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HAMILTON

Hamilton the musical centres around the life of Americas first treasury sectary
of state Alexander Hamilton. The idea to create a musical of Hamilton’s life
came from Lin Manuel Miranda, after reading Ron Chernow’s book Alexander
Hamilton. The book was a biography written
by the historian Chernow.
After reading just two chapters, Miranda
became amazed that this founding father’s
story had not been made into a musical piece.
Miranda changed the form of the story to take Book by Ron Chernow
that inspired Hamilton
place on stage and to become a musical
experience.
Miranda had previously worked as a lyricist in the musical ‘In the
heights’ in 2005 based on the book by Quiara Alegria Hudes. Miranda
Lacamoire, Kail, Miranda starred as the character Usnavi de la Vega, here he met Thomas Kail
who was the director, who would later become the director of Hamilton
as both Miranda and Kali would be working close together alongside music director Alex Lacamoire.
The show premiered on August 6th, 2015 in Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Miranda not
only wrote the beloved musical but also took part as the leading role Alexander Hamilton. The musical
is sung through meaning that each song would help to move the story along, keeping it at a fast pace
as the whole show spans from 1757 till 1804, shown within only two acts. The opening song ‘Alexander
Hamilton’. The song tells the story of Hamilton’s horrific upbringing in the Caribbean, to then
immigrating to New York for a better life. The songs job is introducing us to the colourful cast and to
show Hamilton’s Ambition.
The main theme of the show is ambition, even though it is a story of one of the founding fathers, the
story of him tells of a man who writes down his ambitions and fights for what he believes in, this can be
related in everyday life for people with ambition much like Hamilton. However, there is also a strong
theme of love passed through the entire musical. This could be shown through the love between
characters such as:
Alexander Hamilton. He is the main protagonist of the show, although he
is seen as almost the hero of the story representing ambition and hope
of a positive future, during the course of the show we see how Hamilton
can be swayed to make bad choices.
His key love interest within the show is
Eliza(beth) Schuyler.
Alexander Hamilton- Lin Manuel This is shown presented in the ballad
Miranda ‘Helpless’ or from a director’s point of
view an ‘I want’ song. In the song Eliza
sing of how she feels helpless after just having a
glimpse at Hamilton and how she would love to
be with him. There is also a love of writing
Eliza Hamilton (Schuyler) -
shown within the character of Hamilton as we
Phillipa Soo
Helpless- Eliza Schuyler find out from a young age he is using writing as a
way of escaping his problems. This is also shown through the ‘I am’ song ‘Hurricane’ where Hamilton
has cheated on Eliza with Mariah Reynolds, in order to keep his pride, he decides that writing a
pamphlet about the whole affair would be the best way to end the situation.
Love is not only shown through couples but also the sister love between the Schuyler sisters. This is
brought to light in the song ‘Satisfied’ where we see the song
‘Helpless’ from Angelica Schuyler’s point of view. We learn that
Angelica also likes Hamilton but is willing to give up on him
because the love she has for her sister’s happiness is more.
There is also the love of friends shown between Hamilton and
the revolutionary gang (Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan) This
is highlighted in the song ‘My Shot’ where we witness their
friendship form, and they decide to come together as a unit to
Schuyler Sisters
reach their ambitions.
Lastly there is the
love of a parent and child shown by characters such as
Hamilton and Phillip, Arron Burr and Theodosia. This is
emphasised in the song ‘Dear Theodosia’ where we see
Hamilton and Burr talking about the happiness and love
they feel from becoming a father.
Dear Theodosia - Hamilton and Burr

Aaron Burr is the antagonist of the musical. This is discovered within the
first song ‘Alexander Hamilton’ where he sings the words “And me, I’m the
damn fool that shot him!” this is dramatic irony within the musical as we as
the audience know Hamilton is going to die via Burr, yet as the story starts
from the beginning of Hamilton’s life the characters are unaware of
Hamilton’s death. As a character Burr is 3 dimensional, as although he is
the antagonist of the story he is not a villainous character. Through the
course of the show we see how Hamilton and Burr start off as friends but Arron Burr -Leslie Odom Jr.
how Burr slowly realises his ambition of being in the ‘Room where it
happens’, is being stopped by none other than Hamilton.
In the song ‘The World Was Wide Enough’ we feel sympathy for Burr as he says, “now I’m the villain in
your history”, showing how he never wanted to be
and he realises his mistake, unlike a real
antagonist who would not feel regret and want to
be a villain.
Burr is not only the antagonist of the musical, but
he is also the Narrator of the musical introducing
nearly every song, for example this can be
The Adams Administration displayed in songs such as: ‘Alexander Hamilton’,
‘The Schuyler Sisters’, ‘A Winter’s Ball’, ‘Guns
and Ships’, ‘What’d I Miss’, ‘Say No To This’, ‘The Adams Administration’ to name a few. This same
intro tune is used for most of the Hamilton’s songs, as Burr is constantly reminding the audience the
origin of Hamilton’s life, like the fact that Hamilton is an orphan.
Multi-roles are also used within the show with characters such as Peggy
Schuyler/Mariah Reynolds, John
Laurens/Phillip Schuyler,
Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Hercules
Mulligan/ James Madison. Each character
gets changed after Act 1. For example, the
(Left) Hercules (Right) James
character of Peggy Schuyler is shown with
her sisters in Act 1 to perform
(Left) Lafayette (Right) Thomas
‘The Schuyler Sisters’, she
appears for a little bit throughout
the rest of Act 1, however her next role is to become Mariah
Reynolds in Act 2. This is
shown with an outfit
change, some could also
(Left) John (Right) Phillip say it’s a massive
personality contrast from
her prior role as Peggy who is somewhat Naïve, whereas Mariah
is shown as a rather troublesome character. This is a very
(Left) Peggy (Right) Mariah
Brechtian technique as we as the audience can see that this is
the same person playing multiple characters reminding us that
this is a performance.
Miranda decided that British pop, classic Broadway show tunes, jazz, hip hop, R and B music and rap
music would be used throughout the musical, to show his interpretation of the time period. Some would
see this as inappropriate choice of music for the period that the story is set in, but is perfect to express
the ideas of what Miranda was trying to show, His goal was to illuminate any distance between a
contemporary audience like todays, from a story that took place over 250 years ago (1755-1804).
Not only did the contemporary choice of music within the show make the audience connect more with
the performance but also the casting. Miranda decided that he would cast a multiracial cast, which
would had otherwise been an all-white cast (within the time period the show is
set). This would then make the audience identify with what was going on as we
now live in a multicultural society, rather than just watching an historical piece.

To support this contemporary feel to the musical we are


given an abstract stage, with only few if any props Broadways Original Cast
being used, which are only those that deem necessary Angelica Schuyler
to the story. Although the stage is set out very simply
there are technical elements to it. For instance, the
turntable, almost like moving floor similar to Our
Angelica Schuyler (1756-
House, except this time the floor moves in a circular 1814)
motion with one outer circle and one inner circle. This
comes in useful for songs like “The Ten Duel Commandments”. Where it elevates the importance of
that moment. The set designer for Hamilton, David Korins said “I had, from the very first reading of the
show, this feeling of swirling momentum," so when it came to making the set he decided a turntable
would be a necessity for this effect.
To go along with the moving floor Korins also created stairs that were able to move across the stage
and create a new area for the performers to perform in, he used designs from the time period of
Hamilton to help inspire the authentic look of the stage by using a lot of wood, ropes and scaffolding.
This help illustrates the idea of being on a ship much like Hamilton would have been majority of his life.

Korin said to have used the colours, and perspective of the stage to subconsciously change the
emotions of the audience subtly. For me when watching I felt as though the walls moving made me feel
the build-up of pressure and tension.

The Broadway Hamilton stage The small-scale design for the Broadway Hamilton
stage

Additional political views and debates were also shown throughout the musical, bringing up topical
issues that are happening in today’s society. For example, how much involvement America (or any
country) has in other countries affairs. This is shown through the song ‘Cabinet Battle # 2’ where we
see Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson arguing over whether the Americans should lend help
to the French who are on the verge of going to war with England (French revolution 1789 – 1799).
After
watching the
original
Broadway
cast
perform,
“Cabinet
battle 2” we
see how the
characters break the fourth wall, which is a Brechtian technique to help involve the audience and
remind them that they are watching a performance. In doing this Miranda has made the audience
become involved within the scenario
and have them think about their view
on the political situation, which was
another of Bertolt Brecht’s focuses
to get a political view across, like
Miranda is getting Hamilton’s
political points of view shown to the
audience.
Another issue addressed within the
musical is that everyone who dies in
the play dies as a result of gun violence, a lesson that America is still yet to get right, making the play
relevant to Americas laws now.
However although very Brechtian the musical has very naturalistic acting elements from Stanislavski,
as there is a lot of emotional drive for each song. For example, in the song ‘Schuyler Defeated’
Hamilton’s son Phillip dies, Eliza’s reaction to the death is very dramatic and naturalistic. This cannot be
said for the lighting used in Hamilton.
Throughout the duration of the musical very dramatic lighting is used. An example of this would be in
the song ‘Shot’. We see how Hamilton is talking about his plan and ideas, to the point where he
silences the other actors, this is highlighted
with the music slowing down to only a simple
beat and the once bright lights convert into a
deep blue with only a spotlight on Hamilton.
This technique is used in a few other songs
within the musical such as ‘Right Hand Man’
when the audience first meet George
Washington, we a bombarded with his
commands and very intense music, however
he then changes his tone and the beat once
again simplifies and the blue lighting returns
George Washington - Right Hand Man and he shares a monologue with the audience,
further breaking the fourth wall.
Foreshadowing is also used within the production, mainly expressed through the ensemble. For the
duration of the musical the ensemble are used as dancers, background characters and one liners, but
rapidly transition from that frame and become a
collective unit of thought for the characters. This is
mainly used for the protagonist of the show Hamilton,
and our antagonist Burr. This is clearly displayed in
songs such as ‘My Shot’ (Hamilton) and ‘Wait for It’
(Burr).
When Act 2 begins they form into almost a Greek
Chorus, warning Hamilton of his horrible fate. A major
My Shot - Ensemble
example of
this would be in the song “Say No to This”, as we have the
ensemble pleading with Hamilton to stop his affair with
Mariah Reynolds by singing to him “No” and “Go”. In doing
this we as the audience have a visual and sound proof that
something bad is going to happen soon.
Although Hamilton is sung through and bursting with words, it
is also filled to the brim with movement. All the way through
the show the ensemble are constantly on their toes,
personifying the plots emotional arc.
Hamilton and Mariah's affair
The choreographer of Hamilton, Andy Blankenbuehler said
“Hamilton ends up being sort of like a ballet in many
respects,”. However, the choreography involves a vast collection
of dance styles such as jazz, jitterbug, hip hop and swing. Every
piece of movement on stage has been carefully choregraphed by
Blankenbuehler, due to the importance of each movement. Every
movement is in place in aid of the story, and to help move it along.
The music in Hamilton is
very contemporary when
it came to choregraphing
for the musical,
Blankenbuehler felt that
every move should be as Ensemble members from Hamilton
fresh and contemporary
as music, so he would blend simple shapes such as: turns,
and kicks with something else to give it a new look.
Hamilton is one of the most influential, important musical
theatre pieces of our time. This is due to the fresh,
contemporary mix with history. Miranda managed to
successfully create a piece of musical theatre from over 200
Blankenbuehler and Miranda years ago and carry it off into today society with the use of a
multi-cultural cast and contrasting music that makes it easy for
the audience to engage on a personal level to the piece, and think politically and emotionally to the
importance of this historical event. Making the audience compare it with today’s society, thinking: “has
much changed from then till now?”. A concept pushed forward from Brecht’s time of including political
issues in his plays, having the audience think intellectually about the performance.
HAMILTON SECTION
https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision Brecht information
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NScpxKJb6XM – Cabinet Battle 2 lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NbEbkVrVWY&t=1026s – Emma Watson interviews Lin Manuel
Miranda
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hamilton-set-design-interview_us_5757ffd8e4b0a3d6fbd3362a -
Set designer for Hamilton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhwv5-tFUJM – Top 10 Hamilton songs
https://charlierose.com/videos/28020 - Interview with Kail and Miranda
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Heights#Characters – In the heights information
http://www.dancemagazine.com/hamilton-dance-revolution-2307024931.html - Dance in Hamilton
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/piece-foreshadowing-hamilton-misses - Foreshadowing in Hamilton

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