In a mix of American history and hip-hop, Hamilton retells the story of one of the most overlooked Founding Fathers. The entire 9th grade class went to see Hamilton in theaters as an introduction to their new unit, improving their knowledge of Alexander Hamilton and the American Revolution.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton recently celebrated their anniversary of ten years on Broadway by bringing the award-winning musical to theaters on September 5th. Hamilton not only tells the story of the American Revolution and the importance of leaving behind a legacy, but also the complexity of Hamilton’s personal life through hip-hop music. The musical follows Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton through his life, death, accomplishments and hardships. Hamilton accurately represents Hamilton’s life from a poor orphan and immigrant to Founding Father. Hamilton fought in the revolution, was a help to George Washington, co-wrote The Federalist Papers, and made other important contributions to the American government.
Hamilton describes the importance and stress of leaving behind a good legacy. In act one, the song, History Has Its Eyes on You, shows Washington telling Hamilton, “you have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story.” This lyric is a good representation of the obsession Hamilton had with leaving shaping history and being positively remembered.
Hamilton depicts a strong theme of the race against time to leave a positive impact. His race against the clock is even found in Miranda’s portrayal of Hamilton, which stood out to me because the detail in the acting and staging went as far as the way he maneuvers around the stage, mimicking his thinking pace. I felt the attention to detail made the play more engaging to watch.
Contrary to Aaron Burr’s stage direction, who’s always walking in a straight line on stage to show his straightforward way of thinking, Hamilton is almost never walking straight, and is constantly moving around to represent his sporadic thinking. The amount of thought Miranda put into his bodily characteristics of these historical figures is truly amazing.
I would definitely recommend Hamilton to anyone who enjoys musicals, history, hip-hop, or are just looking for something interesting and well made to watch. However, I would not recommend the musical to anyone who doesn’t enjoy musicals in general or long movies, considering Hamilton is three hours of nothing but singing. With the thoughtful acting and staging along with the importance of leaving a positive legacy, Hamilton’s contributions are all tied back to his need for his name to live on. Hamilton is a wonderfully written musical on Alexander Hamilton’s personal and political life.
