knew that she did such amazing work? I don’t think anybody ever really knew that she went back into the South and freed so many people. She did really dangerous, courageous work. You never learn about her, though.
Clerk: I know. It was incredible when I found that out. No, no one ever teaches that.
Me: (Thoughts only, folks): Geezus H!
“It’s the point that this is something completely innovative, and some say brilliant, that makes me want to see it.”
I don’t find this innovative as theatrical technique, but I did look into seeing it, until I heard it.
And for the record, rap has its place. I like some rap, mostly from way back when, when we called it Hip-Hop.
For those who love it, love it.
I think Hamilton IS innovative (as I also thought RENT and Hair were). What other musicals are akin to Hamilton? It surely is not a typical show.
On the rap issue, I think a lot of people who like the show and the music, are not ordinarily that into rap (including myself). Further, I believe the musical score includes diverse styles of music, not just rap.
I just went and listened to a lot of the music on YouTube. A lot of it is not rap style at all.
^^^Good to know. I’ll try and check out something there if I regain an interest.
S1 saw Hamilton in March, and by sheer happenstance, was at the same performance as another CC friend of mine. I have the soundtrack, am reading Chernow’s book (which we’ve had on the bookcase here forever and I had never gotten around to it), and also got the “Hamiltome,” which includes the full libretto and a lot of commentary on the creation of the show.
What blows me away is how much original source material Manuel incorporated into the lyrics.
There is more than just hip-hop in this show, and while I had never appreciated hip hop before, I liked it a lot in the context of this show.
I am also a 1776 and GIlbert & Sullivan fan, and there are references and allusions to them, too.
Funny, as I sat down to catch up on the internet tonight and opened up CC, I did so as I was listening to Hamilton. I have many opportunities during the week to listen to it, and always seem to get about 1/2 - 2/3 the way through before whatever I’m doing forces me to stop listening - I was telling someone this week that I need to start listening about halfway through so I can hear more of the second half songs.
I have tickets five weeks from today to meet up with D1 in NYC to see it. She did buy these tickets back in November when they released a new block of tickets. Soon after, they announced an extended-stay contract in Chicago starting this fall. H is actually very interested in seeing this after they did a story about it on 60 Minutes last fall, and he absolutely would NEVER choose to listen to rap or hip-hop music.
I am going to do my best to get through the book; I am about 32% done right now, so I have to do some marathon reading to finish it before we see the show.
How many other musicals inspire a whole Hamilton-inspired spin class like the one D1 has gone to with friends in Boston! I think it’s a brilliant idea, and I would do one if I could find one around me (and I don’t do spin classes!).
But back to the music. So many people are calling it rap, but when I first listened to it (before I knew what genre people tended to label it), I sort of thought of it as hip-hop. I don’t know if I can technically define what the difference is between hip-hop and rap, but I really don’t listen to much of either one (I do like Justin Timberlake and Jay Z’s Holy Grail).
So for those who are saying they don’t like rap, would you say the same of hip-hop? Would thinking of this musical genre as hip-hop as opposed to rap make any difference to you?
My D1 would LOVE a Hamilton music spin class. 
And I agree that some is hip hop – but there are certainly some sections of good old Broadway show tunes woven in (in the same songs sometimes).
My almost-60 years old friend certainly does not listen to rap in her spare time. She attended with her daughter recently and described the show as “transcendent.”
Add me to the list of people who don’t normally like rap music. However, D and I saw Hamilton last weekend. It was fantastic! The music (multiple styles): rap, hip hop, R&B, jazz, boogie woogie, a few ballads were woven into a spectacular show that had so many historical elements that it makes you want to learn more. My D said that if history was taught this way in school, she would have been more interested. She is reading the Chernow book and also has the Hamiltome- which she managed to get signed by Lin Manuel and Daveed Diggs after the show.
I would love to see the show again. I’m waiting to see how much tickets are going to cost when it comes to Wash DC.
I forgot to add this to my last post. here’s an article from Sep 2015 that talks about Hamilton and how it is changing Broadway:
http://www.thenation.com/article/how-hamilton-is-revolutionizing-the-broadway-musical/
Thanks for posting that article, @ChuckleDoodle. I had never seen it and it is a great analysis of what makes this musical so innovative.