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Colorlines: In the record-breaking musical "Hamilton," Anthony Ramos plays not one but two American colonial figures who happen to be White. Below, the Puerto Rican 24-year-old from Brooklyn explains how he came to co-star in the hottest show in decades.
4 comments:
Jake Poser
said...
May I start by saying that I LOVE HAMILTON articles! I am beyond excited to see the show in the near future. But I love Hamilton articles for more reasons than just being a fan, of which I am a big one. Hamilton, unlike any other recent musical on Broadway, address diversity in the simplest yet most powerful of ways.
What I responded to most strongly in this article is listed below: "I’m not just learning more about how to be a performer, I’m learning about how to be a better person on the daily." " “Aw man, Lin, you know, I talk too ghetto sometimes. I should change the way I talk.” Lin said, “Papa, you don’t have to change the way you talk. You just have to make sure people understand you.” I will never, ever forget him saying that to me. He is the biggest example of someone who has not strayed from who he is to conform to the industry. He’s a hip-hop head, but he also loves musical theater."
Theatre has the power to change a person. Hamilton opens audiences eyes to the people around us. The diversity portrayed on stage is accepted by all audience members that see this show. Lin Manuel Miranda wrote a musical that showcases and embraces American's differences. This show has seen nothing but acclaim, and has the power to change how we view casting.
On another note, I love stories like these. People who fall into theatre, and turn out to be amazing. Honestly, its refreshing in this day and age to hear about success stories. Theres no more too it.
One of the things that stands out the most to me from this article is the description of Hamilton as "a story about America then, told by America now." After seeing the show over break I can say that this is definitely true. Throughout the entire performance I was completely drawn in by the emotion of the show. Its truly amazing that Lin-Manuel has been able to take events from over 200 years ago and make a modern audience get completely engrossed in it. He has been able to reclaim our history for everyone rather than falling back into only casting white men. Like Jake, I love hearing about people who have risen so high just by falling into theatre. Ramos' performances as both Phillip and Laurens are beautiful, and you would have though that he had been performing his entire life. Theatre is such a powerful art form that can really be life changing, and Hamilton is a show with the potential to do that for many young artists in the future.
One of the greatest things about Miranda's work is his consistent fearlessness. He wanted to make a show about Washington Heights, so he did it straight out of college. He wanted to make a mixtape about this historical guy based on some book he read, so he did that and then made one of the most sought after shows in history. He made a hip hop musical about a founding father, and it is breaking records daily. He decided that he wanted his show to be the story of America then told by America now, and that's what he did. It's easy to look at Hamilton the musical and think "Well of course that's wildly popular. The book and score are outstanding, the cast is incredible, and the design is gorgeous." However, Miranda made a whole lot of extremely risky decisions when making this show and bringing it to Broadway.
On the topic of the actual article, Anthony Ramos was one of the most impressive actors in the show for me. Of course, all of the actors were one of the most impressive actors for me, but still. Ramos' act one and act two roles were vastly different, but he transitioned from one to the next seamlessly. Ramos' switch from Laurens to Phillip was so well done that I didn't entirely realize it was the same actor until well into act two - and I was sitting in the front row. Almost more than anything else, Ramos' portrayal of a child is extraordinary. So often, grown people playing children can be excessively cheesy and just painful to watch, but Ramos does it perfectly.
I'm absolutely in love with Hamilton, and I had the pleasure of going to see it a few weeks ago. Before I walked in the theater I knew pretty much every word to every song, and I knew most of the actors by face and name. I haven't geeked out about a musical this much since I discovered Spring Awakening in middle school. The show was amazing, but Anthony Ramos was more than that. I went to the show with Kayla Stokes, a freshman Director at CMU, and the second that Ramos opened his mouth to sing we both grabbed each others hand at the same time. He had me, and Kalya, and the rest of the audience in his pocket from then on. There are few times in my life I have seen someone on stage and thought "there is something just so special about this person and I can't figure out what it is". Ramos is a wonderful actor, and a very talented singer, his voice is incredible, but he has something about him that makes it hard to stop watching. He was incredible as Laurens, and even better as Phillip (I normally can't stand when adults play children), and a great guy at the stage door. He talked with everyone, and was a kind as they come. I am so excited to see where Ramos's career goes, and feel very lucky to have seen him in his Broadway debut.
4 comments:
May I start by saying that I LOVE HAMILTON articles! I am beyond excited to see the show in the near future.
But I love Hamilton articles for more reasons than just being a fan, of which I am a big one.
Hamilton, unlike any other recent musical on Broadway, address diversity in the simplest yet most powerful of ways.
What I responded to most strongly in this article is listed below:
"I’m not just learning more about how to be a performer, I’m learning about how to be a better person on the daily."
" “Aw man, Lin, you know, I talk too ghetto sometimes. I should change the way I talk.” Lin said, “Papa, you don’t have to change the way you talk. You just have to make sure people understand you.” I will never, ever forget him saying that to me. He is the biggest example of someone who has not strayed from who he is to conform to the industry. He’s a hip-hop head, but he also loves musical theater."
Theatre has the power to change a person. Hamilton opens audiences eyes to the people around us. The diversity portrayed on stage is accepted by all audience members that see this show. Lin Manuel Miranda wrote a musical that showcases and embraces American's differences. This show has seen nothing but acclaim, and has the power to change how we view casting.
On another note, I love stories like these. People who fall into theatre, and turn out to be amazing. Honestly, its refreshing in this day and age to hear about success stories. Theres no more too it.
One of the things that stands out the most to me from this article is the description of Hamilton as "a story about America then, told by America now." After seeing the show over break I can say that this is definitely true. Throughout the entire performance I was completely drawn in by the emotion of the show. Its truly amazing that Lin-Manuel has been able to take events from over 200 years ago and make a modern audience get completely engrossed in it. He has been able to reclaim our history for everyone rather than falling back into only casting white men. Like Jake, I love hearing about people who have risen so high just by falling into theatre. Ramos' performances as both Phillip and Laurens are beautiful, and you would have though that he had been performing his entire life. Theatre is such a powerful art form that can really be life changing, and Hamilton is a show with the potential to do that for many young artists in the future.
One of the greatest things about Miranda's work is his consistent fearlessness. He wanted to make a show about Washington Heights, so he did it straight out of college. He wanted to make a mixtape about this historical guy based on some book he read, so he did that and then made one of the most sought after shows in history. He made a hip hop musical about a founding father, and it is breaking records daily. He decided that he wanted his show to be the story of America then told by America now, and that's what he did. It's easy to look at Hamilton the musical and think "Well of course that's wildly popular. The book and score are outstanding, the cast is incredible, and the design is gorgeous." However, Miranda made a whole lot of extremely risky decisions when making this show and bringing it to Broadway.
On the topic of the actual article, Anthony Ramos was one of the most impressive actors in the show for me. Of course, all of the actors were one of the most impressive actors for me, but still. Ramos' act one and act two roles were vastly different, but he transitioned from one to the next seamlessly. Ramos' switch from Laurens to Phillip was so well done that I didn't entirely realize it was the same actor until well into act two - and I was sitting in the front row. Almost more than anything else, Ramos' portrayal of a child is extraordinary. So often, grown people playing children can be excessively cheesy and just painful to watch, but Ramos does it perfectly.
I'm absolutely in love with Hamilton, and I had the pleasure of going to see it a few weeks ago. Before I walked in the theater I knew pretty much every word to every song, and I knew most of the actors by face and name. I haven't geeked out about a musical this much since I discovered Spring Awakening in middle school. The show was amazing, but Anthony Ramos was more than that. I went to the show with Kayla Stokes, a freshman Director at CMU, and the second that Ramos opened his mouth to sing we both grabbed each others hand at the same time. He had me, and Kalya, and the rest of the audience in his pocket from then on. There are few times in my life I have seen someone on stage and thought "there is something just so special about this person and I can't figure out what it is". Ramos is a wonderful actor, and a very talented singer, his voice is incredible, but he has something about him that makes it hard to stop watching. He was incredible as Laurens, and even better as Phillip (I normally can't stand when adults play children), and a great guy at the stage door. He talked with everyone, and was a kind as they come. I am so excited to see where Ramos's career goes, and feel very lucky to have seen him in his Broadway debut.
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