Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Monday, October 10, 2022
In this production of 'Hamilton,' everything is done in German
NPR: All of the elements of the Broadway hit have been translated into German, a complicated process especially for a show filled with English idioms.
4 comments:
Marion Mongello
said...
This title alone is so intriguing- and makes me wonder how an American musical about American history is adapted in German. I never realized that Hamilton has over 23,000 words, and I can’t even imagine how difficult it was to adapt the song and idioms to another language. Lin Manuel Miranda is a lyrical genius, and said “ This is not the kind of show where the only rhyme is at the end of the line. There's lots of vowel agreement all along the way. My first question is, is that possible to maintain that?” I never considered the way many songs use the same word meaning different things, and how that would affect a translation. “It's like moonwalk on the razor blade to translate the "Hamilton," but we just did it.” I am intrigued to see what phrases they had to change, and what the translations are now.
3. It’s so cool and so great that Lin Manuel Miranda was so involved with this translation. I think translation is a really fascinating art and would be really difficult with a show like Hamilton. I’m also honestly a bit surprised that there would be all that much interest in a show that is so American as Hamilton, but its rhythms and elements of design certainly stand on their own. Once again I’m going to take the opportunity to talk about my favorite translation ever which is the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening. There are a few lyrical changes to make the translation to ASL smoother, and it is absolutely beautiful. I think we often would find frustration in not being able to translate the wonderful idioms and metaphors in a piece like Hamilton, but it also gives us an opportunity to explore another language and their own metaphors and idioms.
Hamilton an American Musical but in German is such an intriguing idea. This musical is also entirely rap and music meaning that the linguistic challenge as Hamilton is such a dence musical. The fact that so many people with so many different backgrounds in both musical theater and rap were involved. The fact that Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved in this translation was especially important because especially with a rap musical a translation can change the integrity and meaning of a piece. I think it was especially important to get the artists involved as in this translation the meaning of this show needed to be changed as well as iconic lines in order to fit both the German language and culture. The idea that this show was a German interpretation of Hamilton over a direct transition shows the true value of this project that on the surface seemed impossible as the artistic team of Hamiliton being the show around the world. Theo
I find it so fascinating that we’re able to translate musicals to other languages and share shows around the world for different audiences. When reading that it was a complicated process to translate Hamilton into German, it didn’t surprise me. I’ve listened to Hamilton more times than I want to admit, and I’ve studied a lot of Lin Manuel Miranda’s work. Every single word in his shows is said for a reason and said a specific way. Hamilton’s verses are so important to be rapped and mixed with each other and no matter the translation, it must serve the original production justice. It was good to hear they were able to translate it in a way that keeps the same flow, tone, and stakes. It must have been so much work and there must have been so much communication. I’m sur the viewers in Germany will appreciate it though.
4 comments:
This title alone is so intriguing- and makes me wonder how an American musical about American history is adapted in German. I never realized that Hamilton has over 23,000 words, and I can’t even imagine how difficult it was to adapt the song and idioms to another language. Lin Manuel Miranda is a lyrical genius, and said “ This is not the kind of show where the only rhyme is at the end of the line. There's lots of vowel agreement all along the way. My first question is, is that possible to maintain that?” I never considered the way many songs use the same word meaning different things, and how that would affect a translation. “It's like moonwalk on the razor blade to translate the "Hamilton," but we just did it.” I am intrigued to see what phrases they had to change, and what the translations are now.
3. It’s so cool and so great that Lin Manuel Miranda was so involved with this translation. I think translation is a really fascinating art and would be really difficult with a show like Hamilton. I’m also honestly a bit surprised that there would be all that much interest in a show that is so American as Hamilton, but its rhythms and elements of design certainly stand on their own. Once again I’m going to take the opportunity to talk about my favorite translation ever which is the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening. There are a few lyrical changes to make the translation to ASL smoother, and it is absolutely beautiful. I think we often would find frustration in not being able to translate the wonderful idioms and metaphors in a piece like Hamilton, but it also gives us an opportunity to explore another language and their own metaphors and idioms.
Hamilton an American Musical but in German is such an intriguing idea. This musical is also entirely rap and music meaning that the linguistic challenge as Hamilton is such a dence musical. The fact that so many people with so many different backgrounds in both musical theater and rap were involved. The fact that Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved in this translation was especially important because especially with a rap musical a translation can change the integrity and meaning of a piece. I think it was especially important to get the artists involved as in this translation the meaning of this show needed to be changed as well as iconic lines in order to fit both the German language and culture. The idea that this show was a German interpretation of Hamilton over a direct transition shows the true value of this project that on the surface seemed impossible as the artistic team of Hamiliton being the show around the world.
Theo
I find it so fascinating that we’re able to translate musicals to other languages and share shows around the world for different audiences. When reading that it was a complicated process to translate Hamilton into German, it didn’t surprise me. I’ve listened to Hamilton more times than I want to admit, and I’ve studied a lot of Lin Manuel Miranda’s work. Every single word in his shows is said for a reason and said a specific way. Hamilton’s verses are so important to be rapped and mixed with each other and no matter the translation, it must serve the original production justice. It was good to hear they were able to translate it in a way that keeps the same flow, tone, and stakes. It must have been so much work and there must have been so much communication. I’m sur the viewers in Germany will appreciate it though.
Post a Comment