Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Don't throw away your shot
Business Insider: Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit "Hamilton" is everything (you don't win sixteen Tonys by just being mediocre).
It's also pretty much about everything: it manages to cram musings on history, passion, governance, memory, legacy, friendship, war, jealousy, love, race, America, and death into its 47 catchy songs.
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The Hamilton craze has been created around a groundbreaking score and revolutionary casting, but one of the most profound parts of the show is the messages it leaves with us once the show is finished. The accurate recount of Alexander Hamilton’s life, and those around him, shows us that even the greats fought the smaller battles that we face daily, and that we can learn form them and their experiences. Hamilton shows us the small challenges that Alexander faced, and his successes as well as his failures. The musical leaves us with the simple, yet powerful messages that this article sums for us. This undertone of wisdom is not just present in Hamilton, but in all shows, and it is incredible to see the lessons a four thousand year old art never fails to teach its audience. For those who take the time to reflect on theater as more than a nice way to fill a couple hours, but as a source of wisdom from people from all walks of life.
I think the form of the show itself is as significant as the lessons the plot provides us. First of all, I think the almost exclusively non-white cast is significant. They've taken a historical cast that is 100% white. With all the talk about colorblind casting in TV, film, and theatre, this is an effective argument against people who argue that "historical accuracy" is significant. Secondly, I'm sure it really irritates bigots to know that the cast has taken one of the most beloved, "patriotic" stories of this country and changed it into a hip hop musical that is sometimes criticizes the actions of the founding fathers, sometimes satirizes them, and portrays the characters exclusively as people of color. Lastly, there's so many bad things going on in our country and in the world, it's easy to give up on society and America altogether, but Hamilton is such a refreshing take on our country's beginnings. It's a reminder that the ideals under which our country was built are still relevant to the ideals people want America to strive for today. Lots of people say that America's ideals are one thing or another, but Hamilton is a reminder that fundamentally, we still live in a country where an orphan immigrant can rise up and change a faltering system.
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