{"id":2580,"date":"2016-02-18T08:03:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T13:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=2580"},"modified":"2016-02-18T08:03:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-18T13:03:41","slug":"the-phenomenon-of-hamilton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2016\/02\/18\/the-phenomenon-of-hamilton\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘Hamilton’ phenomenon"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY HAYLEY HOFFMAN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How does the story of Alexander Hamilton go on and on, grow into more of a phenomenon? This question, asked in part by Aaron Burr halfway through the first act of the musical Hamilton<\/em>, addresses what has been on the mind of many as of late.<\/p>\n

Hamilton<\/em>, which tells the life story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton through rap and hip-hop music as well as with a ground-breaking multiracial cast, has become an international phenomenon since its opening in July of last year. Attended by politicians and celebrities alike, the musical has become the closest thing Broadway has to a blockbuster hit. Its stars have appeared on the likes of 60 Minutes<\/em> and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon <\/em>as well as on this year\u2019s Grammy Awards, performing the show\u2019s opening number; tickets for its eight times-weekly performances are sold out through September.<\/p>\n

But the phenomenon of Hamilton<\/em> can be seen and heard closer to home for Centre students\u2014from practice rooms in the belly of Grant Hall, to a Young Hall classroom that houses this semester\u2019s \u201cAmerican Revolution\u201d class. Students and faculty alike have fallen for the show\u2019s radio-friendly score, having memorized its complicated raps and rhymes.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Rachel Bischoff said she started listening to Hamilton<\/em> after her friends \u201cwouldn\u2019t stop talking about how amazing it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lin-Manuel<\/a>
Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of ‘Hamilton’ (Sara Krulwich\/The New York Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHamilton spreads like wildfire, more so than any new show in my generation,\u201d she said. \u201cOne two-hour car ride home while listening to the album all the way through, and I was hooked. I know every word to the album now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor of Dramatic Arts Matthew Hallock was introduced to the show through his students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew of students who had a sort of crazed enthusiasm for it,\u201d he said. \u201cI have to admit that, at first, I wasn\u2019t interested. Hip-hop is not my genre of popular music. I started to hear dribs and drabs of it in places and that, coupled with the students\u2019 enthusiasm, led me to give it a try. I had it on Spotify in the car, on a long enough drive where I could listen to it in a sustained way, and I thought, \u2018This is something different.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Emily Morrell first heard about the show via Twitter, just after its initial opening at New York\u2019s Public Theater last spring\u2014which isn\u2019t surprising, as Forbes<\/em> recently calculated that Hamilton<\/em> was the most-tweeted about show of the year<\/a>. She recently attended a Tuesday night performance, missing the first day of classes for the spring semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known about Hamilton<\/em> since May of last year,\u201d she said. \u201cI heard that it was really impressive and, once I started following it, I found out that it was. You can\u2019t help but be drawn into the music on the cast recording and start choreographing the show in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

And senior Daniel Graham, who heard about Hamilton<\/em> from Morrell, said he first connected with the show through King George\u2019s love ballad to America (\u201cYou\u2019ll Be Back\u201d) and its jokes about sending the colonies \u201ca fully armed battalion to remind them of [his] love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the song that made it click for me, and it presents what the show is getting at,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s trying to address political and historical issues, but in an interesting way. The song comes at those historical issues in a fun way that is interesting to listen to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man largely responsible for Hamilton\u2019s resurgence onto the national stage is Lin-Manuel Miranda (pictured above, center), a Tony-winning composer who recently received a coveted MacArthur Foundation \u201cGenius Grant\u201d for his work on the show. After coming across biographer Ron Chernow\u2019s book on Hamilton<\/a> while on vacation, he was instantly drawn to the idea of turning the life of the \u201cten-dollar Founding Father\u201d into a musical.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a guy who, on the strength of his writing, pulled himself from poverty into the revolution that would create our nation and caught beef with every other Founding Father,\u201d Miranda told CBS This Morning<\/em> in March of 2015<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s great drama, there\u2019s a great love story, and there\u2019s incredible political intrigue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'Hamilton'<\/a>
‘Hamilton’ at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. (Photo: Emily Morrell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Centre\u2019s resident early American historian, Assistant Professor of History Dr. Tara Strauch, Miranda gets many things right about the life of the Founding Father.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s based on Chernow\u2019s biography of Alexander Hamilton, which is acknowledged to be a really good biography, it\u2019s pretty accurate as far as names and people and events go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, to create an interesting drama that keeps audiences engaged, Dr. Strauch said that Miranda plays \u201ca little fast and loose with some of the events.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe changes when [the major events of Hamilton\u2019s life] happen but, to me, that\u2019s not a huge deal,\u201d she explained. \u201cThe thing that is missing from Hamilton<\/em> is the 1780s. It\u2019s like they don\u2019t even exist in this musical, which is because they\u2019re boring for Alexander Hamilton but they\u2019re actually very important for the history.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in spite of its historical inaccuracies, Dr. Strauch has used several of the songs in her classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor most of the classes that I teach, and this is because I am an American historian, students already have stories that they\u2019ve heard or been told about this stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cAnytime I can make them realize that there are new stories, I like that. It\u2019s pretty clear that Hamilton<\/em> is a story, and it\u2019s one of a million stories [about the history of the United States].\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior Tory Parker has enjoyed filling in the gaps in Hamilton<\/em>\u2019s presentation of history in Dr. Strauch\u2019s \u201cAmerican Revolution\u201d class.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about pre-revolutionary narratives and about how the colonists see themselves. Do they see themselves as independent, or as British citizens?\u201d Parker said. \u201cHamilton<\/em> doesn\u2019t really talk about that, and it sticks to the traditional narrative of colonists feeling like Americans and wanting independence for that reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

The class has so far explored the complexities involved in crafting the American identity amongst revolutionaries and British loyalists, among other things.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve explored where an American identity comes from\u2014for instance, what sets us apart from Britain?\u201d Parker explained. \u201cHamilton<\/em> plays with that idea in a fun way. We see the same dichotomy of old and new played out in Hamilton<\/em> in a way that we understand it\u2014the American identity has changed in our time, too. We\u2019re constantly redefining and re-understanding what it means to be an American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centre\u2019s connection to Hamilton<\/em> expands beyond obsessive jam sessions and the classroom, however, as recent alum Ali Gautier \u201915 recently received a second callback to audition for the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to audition because I didn\u2019t see any downfall in not auditioning. The worst case scenario was that I made an embarrassing video of myself singing and rapping that maybe one stranger out there in the world would see, and that would be it,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Gautier went on to say that she first listened to the musical on the recommendation of a friend, who thought it would be \u201cthe solution to all the issues that [she] often [has] with musicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I really auditioned because I so desperately want to be a part of this exciting new way of seeing theatre and musicals that Hamilton<\/em> is setting the tone for,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Like many listeners and audience members, she appreciates the show\u2019s commitment creating a space in the realm of musical theater for people of color.<\/p>\n

\"FullSizeRender-3\"<\/a>
‘Hamilton’ at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. (Photo: Emily Morrell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am a biracial woman, which is a phrase you do not often find in character descriptions,\u201d Gautier said. \u201cThat reality has been a constant internal and external struggle when it comes to auditioning for shows, but the fact that it is not an outlandish dream to see myself playing whatever character I want, be it even a famously white historical figure in a Broadway show, is something that\u2019s definitely new to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond its color-blind casting, Morrell believes that Hamilton<\/em>\u2019s importance lies in its commitment to telling the story of America as it was envisioned by the Founding Fathers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds those who see it and hear it about what the American experiment was supposed to be about,\u201d she said. \u201cThe show reminds us of colonial America, where someone like Alexander Hamilton could become someone important\u2026All things being relative, Hamilton should not have been who he was. It\u2019s important to be reminded that we are a country where people like Hamilton are supposed to be able to be brilliant, and I think it reminds us of that in a way that is fun and conducive to dance parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for a Spotify playlist<\/a> of the interviewees’ favorite songs from the show, among others mentioned in this article, constituting the Cento<\/em>\u2019s \u201cBeginner\u2019s Guide to Hamilton<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reasoning behind their choices can be found below:<\/p>\n

Bischoff<\/em> \u2013 \u201cMy favorite song from the show is \u2018Wait For It.\u2019 I think it\u2019s one of the few stand-alone pieces in the show. It doesn\u2019t need the rest of the musical for it to make sense as a song, and its lyrics are all too powerful and real\u2026and of course, Leslie Odom Jr.\u2019s voice is a thing of magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gautier<\/em> \u2013 \u201cMy favorite song is \u2018Wait for It.\u2019 Adultery is \u2018wrong,\u2019 but that song is just so right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham<\/em> \u2013 \u201c\u2018The Room Where It Happens\u2019\u2026the song is just brilliant on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Hallock<\/em> \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m always listening to \u2018The Schuyler Sisters\u2019\u2026really, I enjoy anything they sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrell<\/em> \u2013 \u201cMy favorite is probably \u2018Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,\u2019 because it reminds us that there are way too many unheard voices\u2014people who’ve been taken out of the narrative by structural violence, racism, etc.\u2014and that those people have just as valuable and varied stories as anyone else. It’s also a song that pushes us to put ourselves in narratives that we care about; it reminds us that this system was created in such a way that we can be creative, active parts in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker<\/em> \u2013 \u201c100 percent, \u2018History Has Its Eyes On You.\u2019 It complicates George Washington and it\u2019s the song that, I think, accepts the gravity of what they\u2019re doing in that moment. That song marks the shift from Hamilton, the boy, to Hamilton, the revolutionary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Strauch<\/em> \u2013 \u201cI really love \u2018The Adams Administration.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY HAYLEY HOFFMAN – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF How does the story of Alexander Hamilton go on and on, grow into more of a phenomenon? This question, asked in part by Aaron Burr halfway through the first act of the musical Hamilton, addresses what has been on the mind of many as of late. Hamilton, which tells the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2585,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-leisure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}