Hamilton The Musical Analysis

Hamilton the musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, introduces a new spin on the classic American tale. By comprising a cast of actors of different ethnicities, Miranda was able to bring a story about dead old white men and revitalize it to reflect the changing times of the current world, essentially giving the story a new sense of life. He was aware of the struggles of minorities, particularly immigrants, and wrote the musical to dedicate to and inspire those people. The unique perspective presented by the musical is that the stories of the beginning of America are not just for white Americans, but all Americans from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. This appeals to a contemporary audience because it reflects the socioeconomic and political

In a sense, it seems to capture the most critical component responsible for the popularity of the musical. Heroes of past works have been predominantly white characters. Even today that can be seen as is the case with companies re-creating works which had an Asian cast and then replacing the main character with someone who is white. Companies tend to do this to draw in the most people by showing people what they are most familiar with: a predominantly white cast. Hamilton however stands as a testament to the fact that people don’t want that and are eager for more diversity in media. People still want to hear great stories. To perfectly sum it up, “The players change, the story stays the same” (Gopnik). Having characters of different races portraying historical white figures does not change the story. This has two effects. It makes the past seem more relevant to the diverse society of today and it also draws the conclusion that although humans see race as a big cultural difference, ultimately when it comes down to it humanity’s stories are not so different from one culture to the next. In the end we’re all just people. Hamilton in the musical acts as a bridge between the past and present, between African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Whites, and all races. Within the musical as well the character states “there’s a million things [he] hasn’t done, But just you wait, just you

South Pacific deals with racial prejudice, predominantly around mixed-race relationships. My Fair Lady repurposes the story of Pygmalion to bring attention to the rise in feminism and the changing ideals of the time. Hamilton is just the latest edition in a growing list of media reflecting off the issues of the times. The ideas explored in the play are not new. What the play has done is repackaged the story to show people that the issues of today were as present as they ever were in the history books where most assume the stories lay to rest. People are still working towards building a better world. The play serves almost like a call to action for people to continue to work to that better future. It doesn’t claim the road to that future will be easy, but what it does say is that everyone will need to work together. Whatever race or background a person comes from, they have to work with one another. With issues such as DACA and the Trump presidency people will need each other more than ever before to stand for equality and forge the path to a greater