Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope that you are all having a wonderful night so far, but it’s time that we get down to business. Tonight we are here to honor a guest who has not only contributed greatly to entertainment but also has a paved a new way of learning for many of the younger generation. Our of guest of honor, at only thirty-six years old, has achieved things that some of us could only dream of doing in a hundred years. At nineteen, our guest wrote the first draft of his first musical, In The Heights, which would go on to earn four Tony awards and even a Grammy in 2008. His achievements wouldn’t stop there, as like the subject of his next musical, Hamilton, “the man is Non-Stop!” Hamilton, which has become an international …show more content…
It ranged the silly scripted movies of his teen years that he’d act out with his best friends to jingles for politicians that helped his father, Luis, as a political advisor to Ed Koch. It was at nineteen when Miranda hit his first big break. Attending Wesleyan College in Connecticut, sophomore Miranda took it upon himself to write a musical about what he knew and loved, his home. It was there that first draft of Miranda’s first musical, In The Heights, was born. It would be almost another decade, in 2008, before Miranda’s show would hit Broadway and amaze audiences with a type of musical experience that was so rarely seen. Like his later musical, Hamilton, Miranda employed genres of music not familiar to the Broadway stage, including salsa and rap, to tell the story of a group people in his home town. Another major accomplishment of In The Heights is that it allowed a more diverse casting. Like Miranda’s home neighborhood of Inwood, most of the cast of characters were played by Latino and Latina actors, as well as other actors of color. This was purposely done as Miranda, a Puerto-Rican American, felt that people like him needed to be seen more on stage. It wasn’t just for the sake of diversity, but reality as
President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the United States Congress following the unexpected attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor the previous day. As a result, Roosevelt asked the Congress to declare war on Japan. In his speech to Congress, President Roosevelt stated that the previous day, which was December 7th, 1941, was a date that they will live in notoriety. President Roosevelt said that the United States of America was abruptly and intentionally attacked by naval and air forces of the Japanese emperor.
Ever heard of a story that sings of the “Angel of Music” and the “Phantom of the Opera”? A tale that once you have listened to the sweet melody that you will realized that you've pasted the “Point of No Return”? This love triangle has captivated multitudes ever since the 1910 original Phantom of the Opera was published in France by Monsieur Leroux, although most story lovers recall the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber or the motion picture adaption. Although this story has been entertaining people for over a century, in this new era have prerecorded voices and movements begun to overshadow the talented performers of live theater? Although “The lavish screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera (2005) only deepened the damage” of the dislike of musicals made into film “with non-stars in the leads and an unimaginative production,”(Musical),which version, the live performance or the film, makes the story more attractive? To answer these questions, permit this essay to analyze two methods of storytelling: 2011 live performance Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall and the 2005 film, and decide if music and story lovers everywhere have too “turned from true beauty”.
The risk taking and ingenuity Sondheim brought to the art of the musical gave others permission to experiment with non-traditional plot structures, more serious topics, the use of ambiguity, or anything else they could think of in musical format. One writer in particular, Jonathan Larson, was influenced by Sondheim. Larson was personally mentored by Sondheim, and Larson’s hit musical Rent, which featured a group of poor, AIDS stricken artists, may have never been possible if Sondheim had not brought similar, grave topics to the Broadway stage first. The same can be said for many more recent musicals, such as Wicked, Parade, and The Last Five Years (“The
The broadway hit play Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel Miranda, is viewed as an educational play about Alexander Hamilton, one of the United States’ founding fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury. The play captures the spirit of Alexander Hamilton’s ambition, eloquence, and mistakes in a revolutionary format-as revolutionary as Hamilton himself! Combining rap, musical theater, and history, Hamilton is an enthralling and entertaining play that is mostly accurate to the real Alexander Hamilton. The details of Hamilton’s life and relationships that were misrepresented in the play to achieve the theatrical flair.
“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” a quote from Lin Manuel Miranda’s new musical, Hamilton. This quote will continue to be a testament of my work ethic throughout my lifetime, as I work towards my future. The most important thing we can do on this planet is to leave a legacy, something that is worth remembering, whether it may be countless awards, stunning revelations, impactful inventions, or a caring and righteous family to carry on your name.
Hamilton: An American Musical, the spellbinding play by Lin-Manuel Miranda, nominated for a record breaking sixteen Tony Awards and winning eleven. How have they gotten their success? It doesn't only consist of an amazing sore and script, actors can make or break a musical/play. What makes Hamilton: An American Musical revolutionary is not only the talent and experience of the cast its the background and races of the cast. Though all the characters are white, the main actors are all different races. The founding fathers and mothers of the United States are played by an assortment of African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Puerto Ricans, and Caucasians. 2016-17 has proved to be a very diverse year for Broadway, with revivals
Broadway Idiot is a documentary that follows the process of turning the iconic songs of Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong into a Broadway musical. Personally, I found the transformation of these well known songs into a musical fit for Broadway to be the most interesting part of developing a new theater work. Due to the band’s immense popularity, the audience was already familiar with the works of Green Day and the job of director Michael Mayer was largely just to do the songs justice. The documentary gave insight to the immense amount of work it takes to put together an entirely new show- from composing new arrangements of classic songs, to adapting those songs to fit the desired storyline, to designing the intricate set which included forty
The Special Olympics date back all the way to the year 1968. Many see these Games as a time to honor someone who is able to “overcome” a task, but author William Peace sees this as an insulting portrayal of people with disabilities. Peace is a multidisciplinary school teacher and scholar that uses a wheel chair and writes about the science behind disabilities and handicaps. As a physically handicapped individual, Peace is able to observe a negative portrayal of disabled persons. In his article titled, “Slippery Slopes: Media, Disability, and Adaptive Sports,” William Peace offers his own personal insight, utilizes several statistics regarding handicaps, as well as numerous rhetorical appeals in order to communicate to the “common man”
As billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, James Montgomery, I hereby say that this deserted island sucks. As many of you have probably already found out watching the news, the handsome and amazing James Montgomery the Third has been missing for 2 weeks, when his cruise liner, the SS Amazing James, went down in the pacific ocean. I know many of you citizens cannot contain your grief and horror about never seeing my pretty face ever again, but do not fear I am still alive and my face is still intact so you can stop worrying. Many of you might be wondering how I survived my ship going down, well let me tell you it is a story of heroism and bravery that will be told for centuries. As you may know two weeks ago I had a party aboard may ship for
musical about the founding father, Alexander Hamilton told non-traditionally through hip hop stylings. Hamilton is an excellent choice for this college’s next fall musical for a variety of reasons. For example, although Hamilton is historical, it is relevant to America today. Furthermore, Hamilton, like all great musicals, is touching and poignant. Finally, Hamilton
President Obama’s memorial speech following the Tuscan shooting carefully utilized the Aristotelian appeal of pathos, or emotional appeals through his word choice, which aligned him with the American people while still conveying a sense of authority, and his use of biblical allusions, which drew his audience together on the basis of shared ideologies.
What is critically known as the best American musical, Gypsy provides American musical theatregoers with dynamic characters, a captivating story and extraordinary music. Gypsy is an American musical that is based on the self-written book, “The Memoirs of ‘Gypsy Rose Lee’”. It is often referred to as, Gypsy: A Musical Fable. The musical made its debut on May 21, 1959 at The Broadway Theatre in Manhattan. The characters have been subject to many in depth analysis throughout its lifetime, adding a lot of new content and progressive thinking to the world of musical theatre. The history of the musical, musical acts, correlation to the real story of Gypsy Rose Lee, awards won and impact Gypsy had on musical theatre will be discussed in further detail.
When I first watched Chicago at the movie theater, I was not fully satisfied. I wanted more, so I went back to get some and watched it six more times with different friends and family members! Last summer during a visit to my native Mexico City, I had the opportunity to watch drag queens perform several numbers from the movie-musical. They did an amazing job, without surpassing the outstanding performances of the actors in the film. Last year, I visited NYC for the first time and indulged in the rows of the Ambassador theatre experiencing Chicago, the Broadway musical, and because I had seen the movie many times before, I knew all the songs and dances by heart. I loved it, but it was actually the movie that influenced me to become a “Chicago fan.” The movie is based on the 1996 Chicago revival of the original musical version of 1975. It was thrilling knowing that the making of the musical into a mainstream production would increase its accessibility and widen its distribution into all the corners of the world; now there is no excuse for people not to experience Chicago, and though not everyone can go to Broadway to see it, just about anyone can indulge themselves in this dazzling movie in the comfort of their homes. In addition to a fantasy world of singing, dancing and Vaudeville, the film also provides a narrative that is explicitly presented through Roxie’s point of view, creating a counter human side to Roxie’s fantasy world so that the audience can easily identify and engage. Chicago is a must see film for anyone who likes to spoil themselves with an outstanding award-winning musical composed of a catchy plot, truly superb acting, commendable direction, and a clever soundtrack.
They make me feel so emotional and powerful. The songs in Hamilton are so exaggerated and meaningful. Every single time I turn on the song “Stay Alive” and “Burn”, I start to tear up. It is so amazing how the emotion sometimes changes from happy to sad in just one transition from one song to another. As serious and dramatic this play is, they still managed to add humor. For example, King George (Jonathan Groff) made you laugh in all three of his songs, even though he was threatening to “kill your friends and family” it still managed to make you laugh because of the upbeat melody and tone. I love the choice the writer (Lin-Manuel Miranda) made by keeping the same melody in all three of King George's songs, but changed the words based on how he was feeling at the different time
The 2000s/ 2010s brought in a wave of movie musicals- adapted from the stage shows. These brought new audiences into the theatre world, and for the first time in 20 years, brought a love to some of the timeless musicals. With slightly altered songs to appeal to a newer audience, these films brought in much needed money into the industry, with films including: Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Fame- and many more. Together with this, musicals began to push the concept of the songs in them, with a wave of new styles being written. Rap musicals such as ‘Hamilton’ and ‘In The Heights’, Pop musicals including ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and Rock musicals of ‘American Idiot’ and ‘Spring Awakening’. Together they pushed boundaries of a ‘traditional’ musical theatre sound, and brought in something never before seen. Due to the influence of ‘Rent’, controversial issues and themes began to be explored more, such as Teen suicide, Murder, Ethnic barriers and everything else, which brought with them, a world of opportunities. It was clear that musical theatre was once again showing for a promising