via SFlist—Hamilton, The Musical will be coming to SF and LA, possibly by fall.
*snip*
If you (somehow) haven’t heard, it is a hip-hop musical with a primarily African-American cast based on Ron Chernow’s lengthy biography of Alexander Hamilton, who never served as President but nonetheless made it onto your ten-dollar bills because he was a right-hand man to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, the original architect of our financial system, and the country’s first Secretary of the Treasury.
He was also an immigrant born out of wedlock on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies, and the show tracks his rise to prominence as a Founding Father, his marriage and family, and his life-long rivalry with Aaron Burr. MORE
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I’m curious to read the comments on whether this interpretation of ‘Alexander Hamilton’ is a good thing or a bad thing- as this falls into the combative ‘pop culture’ category. I look at it as a good thing (showcasing American History in a very contemporary way that will pique the interest of people not inclined to care/know/like…American History). If it ever comes to Seattle (I’ve heard rumors) I will gets seats in the center section, about half way up, in the middle of the aisle.
I’ll be interested to know if it’s revisionist history.
Sorry but they lost me at “hip-hop musical”.
It’s “pique” the interest, not “peak”.
🙂
Can anyone guess the reaction to a musical about Martin Luther King with a mostly white cast?
“He was also an immigrant born out of wedlock on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies…”
Thins Isn’t going to be one of those things like “Beethoven was a black man”, is it?
I’m slogging my way through Chernows book. It’s a daunting but worthy effort. Hamilton was brilliant. The biography sadly illustrates how far our pampered youth have backslid in being educated. Men back then were highly educated and accomplished by the time they left their teens. It’s also fun to note how vicious the politics was back then. There is nothing new under the sun. Don’t know about the musical, though. Why did they have to choose a black actor to play him? Aren’t white men allowed to take any credit for their very real and laudable accomplishments? More PC bull$/:!
Watched the video. I could understand the words when the character held a mic up to his mouth. I could not understand the words to most songs in the video.
I wonder if the play has ever been done in um er English
my mother is a bonafide, proud member of the daughters of the american revolution as a descendent of hamilton, and i am withholding judgement but skeptical when i see a black man as the lead, wondering if this another play to pc crap
too artsy-fartsy for me
i spoke too soon about the lead, he is puerto rican
i will shut up now
Hamilton is the father of the Federal Debt. But his idea was to have a sinking fund to pay down the debt. Too bad he couldn’t recognize the deceit that Congress has always been. He was also instrumental in having the Fed Gov’t pay off the debts incurred by the states in the Revolutionary War. Then there’s that whiskey tax thing. He was not that smart, only getting into college at age 15, instead of 13 like was normal at the time (OK, that’s sarcasm, I think…). He was tireless at trying to keep the new country financially afloat.
Um. I corrected it. *hangs*head*in*shame*
The play is left leaning and views Hamilton as a bit of a social/political outcast. The creator and producer is a typical leftist millennial social justice sort of guy. The play has sparked the low information crowd’s curiosity about American history.
Don’t hang your head – I’ve seen a lot worse. In the frickin’ NEWSPAPERS, no less. I guess there’s no human proofreaders any more, and spell checker won’t help you with homonyms like this one.
🙂