Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of two breakthrough Broadway musicals, could possibly become the next Andrew Lloyd Webber. Broadway has always been a diverse and welcoming place. But, only recently has there been such a buzz about all diversity. One man has been such a big part of why all people of colour casting has become such a big deal. Award-winning playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda could possibly be the answer to giving everyone, no matter what their background is, an equal chance in the theatre. Miranda grew up on music from, Broadway Show Tunes like “Camelot” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, to Rap and Hip-Hop like Boogie Down Productions and The Beastie Boys. While writing “Hamilton”, Lin-Manuel recognised echoes of Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls, and Eminem. “I'm actually, working on a hip hop album. It's a concept album about the life of someone who I think embodies hip hop, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton - (laughter) You laugh?! But it's true!” (60 Minutes).
“In the Heights” Lin Miranda
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He had, on an impulse, bought a copy of the 800-page biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. He was inspired by Hamilton’s eloquent, poet like writing, to write a hip-hop musical. Like previously stated, Hamilton embodies hip-hop. The genre helps Hamilton’s story quite a bit because Hamilton was such a smart aleck and really did write like he was running out of time. The depth and characterization the songs give the characters, and it helps develop a more relatable situation to younger or a non-history buff audience.
The beauty of Hamilton is that it appeals to everyone. Lin-Manuel Miranda purposefully cast it so it was full of people of colour; there are so many cast members from different backgrounds, so everyone can somehow relate to the show. The music, being hip-hop, dancehall, soul, R&B, and ballads reciprocates with everyone, starting with theatre
You may of heard about the musical Hamilton, witch is about the great founding father Alexander Hamilton. Do you know all the other facts about his life? Here are some of his biggest facts.
The book was the biography about one of our founding fathers and our first Treasury-Secretary. While reading the 800-page book, Manuel stated: "Hip-hop songs started rising off the page" (PBS). Alexander Hamilton was born in the Caribbean and was raised in a broken family surrounded by slavery. His father left him, his mother passed away and there was a devastating hurricane on his home island of St. Croix. Alexander Hamilton put pen to paper and wrote a poem and as a result of his writing, won a scholarship and found his way to America. Lin-Manuel describes him as "An immigrant and an outsider who writes his way in" (Keeper of the Flame). When Lin-Manuel read that Hamilton wrote a poem to get off the
Alexander Hamilton was born an illegitimate child in 1755 in the West Indies to a financially struggling family (Alexander Hamilton, n.d., para. 2). He did not receive his formal education until he was sponsored by family friends who were impressed by his ambition. He chose a military career and served as George Washington’s secretary and aid. After the revolutionary war, he became a lawyer, served Congress, and founded the Bank of New York. He was also the first secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton had no faith in common people and wanted to control them, “In the general course of human nature, a power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will” (brainquote.com, 2011, p.1).
Alexander Hamilton was born a bastard child in the West Indies and demonstrated great intellectual potential at an early age. He was sent to New York City for schooling and studied at King’s College, now Columbia University. His vision of America took a more capitalistic tone and “he was determined to transform an economically weak and fractious cluster of states into a powerful global force” (Tindall & Shi, 2010). Hamilton advocated a strong central government. He was bold and persuasive and his philosophies quite extraordinary for his time.
Alexander Hamilton was disliked by many people but, he is now popular because of a hit Broadway show created by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton was born on January 11, 1755 or 1757 in Charleston, Nevis in the British West Indies. He was abandoned by his father which made him an orphan at the age of 13. Hamilton started attending school in Elizabethtown, New Jersey but, plans changed, and he entered Kings College. At the age of 17 he was already interested in government. Later, in 1776 he was introduced to George Washington. He became Washington’s advisor not long after that. Some main events that changed Hamilton’s life were his family, his accomplishments, and George Washington.
Alexander Hamilton was a great man that will be remembered for being a great major general of the armed forces of the United States of America. As well as the secretary of the treasury. In 1769, at twelve years old he had a job as a clerk in a general store and Alexander dreaded spending the rest of his life there. He wanted something more for his future. He wished for a war to occur. He wanted to prove himself to be more worthy then a clerk. To his thinking, only some brilliant and heroic act on the battle field would give me a chance to achieve his hopes. He seemed to be doomed to a life of clerking. For one thing, he was at the bottom of a social ladder. His parents, who never married, separated when Hamilton was nine, and his mother was forced to support her two sons by running a grocery from one of the rooms in their tiny home. When she died two years later, the boys were all alone. There was not even a cousin who could afford to take them in.
Miranda’s most famous works incorporate his descent and the environment he grew up in. This has had a great influence on pop culture. Many people view rap music as “hood”, “ghetto”, “street”, or “gangster” type music. In Miranda’s first musical was In the Heights, which was a musical with a story set over three days involving characters in the largely Dominican part of New York
On the 16th of January in the year 1980, a future inspiration was born. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a 38 year old man, known for not only his skills as a composer and playwright, but also for using those skills to inspire others to learn more about the world around them. His mother was a psychologist and his father was a consultant to the mayor of New York, so Miranda knew what hard work means. Puerto Rican man born in the city of New York brought the past into the present with his world renowned musical Hamilton, a hip-hop styled musical about the first Treasury Secretary of the United States of America. When he first came up with the idea it resulted in him being laughed at by even Barack Obama, but more than half a decade
Born in the British West Indies, Alexander Hamilton was a bright and talented young man. In 1772, he moved to the mainland to attended King’s College in New York City. Soon after, he quickly embarked on an extraordinary career. Between his arrival in America and his death, Alexander Hamilton contributed greatly to establish our governmental framework. He fought under George Washington in the Revolutionary war and was a member of the Continental Congress. He was an advocate for the ratification of the Constitution and established a prestigious law career. He then served as the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton was always one step ahead, his leadership skills and intelligence demonstrated to be valuable in his political path.
The hit Broadway musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda uses a modern rap stye to retell the story of the American founding father Alexander Hamilton. Miranda’s rap style is effective on young teens due to it sounding like this generations rap artists. A synopsis of act one starts of with The musical begins with the company summarizing Alexander Hamilton's early life as an orphan in the Caribbean ("Alexander Hamilton"). Hamilton was born out of wedlock in the West Indies —his father abandoned him in the boy's early youth and his mother died when Hamilton was 12. By 19, Hamilton has made his way to the American colonies, a dedicated supporter of American independence (Hamilton musical).
...t could be done based on ethnicity. The history of America has an important effect as to why such limitations for African-Americans existed. With slavery and segregation African-Americans have been through a lot and being accepted was not always easy. It did not stop African-Americans from trying, but only made them work that much harder to gain their acceptance within the theatre. The establishments of various groups and movements inspired African-Americans to fight for what they wanted and they continue to do so today! The involvement of African-Americans within the theatre has changed overtime but has always existed. Their works became more publicized as the acceptance and African-Americans changed overtime throughout America. No matter the race or color of our skin all humans are capable of producing their own unique style of theatre and will continue to do so.
Forman, Murray. “Conscious Hip-Hop, Change, and the Obama Era.” American Study Journal. American Study Journal. 2010. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
Hamilton found a job as a merchant’s apprentice with the help of his aunts. By the time he was fifteen, his employers paid attention to his honesty and intelligence and they were impressed. Therefore, they collaborated with his aunts to send him for a formal schooling in New York. First, he attended Francis Barber's Preparatory School in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Hamilton always displayed an unusual capacity for impressing older, influential men: so he gained his social footing in Elizabethtown with the surpassing spe...
The musical Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda tells of Alexander Hamilton’s impressive journey from an all but irrelevant street child, to one of the most important men in American politics. It is based off of a true story of growth, heroism, and determination. In writing this musical, Miranda takes a dry, historic story, and turns it into a captivating performance. His project to take the story of Alexander Hamilton and make it relatable to the average American is extraordinarily successful, mostly because the methods by which he does this are unprecedented. His unique methods and practices have resulted in Hamilton being so popular that it was awarded a record breaking sixteen Tony nominations (Paulson). The musical tells how Hamilton doesn’t
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