Playbill: It has been 10 years since Hamilton rocketed to the top of the musical theatre industry, dominating just about everything (and everyone) in its path. When it began performances downtown at the Public Theatre in January 2015, it was a word-of-mouth smash hit, picking up “you have to go see this” acolytes from the taste makers that flooded into the 300-seat venue at every performance. By the time it reached Broadway in July, it had evolved into the musical of its generation, shifting the industry landscape through the sheer force of its influence and popularity.
4 comments:
I think it’s really interesting that the writer of this Playbill article asserts more so that the reason why Hamilton is viewed differently now isn’t necessarily the fault of the show, or Hamilton’s brand, but potentially more so that the audience itself has changed. With ten years past the blaze of "Hamilton hype" the show was swarmed in, more criticism has been given attention from voices that may view it differently now or were drowned out by the positive hype before. That being said, the musical is still and will go down in history as a show that positively paved the way for others like it and changed the theatre industry. I myself recognize both the positive and negative aspects of the show, but with the legacy (haha, get it?) it’s gained, I think it’s good the article recognizes how it has forever changed the industry and allowed for more creative and diverse projects to pick up steam after it.
The way that this article highlights the strong emotional pull that Hamilton still commands an entire decade after its opening was extremely moving. I am impressed by how this production manages to not only remain relevant, but to feel alive through songs that blend America's history and current state. I saw the first and second national tours of Hamilton when they came to Houston, and left the theatre loving the show more each time! The fact that Hamilton tours are able to consistently pack theatres across the globe, anywhere from one to even 4 weeks or more, speaks volumes to the impact that this show has had. Hamilton is a masterpiece, largely in part to all of the hard work done by the absolutely stacked creative team, including the mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Howell Binkley, David Korins, Paul Tazewell, and many more! All of these people brought a crystal clear vision to reality, which resonates in a great way with audiences across the globe.
"Hamilton was my foundation, not my future." Resonates with me so much because it was the first show to show me the magic of theater and through that-realize I wanted a career in it. I also was obsessed with it when it was newer to the broadway scene and then didn't pay as close attention to it as the years went by, until I saw the ten year anniversary Tony performance. I always knew it was a brilliant piece, but the fact that it -- a musical written about events that took place in the late 1700s-- can still be politically and socially relevant today. Lin-Manual Miranda's ability to bridge two massively different time periods and relate the themes to one another (and over ten years after her wrote it too!) is absolutely genius.
Hamilton has remained a music theater icon as long as I’ve really known music theatre. The fact that it is ten years old now is both a surprise and a shock to me personally. The show has become a profound element of the cultural zeitgeist, and yet still feels fresh to a certain extent. Though, it does seem to be fading into the background, both as Miranda writes more and other writers seek to capture the same lightning in a bottle he did with In the Heights and Hamilton’s initial run. His writing style has changed both musical and film writing. Also, the point the author makes about Hamilton striking differently now than it did years ago certainly rings true. It feels different from when I first heard it in 2015, then in 2020, and now in 2025. In 2015, the world was a very different place, and though I was less politically aware then than I am now, Hamilton certainly felt different. 2020 also differed, though in a radically different way than 2016. And, it certainly rings hollower in 2025.
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