Ten years ago, one of the greatest modern Broadway musicals premiered, “Hamilton”. The musical is based on the book “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow. The book, lyrics, and music for “Hamilton” were all written by the mastermind, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda also starred as Alexander Hamilton in the original Broadway production and the filmed stage production.
In 2008, Miranda was invited to the White House to participate in their Evening of Poetry, Music, and Spoken Word. This is the room where it happened, the first public presentation of his new work entitled “The Hamilton Mixtapes.” Miranda was already known for his four-time Tony Award-winning musical “In the Heights.” He describes the origin story of “In the Heights”, which is inspired by his childhood, as “very painful”.
There is one thing that sets Hamilton apart from other musicals, even ones Miranda made himself like “In The Heights” and “21 Chump Street”, a reason everyone was beyond impressed at the White House that very night in 2008. “Hamilton” was a rap musical. A musical inspired by the Hip Hop and rap music genre. This was a new and bold idea, and people loved it.
The trials and tribulations of creating “Hamilton” are described in depth in the book “Hamilton: The Revolution” written by Miranda himself and his “In the Heights: Finding Home” collaborator, Jeremy McCarter. As Miranda and his fellow Wesleyan University alum, Thomas Kail, worked to continue the “Hamilton Mixtapes,” they made the early decision to work with Ron Chernow to keep as much historical accuracy as possible and to cast the show, even the Founding Fathers and George Washington himself, as people of color. The latter surprised Chernow because he had never considered that “the people best able to perform the songs that Lin had been writing might look nothing like their historical counterparts,” as said in “Hamilton: The Revolution.”
“Hamilton” first premiered at The Public Theater, an Off-Broadway venue. Tickets were completely sold out, and the show was extended twice. The show then made its way to the Broadway venue, The Richard Rodgers Theatre, also home to Miranda’s “In the Heights.” Advance tickets for the Broadway adaptation made millions of dollars before the show officially opened. The hype and praise around “Hamilton” only boomed from there. The show was performed and toured until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Though all live productions were suspended, the “Hamilton” cast, crew, and creators had a secret weapon: the release of the filmed stage production with the original cast that premiered on Disney+ in July of that year. The “Hamilton” praise only roared up again after its release. Considering people didn’t have much else to do that year, they found themselves wrapped up in Alexander Hamilton’s rap story. Songs like “You’ll Be Back,” performed by Jonathan Groff, and “Satisfied,” performed by Renée Elise Goldsberry, impressed people who had never listened to musical theatre before.
Now, exactly ten years after its first premiere, Hamilton is still one of the most talked-about musicals. Its tenth anniversary has spiked many questions about how the cast, crew, and creators will celebrate it. New American tour dates were announced, including one in Charlotte. Amazed fans were left wondering if the original cast might come back and join the tour. While that dream has not come true it has been announced that Leslie Odom Jr will be reprising his role as Aaron Burr, the prime rival of Hamilton and the narrator of the show. There is a whole year to celebrate the phenomenon of HamilTEN, and it’s only April. So if you can, Wait For It; there may be more coming…
