Hamilton: The Revolution

HAMILTON: THE REVOLUTION

AND THE HISTORICAL IMPACT OF HAMILTON

BY: Hayden Osborne, 7th Period

Hamilton: The Revolution is a nonfiction book about the conception and creation of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama winning Broadway musical, Hamilton, as well as the musical’s full annotated libretto . The book was published in April 2016 by Grand Central Publishing, and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. The first half of the book discusses how Miranda developed the idea for the musical, as well as the steps to and process he took in writing it, while the second half discusses the musical’s Workshop, Off-Broadway , and Broadway runs. Due to the length of the chapters and the book, I will only be focusing on Chapter I- Chapter

III, and Chapter V.
Chapter I discusses the performance Lin-Manuel Miranda, lyricist, composer, and book writer of Hamilton, as well as Alexander Hamilton in the original cast, gave to President Barack Obama during the musical’s early stages. Miranda was still writing the musical at this time. The audience loved the performance of the opening number and title song, so Miranda’s writing continued, although he wanted to keep the musical very secret in fear of the unique idea being stolen. Miranda then turned the idea into a concept album called The Hamilton Mixtape We also learn at the end of this chapter that Lin got the idea by picking up Ron Chernow’s biography, Alexander Hamilton, to read while on vacation. Little did Miranda know, but this book that he picked up at the airport would give birth to a groundbreaking new musical. Miranda claims that songs filled his head as he read the book, the first of which being the show’s most popular song, My Shot, much to the confusion of his peers, including director Thomas Kail , who would become very important in the development of the musical.
Chapter II brings director Thomas Kail into the picture. Miranda spent many years working on Hamilton. During his writing process for the show, he wrote the score to Bring It On, did Spanish translations of West Side Story , and married Vanessa Nedal, whom he knew from high school. Nedal would become Miranda’s biggest critic and greatest advisor during the musjcal’s writing process, and her critiques helped make the musical what it is today. During this time, Miranda was working with an improvised rap group, who were going to perform songs they had actually written ahead of time instead of the usual improvised rapping. Miranda chose to perform a second song from Hamilton, titled “My Shot”. This song is the I Want Song . Later at the performance, Miranda attempted to rap way too fast and had to ask the audience if he could start over, which they laughed at, and agreed to. After his second attempt, he nailed the song. The crowd went wild for the song. In the enthusiastic audience, was Thomas Kail. Miranda had been telling him about Hamilton for a three year period, but he never agreed to work on the project with Miranda. Kail told Miranda that “My Shot” had left the audience ‘hungry to hear more of Hamilton’s story’.At the after party of Miranda’s performance, Kail told Lin that the two of them should get serious about developing the Hamilton project, and Miranda agreed. After nearly half a year of work with Kail, the Lincoln Center invited Miranda to perform a concert version of Hamilton.
In Chapter III, we learn how Miranda developed more aspects of the musical not featured in Chernow’s biography. He wanted historians to take this musical seriously. During the Broadway run of In the Heights , Miranda invited Chernow to a performance. Afterwards, Miranda asked to speak to Chernow. He revealed his plans to turn his biography into a Broadway musical. Chernow couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he had no problem expressing these concerns to Miranda, but also told him that he believed in encouragement,Miranda asked him for help, and Chernow told him all that he found was in the book, so Miranda would have to invent some details on his own. A few weeks later, Miranda traveled to Chernow’s apartment to play a song for him, just to see if he was on the right track historically, and according to Chernow, he was. Chernow was absolutely blown away. A few weeks later, Miranda invited Chernow to come and listen in on a partial run thru of the musical’s first act. When Chernow arrived, he was surprised to see that the actors to sing the roles of George Washington were African American and Latin American respectively. According to Miranda, the people who could perform the songs he had written best were not what the historical counterparts of these characters looked like. Chernow thoroughly enjoyed the run and only had one note to give the creative team, which consisted of Miranda, Kail, and several others. . He noticed that the early songs were taking place during 1776, but, Hamilton songs a song with people that he wouldn't meet until years later. Miranda told him that he needed a quarter of characters for the audience to follow, or the musical would seem sloppy. It was at this point that Chernow realized that a musical and a historical biography were very different, and revoked the note. He admired that Miranda had tried to be so true to most historical facts, and Miranda respected Chernow’s honesty. To Miranda, Cherniw’s opinion became the number one priority when writing something new.
Now, I will be skipping on to Chapter V, in which we learn about Hamilton’s run at the Lincoln Center. The run used full period costumes for the shows lead and ensemble characters, as well as an elaborate set with a moving staircase. The show was almost frozen at this point. The cast had been rehearsing for months, waiting for this night. This musical was one of the biggest ‘ifs’ in theatrical history. Either everyone would love it, or it would be a massive flop. However, during the Lincoln Center run of about a week, Hamilton had an almost full house in that 299 seat theatre nearly every single night that it ran. Critics went absolutely wild for the musical that seemed like the most outrageous thing there ever was, but, it has become one of the most loved musicals of the 21st century.
In this section, I will provide a personal review of the book. In my opinion, this book was very well written and provided interesting details about the creation of this musical. The writing of Miranda and McCarter was littered with jokes and musical theatre references, which offered a laugh for a theatre nerd like myself. The annotated libretto offered a unique insight into the thoughts, trials, and tribulations that Lin Manuel Miranda faced while writing such an interesting and complex musical masterpiece. Throughout the book I found myself craving more of what Miranda had written, both lyrical content, and insight into the creative process. This book is perfect for a die hard fan, and would be enjoyable for someone who is new to the smash hit that is Hamilton.
In this final section, I will discuss the historical impact of Hamilton.

Hamilton has created quite a stir in both the musical theatre fan base, and contemporary popular culture. It is a unique musical in three ways, which I will discuss here. First, Hamilton is a musical with a plot based during the American Revolution. Most historical musicals only go back decades, while this one goes back hundreds of years. Personally, Hamilton initiated a deep love of our country’s history. I was never interested in any type of history, but, after listening to Hamilton, I became infatuated with our country’s formation and those who did the forming, particularly Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, The Fourth President James Madison, and our First Commander In Chief, George Washington. Secondly, Hamilton is a rap musical. When someone mentions musical theatre, most people automatic imagine kick lines, tap dancing, and flashy costumes. Hamilton does not feature any of these. All of the music you hear in the musical is rap, or has a very modern feel to it. This is very uncommon for musicals, and it isn't seen very often. This makes the show unique, and it is one of the reasons why it is loved so very much by a large group of people. Finally, Hamilton is entirely sung through. If you're looking for witty dialogue, you won't find any in Hamilton. Everything in the musical is sung or rapped, making it more of a rap opera than a musical, which is another reason why Hamilton is so

unique.
In this section, I will be discussing some of Hamilton’s more historical achievements. It holds the current record for theatre’s most prestigious award, the Tony’s, nominations. It was nominated for 16 of the awards. Hamilton is currently in second place for the most wins, with 11 wins. It lies right behind Mel Brooks’ The Producers. . These awards are one of the most difficult things to obtain in the theatre world, and obtaining one is very difficult, so obtaining 11 is a historical achievement. Hamilton also won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama , which is an outstanding achievement for any play or musical. To make this win even more special, Hamilton is only one of a select few musicals to win this award.
In this final section about historical impact, I will discuss Hamilton’s effect on popular culture. Hamilton has already been parodied in an Off-Broadway musical called Spamilton and also in a Christmas Acapella spoof, Hamildolph, based on Rudolph. Many television shows , YouTube channels , and news programs have made fun of the inability to get tickets to the musical. Since the success of the Broadway show, Hamilton is now playing in Chicago and has two national tours currently running in various venues across the United States. Many of the stars who originated roles in Hamilton have gone on to star in movies, television, and release albums!
To conclude, I highly recommend this ground breaking book about the smash hit musical to anyone who reads, is interested in history, or is a fan of rap music. It is interesting, attention grabbing, and an all around amazing book to read. It fills you with the excitement of Act One’s Revolution, and the political tension that fills Act Two, all the while allowing you to find out just