By: Michael Bayliss
If there are three things I love in life they are history, hip/hop and musical theater. All three of which are combined in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's new genius musical based on the life of the youngest founding father, Alexander Hamilton. A historical figure who's life story Miranda thought embodied the spirit of hip/hop. So what happens when you combine hip/hop with the showmanship and performance elements of musical theater? you get a record breaking 16 time tony nominated, nobel prize winning musical that is perpetually sold out for months and months on end.
The bold concept for a hip/hop musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton the first and youngest Secretary of the Treasury was first displayed at the White House Poetry Slam in 2009. In this video of a short haired Miranda fresh off the success of his first Hip/hop musical In The Heights, the world got its first glance at what would become a national phenomenon.
If there are three things I love in life they are history, hip/hop and musical theater. All three of which are combined in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's new genius musical based on the life of the youngest founding father, Alexander Hamilton. A historical figure who's life story Miranda thought embodied the spirit of hip/hop. So what happens when you combine hip/hop with the showmanship and performance elements of musical theater? you get a record breaking 16 time tony nominated, nobel prize winning musical that is perpetually sold out for months and months on end.
The bold concept for a hip/hop musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton the first and youngest Secretary of the Treasury was first displayed at the White House Poetry Slam in 2009. In this video of a short haired Miranda fresh off the success of his first Hip/hop musical In The Heights, the world got its first glance at what would become a national phenomenon.
Hamilton is a must listen to, even without the visuals theater provides the soundtrack to the show is just as extraordinary. Soon Lin-Manuel Miranda will be coming out with the Hamilton Mixtape an album comprised of all the original shows songs but performed by other hip/hop artist, Chance The Rapper is said to have helped out with this project making the excitement for any new music by Miranda only grow even more. I'm excited to see hip/hop influence more art forms in mainstream culture and especially in the world of broadway theater where in the case of Hamilton it seems to be helping diversify the once homogeneous casts usually seen on the broadway stages.