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Home , Fred Ebb, My Shot

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Deborah Hájková

Is Leading Another Revolution ?

Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph. D.

2019

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

……………………………………………..

Author’s signature

Acknowledgement:

I would like to sincerely thank my supervisor, Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D., for being incredibly patient with me the whole time and for his guidance and help. I would also like to thank my beloved parents for their undying support and love.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...... 5 2. Author's background ...... 6 3. How was Hamilton put into existence ...... 11 4. Aspects that make Hamilton different ...... 16 4.1. The cast of Hamilton ...... 16 4.2. Hip-Hop music ...... 19 4.3. The exceptional interaction with fans ...... 24 4.4. Hamilton beyond Broadway, the political controversy and charity work ...... 29 5. Conclusion ...... 37 Works Cited ...... 39 6. Summary ...... 45 7. Resumé ...... 46

1. Introduction

“Sometimes the right person tells the right story at the right moment, and through a combination of luck and design, a creative expression gains new force.” ― Lin-Manuel Miranda, (Miranda and McCarter 5)

Music and theatre have been created and played by people for millennia now.

Musicals, on the other hand, are significantly younger as they first appear on Broadway in the late 19th century. The combination of music and theatre become quickly appreciated by people who enjoy the performance where the story is told by songs, which often stick in one's mind even after the performance is over.

Broadway is a place, where the most significant musicals are performed. It is a place with prestige and style, and it is not an exaggeration to say that for most of the theatre and music performers it is the most significant achievement to perform a number on Broadway as much as music writers wish to see their musical pieces performed on the famous Broadway stage.

Linn Manuel Miranda managed to reach both dreams, twice so far. Not only did the musical piece he wrote reached Broadway but also he performed the main character of his two essential musicals - and Hamilton. As a huge surprise to everybody, Hamilton soon became a musical sensation. It has been running in theatres for years now, and its popularity only keeps rising.

Therefore, the main aim of this thesis is to discuss whether Hamilton: An

American Musical written by Lin Manuel Miranda is so successful due to its quality and originality or unique marketing strategies and its influence beyond Broadway is significantly helping to its fame and popularity. The central part of this thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter provides background information from the life of

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Lin-Manuel Miranda, the author of Hamilton: An American Musical. The chapter aims to help the reader to understand that even the life of the author influenced how the musical was created. The second chapter of this thesis describes the whole process of the creation of Hamilton which took several years and started with one unexpected idea on vacation and eventually ended up with Hamilton being staged on Broadway. The third chapter is divided into four subchapters where each of them discusses an individual aspect by which is Hamilton different from other Broadway musicals. Topics such as the original cast of Hamilton, the exceptional interaction with fans, Hamilton's hip-hop/rap music and the role of Hamilton beyond Broadway are discussed in deep and included there.

Those particular four aspects were chosen as they are the most significant for demonstrating the differences. Other aspects such as the choreography of the musical or costumes are not discussed since they do not distinguish Hamilton from other musicals.

2. Author's background

This chapter is going to discuss Miranda's life, and career as those aspects are connected with the creation process of Hamilton.

Firstly, Lin Manuel Miranda is a very unusual name. The young artist, who is currently 39 years old was named after o poem called “Nana Roja Para Mi Hijo Lin

Manuel,” which was written by a Puerto Rican author José Manuel Torres Santiago and the poem itself discusses the Vietnam War. (Mead)

Lin Manuel has only one sibling, an older sister. He was born in in

New York although his mother who immigrated to New York originally comes from

Puerto Rico. Hence Miranda has Latino appearance. Even though he was growing up mostly in , Miranda spent much time in Puerto Rico where he used to

6 spend the summer holidays with his older sister. Since he had the chance to spend the summer holidays abroad in Puerto Rico as a child, he is now able to speak the Spanish language as well as he was provided with much information about the local culture.

Considering that Miranda's mother works as a clinical psychologist, education of high quality was expected from both of the children. (Mead)

Being a smart kid, Miranda got a place in a prominent elementary school “for intellectually talented and gifted students” (Siegmann). At that time he was only a five years old kid despite that he was already able to notice the class differences between people.

At five, Miranda tested into Hunter College Elementary School—the only child

he knew from his neighbourhood to do so. “I can't imagine what that was like for

my Puerto Rican father,” he says. “All my friends were Jewish, because that is

who goes to Hunter. I was Lin at school, and Lin-Manuel at home. I was a

totally different person at home than I was at school. All my friends lived on the

Upper West Side or the Upper East Side, and I'd speak to their nannies in

Spanish. (Mead)

Miranda was introduced to the world of music for the first time when he was a little child as during his childhood Latino music was played a lot in his home in New York as well as when he was spending time in Puerto Rico.

Moreover, he was also soon introduced to hip-hop music. “It was the music that was on the rise, he said. He remembers, in the 1980s, his sister's taking him to see “Beat

Street,” an early film about hip-hop. Soon he was listening to the Fat Boys, the Beastie

Boys, Eric B. & Rakim” (Paulson, “Lin-Manuel…”). Hip-hop music was probably the music style which shaped his future work the most.

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Being born in New York City was quite a lucky coincidence for Miranda as it is a city where a lot of musicals and music, in general, is created and most importantly where the critical place for musicals is, Broadway. Therefore it was possible for him to be introduced to the Broadway world of the musicals as a kid. (Paulson, “Lin-

Manuel…”) Although his family did not have much extra money for going on

Broadway, Miranda had the chance to see at least the most notoriously known musicals such as Les Miserablés, Phantom of the Opera or . “I remember seeing “Les Miz” when I was seven. I cried when Fantine died, fell asleep for a while, woke back up in time for Javert's suicide—that is actually a great way to experience that show. When I saw Cats, I remember being touched by the cats when they ran down the aisle” (Mead).

Shared Miranda his impressions from seeing the world most famous musicals for the first time as a kid. When he saw the musicals, it has such an impact on him that he was listening to different musicals even at home. (Paulson, “Lin-Manuel…”)

Being able to play the piano is a necessary skill for almost all future music writers. Hence, his love for music and performing was only embraced when he started to play the piano at the age of six. In one of the interviews which are available Luis

Miranda, the father of Lin Manuel, remembers that it almost looked like his son was born to perform, and it was almost impossible to stop him from doing what he loved and due to that when Miranda had his first recital, it was tough to stop him as he immediately fell in love with playing for the audience and receiving the applause after.

“His showmanship sometimes extended to his homework assignments: in place of a third-grade report on Jean Merrill's “The Pushcart War,” he submitted a short video in which he enlisted family members to reënact the book's events while he delivered a precocious narration in a newscaster's suit and tie” (Mead). Even though he was not taking the proper piano lessons for a very long time, when he stopped, he continued to

8 play the keyboard at home what contributed to the development of his creativity and talent. (Mead)

During his time in elementary school, he started to play in the musicals.

By sixth grade, he was performing in musicals. His school produced 20-minute

versions of six shows in one performance. He sang backup to Addaperle in “The

Wiz,” and played a cowhand in “Oklahoma!,” a son in “Fiddler,” Bernardo in

“West Side Story,” Captain Hook in “Peter Pan,” and Conrad Birdie in “Bye Bye

Birdie.” (Paulson, “Lin-Manuel…”)

Miranda used his for performing and devotion for musicals even during his wedding, where as a surprise for his newlywed wife he rehearsed a little musical performance of “To Life,” from . (Mead) This video became soon highly streamed on Youtube, where the current amount of views gets slightly over six million. (“To Life…”)

Although he has always loved the music, he claims that film making was his first true love. After seeing several movies with his parents, his interested in film making grew even more. When he went to study at Wesleyan, he studied both theatre and film in the beginning but although he really enjoyed film making he soon realized that even for financial reasons, what is a crucial aspect for a young artist who is only beginning his career, composing music and writing plays is easier during the school years what he confirmed in one interview. “Oh, you have to pay for your own student films, whereas the school gives you a budget if you want to put on a play” (Miranda and DiGiacomo).

The highs school years brought him his first experience of staring in the . A soon as Miranda unexpectedly got the role of the “Pirate King” in the production of The Pirates of Penzances it was clear that theatre is an area Miranda is

9 good at. Besides, Miranda himself claims that the applause he got after the show was his most cherished applause he ever received. Moreover, during his high school years,

Miranda met influential people from the music industry who would later influence his future career, “As a high school student, he met when the composer- lyricist spoke at Hunter; now Mr. Miranda sends him unfinished work for feedback”

(Paulson, “Lin-Manuel…”). The interviews with Sondheim were very beneficial for

Miranda as it was the first time when he saw how the music is really made. (Mead)

“And he is particularly close with , the 88-year-old composer who collaborated with Fred Ebb on works including and ” (Paulson, “Lin-

Manuel…”). As being still only a teenager, he looked up to those people, and they inspired him in many ways.

A momentous milestone was seeing the musical in 1997 on Broadway, as it was a realization for Miranda in the means that it is also possible to write a musical about nowadays and it demonstrated that it might work well. Miranda said that seeing this musical felt to him as if it permitted him to start writing musicals. (Mead) He describes it as “a revelation — that you could write about now, and you could have musicals that felt contemporary” (Paulson, “Lin-Manuel…”). Soon he created a short twenty minutes musical piece for the school event. It was called Nightmare in D Major.

It was not the only musical piece he created during his school years. Another of his first creations was the musical called Seven Minutes in Heaven. (Mead)

Miranda's first significant musical called In the Heights was written during his studies at Wesleyan. It is a musical based on hip-hop and Latino music. (Binelli) “One week after he graduated, he met with a fellow Wesleyan alum, Thomas Kail, who had read the script and listened to a recording of In the Heights and thought it had promise”

(Paulson, “Lin-Manuel…”). Due to its success In the Heights was later expended to the

10 west end, London, where its local production was awarded with Olivier Award.

(“Olivier awards…”) Not only it succeeded in London, yet it also won several in the US including one for the best musical and that to put it in another way proved that Miranda owned the ability to write a musical with Broadway potential even before Hamilton. In both In the Heights and Hamilton, the main character was played by Miranda himself. (“2008 Tony Award…”) That is to say; it seems that the strategy of writing the role for himself in the way he prefers is successful as both musicals received positive reviews. It can be arguably a successful strategy as in hip-hop there is usually a connection between the singer and the story in the song.

3. How was Hamilton put into existence

The following chapter is going to describe in detail the process of creating

Hamilton and its way to Broadway.

Firstly, it took a long time to create this musical and produce it. Moreover, the first idea was not even to create a musical but only a hip-hop concept album which would be based on the life story of . This idea was at first taken as a drunken joke by Jeremy McCarter. Nevertheless, it was a serious idea which soon started to be implemented. The condition which contributed to the result when McCarter eventually supported the idea is the fact that McCarter himself is a big supporter of hip- hop.

When Lin's first show, In the Heights, had its Off-Broadway premiere in 2007, I

was the drama critic at New York Magazine, where I had repeatedly argued for

the enormous but neglected possibilities of hip-hop in theatre. (“Hip-hop can

save the theatre”; began one of those essays, “I am not kidding.”) (Miranda and

McCarter 13)

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Although there have been some hip-hop musicals created even before Hamilton,

McCarter does not consider them as the significant ones.

Heights had made me sit up in my aisle seat: Here's the guy. Lin's show about

immigrants in Upper Manhattan fused salsa, hip-hop, and traditional Broadway

ballads to make something old and new, familiar and surprising. Best of all, he

made the leap that virtually nobody else had made, using hip-hop to tell a story

that had nothing to do with hip-hop - using it as form, not content. (Miranda and

McCarter 10)

As McCarter started to work in the Public Theatre, he was asked by his boss to suggest some new artists who could perform in the theatre. Eventually, the meeting was arranged for Miranda. Since that moment it was clear that the previous idea of Hamilton being only an album is deceased. Instead, Hamilton was agreed to become a staged musical, developed at the Public Theatre.

The turning point for Hamilton happened when Miranda was asked to perform at an event hosted by the White House: An Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken

Word. Even though a song from In the Heights was expected to be performed and close the whole evening program, Miranda decided to take the risk and perform a song from

Hamilton instead for the first time in public. “I am, actually working on a hip-hop album - a concept album - about the life of somebody who embodies hip-hop,” he said.

“Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton” (Miranda and McCarter 14,15). Great curiosity was caused by this introductory speech in the audience.

The video recording of his White House performance was soon published on

YouTube. Clearly, Miranda was looking very nervous when he got on the stage, yet he seemed to be enthusiastic. When he introduced his performance, most of the people in

12 the room started to laugh, but it took him only a few seconds to get the audience excited and after he finished the song, the American president at that time, Barack Obama, seemed to be the first person standing up and giving Miranda a standing ovation joined later by other people in the room. (“Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs …”)

Since that moment, it took six years to create the full show which opened on

Broadway on August 6, 2015. It can be said that the story of how Miranda got the idea to create Hamilton is notoriously known by now to its fans. He brought the autobiography of Alexander Hamilton written by to his vacation in

Mexico, and he got so fascinated and inspired by it that he decided to create the album.

However, McCarter mentions in the official Hamilton book that he and Miranda realized, that they had the first conversation about Hamilton even before Miranda's holidays. This contributed to the realization that Miranda must have read from the book right after he bought it and this was enough for him to commence the idea itself and identify it as . (Miranda and McCarter 11)

Even though after the White house performance some considerable moves would be expected, for quite a long time there was no news about The Hamilton

Mixtape as Miranda was engaged in many other projects. Importantly, in June 2011

Miranda was asked to perform at the annual benefit of Ars Nova. The situation was eventually very similar to the White House performance, and a second song called “My

Shot” from The Hamilton Mixtape was introduced and performed during that evening.

“My Shot” is, in the lingo of musical theatre, an “I want” song. These are the

numbers that appear early in a show when the hero steps downstage and tells the

audience about the fierce desire that will propel the plot. Think of West Side

Story, when Tony sings “Somethings Coming,” or My Fair Lady, when Eliza

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sings “Wouldn´t It Be Loverly?” Without a song like this, you wouldn't get very

far in a musical. A character needs to want something pretty badly to sing about

it for two and half hours.” Miranda said. (Miranda and McCarter 21)

It took Miranda one year to write that song to be sure that everything fits as intended. It was clear after the performance the audience could not hide its excitement when they heard the song for the first time. The theatre director Tommy Kail adviced Miranda that he should really start working on that project properly and take it seriously as he was well aware of the potential the show had. (Miranda and McCarter 21) Since that moment the collaboration between Kail and Miranda has started, Miranda was writing materials for the musical and sending it to Kail for the feedback. In several months other several songs from Hamilton were released and performed at a prestige American

Songbook concert series at the Lincoln Centre. “Lincoln Center had offered them the

Allen Room on the night of January 11- Alexander Hamilton's birthday” (Miranda and

McCarter 22). Although it put massive pressure on Miranda as he had to get ready several songs in the best possible version in such a short time, it was an offer they could not refuse.

Undoubtedly this concert was only a confirmation that Hamilton has the

Broadway potential. (Miranda and McCarter 47) More importantly, Hamilton already managed to get a positive critic. “Is The Hamilton Mixtape, from 12 numbers were performed, a future Broadway musical? A concept album? A multimedia extravaganza in search of a platform: Does it even matters? What it is, is hot” (Miranda and McCarter

46). That is what Stephen Holden stated in his review for The New York Times.

Subsequently, Hamilton got its producer. After seeing the concert, Jeffrey Steller recognized immediately that this is a Broadway show, not just a concept album, so he offered Miranda to produce the musical. (Miranda and McCarter 46,47)

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It was essential to find a place where Hamilton could be rehearsed and later performed. It was agreed by the most important people behind the musical that for a musical with such specific hip-hop music, New York would be the best city possible.

After thinking about different possibilities and visiting different places, The Public

Theatre appeared to be the best choice. (Miranda and McCarter 102) The Public's artistic director Oskar Eustis was another person astonished by Miranda's creation.

“Oskar liked Lin as soon as they met, and his reaction to the half-dozen demo recordings that Lin sent afterwards was immediate and fierce” (Miranda and McCarter

103). Hamilton was scheduled for the 2014-´15 season. Although it was precisely what

Miranda wanted it also put significant pressure on him as he had only one year to finish the writing of the whole show and make it stage ready. (Miranda and McCarter 103)

To end this chapter, two out of many comments on Hamilton as the musical itself and on Lin-Manuel Miranda follow and summarize the excitement of people about the show as well as about the author.

“If you can marry politics, government need and the arts, Hamilton is the perfect scenario for that to happen,” said Prats, who is planning a run for governor in 2020. A die-hard Hamilton fan, Prats sees much to savor, and learn from, in the story of a

Caribbean-born immigrant who helped lead colonies to financial independence”

(Marks).

“I'm going to quote a line from the show,” he said. “­ ‘Raise a glass to the four of us; tomorrow there'll be more of us.’ We raise a glass to Lin-Manuel and hope that tomorrow, there'll be more of him” (Marks).

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4. Aspects that make Hamilton different

In this chapter, it is going to be discussed what differs Hamilton from most

Broadway shows and what is it that makes it exclusive. Four individual and detailed subchapters about the specific cast of Hamilton, its music and unique interaction with fans are included as well as a subchapter about the appearance of Hamilton beyond

Broadway and its controversial consequences.

The hype about Hamilton was mentioned already several times in this work.

Still, it is essential to discuss why is the show so remarkable. The first lady of America at that time, Michelle Obama was not afraid to call Hamilton the “best piece of art in any form that I have ever seen” (Piepenburg). Those are some powerful words from somebody as the first lady. (Piepenburg) With no doubts, there has to be something about this musical considering the number of awards it received.

Hamilton won 11 Tony Awards, including the best musical, as well as the

Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Grammy Award for best musical theatre album.

Other awards include the Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American

History and the George Washington Book Prize. Mr Miranda received a “genius

grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (Piepenburg)

It is essential to state that in the whole Broadway history, no show was ever nominated for so many Tony awards as Hamilton, which was nominated for 16 of them. (Paulson,

“Hamilton makes…”)

4.1. The cast of Hamilton

Watching the performance, it would be hard not to notice that the majority of the cast are people of color what is a bizarre position for Broadway.

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Perhaps the biggest testament to the force of Hamilton is how easily audiences

acclimate to its color-blind casting, accepting a Latino Alexander Hamilton, a

black George Washington, a Thomas Jefferson who swaggers like the Time's

Morris Day, sings like Cab Calloway and drawls like a Dirty South trap-rapper.

(Rosen) All the major parts are played by young people of colour (George III

and the Tories are played by white actors). The diverse ensemble includes

Latinos, African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans and Asian Americans, a cast that

looks like today's, young urban America: “Just like my country”, Hamilton raps,

“I'm young, scrappy and hungry!” (Kasinitz, “Immigrants!...”)

Importantly this decision was made with a hidden purpose as Miranda said in the interview for The New York Times “the show reflects what America looks like now”

(Rosen). “It's a way of pulling you into the story and allowing you to leave whatever cultural baggage you have about the founding fathers at the door” (Piepenburg).

However, at first Row Chernow, the author of the biography Hamilton is based on and later Miranda's historical consultant was not very supportive of the idea. Moreover, after being invited to the small rehearsal of Hamilton, he was disturbed when he saw only black and Latino actors in front of him. He did not believe this could ever work and be approved by the audience. (Rosen)

When this is over, I need to sit down and talk to Lin-Manuel alone. We're

talking about the founding fathers of the United States.” But after a minute or

two I started to listen and forgot the color or ethnicity of these astonishingly

talented young performers. Within five minutes, I became a militant on the

subject of color-blind casting. (Rosen)

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After seeing the performance and thinking of it more in deep, he realized that the black and Latino cast fits perfectly to the show and that both of those components are inseparable.

The miracle of the play is that it shows us who we were as a nation but also who

we are now. This young, multiracial cast has a special feeling for the passion,

urgency and idealism of the American Revolution, which maybe shouldn't

surprise us. Our history is the saga of outsiders becoming insiders — of the

marginal and dispossessed being welcomed as citizens. Commented Chernow.

(Rosen)

It is crucial to emphasize this topic since people of all ethnicities should be respected equally and Broadway is still visibly stereotyped and discriminating people of color.

It should be said that this topic got controversial as in this century, questions about racism and discrimination are argued and discussed frequently. After the first shock what was finding out that all the Founding Fathers are played by people of color when the opening of the show in London was approaching, the controversy about the casting was probably on its most significant rise. The director of Hamilton, Thomas

Kail confirmed that mostly people of color are supposed to be cast for the roles in the show in London. “We never imagined casting the show in any other way-never for one second” (Ellis-Petersen). Especially in the traditional and conservative Britain, where everything that is done abnormally compared to what people are used to is controversial, this situation got much attention. It is prevalent in Britain that actors and singers with other than white ethnicity are cast for the important roles only very rarely.

By dwelling on the mainly BAME cast, “Hamilton makes a powerful statement” (Ellis-

Petersen).

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The producers and Miranda himself are not planning to hesitate with their opinion. At the beginning of 2019, it was publicly announced that Hamilton is planning to expand its cast and will be casting new people to join the show who will be able to join the show later this year. “While artists of all ethnicities will be considered for the production, it is an intrinsic requirement of the show for the majority of the to reflect a range of BAME backgrounds” (Paskett). That is the full statement written on the official promoting flayer.

Although it may seem inequitable that most of the singers of a white ethnicity will not be able to play a role in Hamilton, it is essential to remember that most of the time it is the other way around, so Hamilton is the chance for people of color to perform on the Broadway stage and prove everybody that there is no reason why they could not play the traditional prominent roles. In the 21st century it is time to change those close- minded opinions, leave the old stereotypes and be open to new possibilities.

4.2. Hip-Hop music

The creation of the musicals, in general, was influenced by other music forms coming from Europe such as opera or operetta and they can be considered to be the ancestors of modern musicals. The traditional Broadway musicals were often based on music styles such as and jazz. (Kasinitz, “Immigrants!...”)

Of course, the early musical theatre composers were not writing “Jazz” in the

contemporary sense of the word. They were largely white artists writing for

white audiences. Even the handful of African Americans among them (Eubie

Blake and Nobel Sissle most notably) were not presenting the type of music that

African American performers were creating for Black audiences. (Kasinitz,

“Immigrants!...”)

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Hip-hop music is not something that would be considered as a traditional music style for Broadway. “Like Broadway in the 1920s (but unlike Broadway today), Hip Hop is a new form, with high risks and high rewards, open to innovation with few structural barriers to entry” (Kasinitz, “Immigrants!...”). Hamilton is certainly not the first hip-hop performance; however, it is probably the most significant one.

The show is often mentioned and getting accolades mainly for bringing rap music to Broadway; however, that is not what exactly caused the success of the show, nor it is the reason of the importance of this musical.

It's not as if hip-hop has never seen the light of the Broadway stage before.

Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam enjoyed a six-month run as many as a dozen

years ago. Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk joined rap to the tradition of tap

even earlier. ­Miranda's own In the Heights (with the book by Quiaria Alegría

Hudes) fused plenty of rap with the show's Latin rhythms. Beyond Broadway,

works like Will Power's Flow and Rennie Harris's Rome and Jewels go back

more than a decade, and a hip-hop theater festival with national scope has been

thriving since 2000. (Solomon)

Hamilton should not be reflected only as a rap musical, as even though rap is a huge part of the written music, other music styles can be found there as well. The rap part is only getting so much recognition and attention as it is not the usual Broadway stereotype. “The score, which incorporates R&B and jazz in a sinuous flow that artfully makes use of Broadway songwriting paradigms without Broadway-izing the sound, isn't the only modernizing force” (McNulty). Commented the Times theatre critic McNulty “More than the rap element alone, what's actually exciting the multitudes

(or at least the reviewers) is the way rap has been so smoothly incorporated into an old,

20 beloved form. Like any great innovator, Miranda has grafted fresh branches onto a stable trunk, not hacked down the tree” (Solomon). It can be said that success is not provided by using rap/hip-hop music, yet it is the combination of different music styles and their modern versions.

The traditional elements of Broadway musical are still kept in Hamilton. The whole show is opened by the powerful song “My Shot” which sets the mood and establish the topic of the whole show moreover it works as a traditional “I want song” as it was already mentioned. Even though the main plot is about politics and legacy still there is enough space for a complicated love story, which continues through the whole musical. Another traditional Broadway element included in the show is that the most important parts are often repeated during the show. “Hamilton's assertion that “I am not throwing away my shot” is repeated several times, eventually turning from a vow to make the most of every opportunity to an ironic comment on his final gesture in the duel with Burr” (Solomon). Those examples prove that not all aspects of Hamilton are revolutionary as it is still crucial to preserve some Broadway standards.

Hip-hop resembles many aspects. It blends modern music, the specific way of telling a story with music, and also it helps to attract the younger audience to Broadway.

In recent years Hip Hop and with it the second-generation experience has found

its way to musical theatre. This has helped to revitalize the musical genre and

opened it to new audiences. As in the past, the works created by the children of

migrants, simultaneously insiders and outsiders, have been self-consciously

American while reimagining the “American” story and making it very much

their own. This work blends hip hop and other contemporary musical forms with

older Broadway musical traditions. In the process, a new generation of ethnic

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outsiders has reimagined a quintessentially “American” story. (Kasinitz,

“Immigrants!...”)

Stephen Sondheim, an influential and significant American composer and lyricists, commented that

Hamilton is a breakthrough, but it doesn't exactly introduce a new era. Nothing

introduces an era. What it does is empower people to think differently. There's

always got to be an innovator, somebody who experiments first with new forms.

The minute something is a success, everybody imitates it. It's what happened

with Oklahoma; everybody immediately started to write bad Western musicals.

(Rosen)

The members of the influential American hip-hop band called also felt the potential of the hip-hop musical piece Miranda was working on and eventually the musical was co-executive produced by two members of this group. (Rys) “As an artist, it's rare that you get the opportunity, you know to kind of get in on something before the rest of the world, and once we saw it, it was kinda thing we knew it was gonna go, with or without us” (“Hamilton Collaborators…”). Commented Tariq “”

Trotter on Hamilton. In general, “Black Thought was reviewing Hamilton positively since the beginning. He did appreciate that although the music is rapped and most of the time quick, it is still not difficult to follow the story. (Rosen) “This is like definitely one of the first authentic hip-hop hit approved project I've ever seen in this part of

Broadway. Just to be associated with it is amazing” (“Hamilton Collaborators…”). Said

“ “ in an interview. Despite this, he had some doubts about the musical at the very beginning.

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Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson did not have high expectations about the new hip-hop/rap musical which should be soon debuted on Broadway.

I've been brought into two or three other meetings for potential projects, where

everyone's like, “Let's be the first hip-hop musical on Broadway!” And it just

wasn't happening. I saw the beating that the Tupac musical, Holler If Ya Hear

Me, took. So when it came to Hamilton, I thought, “I'm just not into rap and

spirit fingers. I'll see it, but it won't move me.” And, Jesus, was I wrong.”

(Rosen).

After watching the show and for his surprise being swept by it he admitted that Miranda knows hip-hop and knows the right way how to use it in the way that will leave the audience amazed.

He also added in the interview that even though Miranda is using the obscured references from the rap from the 1994-2002 era, it does not mind if the listeners are not familiar with those references, from his point of view the music and lyrics will still make sense them because Hamilton is multilevel. (Rosen) Moreover, Thompson was that excited after seeing the musical that he decided to co-produce a new cast album, which earned massive success by now, and which features covers of the Hamilton songs sang by different artists and different interpretation. (Binelli)

The cast album was reviewed several times, and for instance, Britanny Spanos gave the album rating 4.5/5 stars and emphasized all the different music styles and modern references which can be found in the music.

Miranda's music and lyrics smoothly fuse Nineties hip-hop, girl-group R&B and

more into classic theatrical forms, and dramatic highlights like “My Shot” and “Stay

Alive” are as stirring on record as they are onstage. Act One stunner “Satisfied”

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might be Miranda's finest moment, with co-star Renee Elise Goldsberr dipping in

and out of Nicki Minaj-style rhymes and Berna-dette Peters-y vocal runs in a

heartbreaking performance as Hamilton's sister-in-law Angelica Schuyler. Tickets to

the show may be sold out until approximately forever, but this album is an excellent

replacement. (Spanos)

4.3. The exceptional interaction with fans

With no doubts, Hamilton was created in the time when social media were on the rise. There are many platforms nowadays where personal opinions can be shared, and it is possible to communicate with people from all over the world. Therefore it is a reliable platform for marketing and promoting. “What started as just a fun way for the

Hamilton cast to entertain the crowds of people waiting outside the

Theatre to enter the Ham4Ham ticket lottery, has turned into a remarkable platform to celebrate the talent and community of Broadway with fans worldwide” (Ham4Ham).

This demonstrates that the concept of Hamilton called Ham4Ham did not start initially with the aim to become so attractive.

The Ham4Ham ticket lottery was made with the purpose to make the show more accessible for some people as at the very beginning of the show, the tickets very mostly sold out and sometimes it was almost impossible to get a ticket for the show. Either the tickets were too expensive or sold out. Hence the ticket lottery was created and now for years for almost every show there is a limited number of tickets for a special price of only 10 dollars. (Gorry-Hines) The similar version of a ticket lottery could have been seen already when the musical Rent was on Broadway, and the price of the tickets was also not accessible to everybody. (Wickman)

24

With many shows adopting mobile lottery systems, theatre fans are lamenting

the decline of rush policies. Rushing shows, standing outside the box office for

hours in the early morning with a bunch of other broke college kids and theatre

fans, is all part of an experience, and although some shows still use this system,

many of the most popular shows do not. Miranda, however, has made the

“Ham4Ham” lottery its own experience by performing for lottery hopefuls

alongside other cast members and surprise guests from shows like Fun

Home and Les Mis. (Gorry-Hines)

What started as a ticket lottery created a whole new project, which was altogether unique to the Broadway nature. A new way of how to win the favour of the supporters as well as make it accessible was found. “Broadway is expensive! If you were to create the median Broadway theatergoer, it's a white lady between 45 and 55 years old who has an average income of $250,000 a year. That's who can afford tickets – which is why

I'm proud that we also have cheap tickets” (Vozick-Levinson). Nowadays Broadway is still not affordable for the majority of people, not only Miranda realized this problem, more importantly, he tries to provide a solution and change this another Broadway stereotype which makes the performances accessible mostly to a limited group of people.

This also differs Hamilton from other Broadway shows. On the 15th July 2015,

Miranda started a whole new “show” which carries the Ham4Ham name too. Before the show, he stepped out in front of the fans, made a short speech and also made the first ever individual performance. For a traditional Broadway and its standards, it can be said that this was an unexpected step which proves that Miranda's aim is not only the fame, the money raised from the musical and the popularity. It should be taken as proof of how genuinely he cares about his audience. Knowing that the performance is sold out,

25 he decided to do a completely different show in front of the theatre to please the supporters who were not able to attend the show.

Another critical thing to remember is that every single performance he did was diverse. That said it was impossible to guess what kind the performance will be. It could be a music number, reading poetry, some amusing theatre scene, a scene from a

Hamilton which could just be alternated to an entertaining one. Miranda usually did not step in front of the theatre alone. Most times he was joined by other performers and sometimes he was not even there as when for example all the actors who regularly play

The King George lip-synced the song from Hamilton called “”.

This idea of those pre-shows got a surprising amount of attention in a short time.

Therefore, people were coming to see those short performances on purpose, and soon they became viral on platforms such as Youtube, where they are available even nowadays. (Wickman) One of the unusual aspects of Hamilton is that this show does not need to be much promoted. Taking into consideration all the circumstances around the time when Hamilton was still in creation, people could not wait to see, what is this new creation of rapping Founding Fathers about.

Hamilton doesn't need viral marketing—the show sold $27.6 million in tickets

before it even opened, and nearly every performance is sold out through May.

It's true that the videos, which often spread quickly on social media, where some

have been viewed more than 100,000 times, may be moving copies of the cast

album: Though it came out more than a month ago, this week it hits No. 1 on

Billboard's rap albums chart for the first time. (Wickman)

This unique connection with followers can be considered as another revolutionary thing completed by Hamilton in particular Lin-Manuel Miranda himself. The actors do not

26 put themselves on the pedestal. They all seem to be humble proving people that they are still normal human beings who are not afraid to make fun of themselves or embarrassed themselves while doing, for instance, those Ham4Ham performances. In the musical,

Philipa Soo, the actress starring as Eliza Hamilton, is a very sophisticated woman, playing one of the most influential and most inspiring role of the whole musical and yet she is willing to step out of the crowd and beatbox or sing famous Beyoncé song in front of hundreds of people.

Undoubtedly the Ham4Ham production contributed to Hamilton to step out of being only another unnoticed musical in the row. Hamilton creates a community which is not only about the musical itself. It makes it about the people moreover it connects people. When the Ham4Ham show started to be a legitimate concept, both the followers and the performers wanted the performances to be recorded for memories and also to share it on the social media so people from the whole world could see it. Through the time there was even a man who was coming to all the performances regularly because he worked nearby the theatre and he always made sure that he recorded the content in good quality.

Sherman emphasized to me that he has “no connection to the show whatsoever,”

and only participates because “I love theatre,” but that doesn’t mean he doesn't

take his role seriously. (“I can't start cheering or clapping,” he notes, “because it

ruins the video.”) When he can't make a #Ham4Ham, he’ll check with another

unofficial volunteer, Laura Heywood, aka @BroadwayGirlNYC, to try and

make sure someone will be there to capture the performance. Theatre has always

been known for building a sense of community, but Hamilton is showing how to

build the same kind of community both online and IRL, between fans and

performers alike. (Wickman)

27

The Ham4Ham project did not end up only as a live show performance, but also many videos were made under this hashtag and posted on Youtube. The content of those videos is very similar to the live performances in front of the theatre.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is also well-known for being a massive fan of Twitter.

Regularly he is sharing a post in the morning when he suggests a topic which is currently on his mind and most of the times he concludes the day with a post in the evening. Miranda himself says that for him it is his reminder of things he would like to remember or accomplish, but his followers love it so much that the idea to create a book from his tweets was implemented. (Chan)

It is not surprising that he was sharing his thoughts even during the process of writing Hamilton. He offered his fans a unique chance to see a bit from the background of the show. It is an exciting thought that maybe some comments or idea of the fans reacting to his tweets may have influenced the creating process.

In general, many interesting thoughts of the author which he had during his writing can be found there. It also allows the reader to see how far Miranda got and where everything began. He was always updating his fans about what is currently happening and of course as the fame of Hamilton was growing the number of his regular followers was growing as well. He managed to build a substantial audience even before the whole musical had its premiere. He maintained to make everybody so excited that people could not wait to hear some news from the author himself. Miranda also used the Twitter platform to announce where and when it is possible to see some exclusive performances from the show. “I am testing a NEW Hamilton song tonight, at the Ars Nova Fundraiser. No Cameras. Only way to hear it is to go” („HamHistory…”).

Moreover, following quick research on YouTube, the recording from that night is not

28 available what means that the guests did honour the authors demand to make this performance exclusive only for those who came that evening.

Through his Twitter posts, Miranda is getting into a closer relationship with his audience. He is never putting himself on the pedestal, he seems to be a humble person considering what he accomplished and that is what people appreciate as they can see even though he is a music genius who is friend with the American president, he is still an ordinary human being who is looking for his own stuff all the time what is something people can rely to. “I have about 5 Moleskines in rotation in every coat pocket and bag, they all have scrawled Hamilton lyrics, and I can't find the one I need”

(“HamHistory…”). Another thing he is well-known for is his never-ending sense of humour. “I think Lafayette wants to rap in French now. I have to go learn some French.

Damnit, Lafayette #Hamilton” (“HamHistory…”). When all of those factors are combined together, it makes a strong content, even though it is just short posts on social media, they make the people to come back to see the news or to have fun and later surely lot of those people will come to the theatre to see the show. For them it is not just some new Broadway show, it is the show they were waiting for years and thanks to

Miranda's posts they feel they were a part of the creating process.

4.4. Hamilton beyond Broadway, the political controversy and charity work

Although it may sound absurd, Hamilton got included into a controversial political “Twitter war”. The whole controversy started on November 18th 2016 when the

Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to see the show with his family. As the result of knowing that Pence is in the audience Lin- Manuel Miranda used to opportunity to express his own political opinions and fears about the current political situation (Trump administration) in America. (Kasinitz, “Hamilton: Diverse…”) “The cast used the

29 opportunity to make a statement emphasizing the need for the new administration of

President-elect Donald J. Trump, a Republican, to work on behalf of all Americans”

(Mele and Healy). It does not often happen for Broadway show to get involved so deeply in a politic affair, moreover to cause such a strong reaction which only proves the vast influence which Hamilton and mainly Miranda have as it provoked a reaction from an important and mighty person as Trump is.

The short note was delivered to Pence by Brandon Victor Dixon, who stars in the show as . (Kasinitz, “Hamilton: Diverse…”) The note was read by Dixon in front of the whole theatre. “We sir – we – are diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us” (Mele and Healy). From the available video record, it is visible, that the audience was not afraid to show the enthusiastic applause and support to the note that was read. (Mele and Healy) At that time Pence was already leaving the show. However, a show spokesman stated that Pence did not leave completely, yet he stayed in the hallway outside and listened to the full speech. (Mele and Healy)

Pence never responded directly to the concerns raised and, perhaps unwilling to

get into a debate with a fictional character, diplomatically insisted that he had

not been offended by the remarks and that he had enjoyed the show and its

“talented” cast. Pence's boss showed no such restraint. Within hours he had

unleashed one of his famous Twitter rants, accusing the show's cast and

audience of “lecturing” and “harassing” the future Vice President, demanding an

apology and describing the most popular Broadway show in years, which he had

never seen, as “over rated.” (Kasinitz, “Hamilton: Diverse…”)

30

More tweets and counter-tweets appeared later, and the whole case went as far as calling to boycott the New York production of Hamilton. (Kasinitz, “Hamilton:

Diverse…”)

Trump stated in his tweets that theatre should always “be a safe and special place” (Mele and Healy). When theatre should remain a safe place, should it not also mean that there should be a freedom of speech? Although people mostly come to

Broadway and theatre for entertainment purposes, it is also a place where the community is created. Therefore, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail and Jeffrey Seller created that note and wanted people to hear it. For ordinary people, it was a unique chance to state their fears and opinions as not every day a person which such a prestige position listens to them.

We had to ask ourselves, how do we cope with this? Mr Seller said. Our cast

could barely go on stage the day after the election. The election was painful and

crushing to all of us here. We all struggled with what was appropriate and

respectful and proper response. We are honored that Mr Pence attended the

show, and we had to use this opportunity to express our feelings. (Mele and

Healy)

Considering all the aspects and events, it should not be surprising the cast decided to step out and make such speech. As it was already mentioned before, the whole show not only tells us one of the most significant American story. It also reflects what America looks like now. The diversity is highly emphasized and celebrated, and it also put attention on the reality where immigrants played a huge role in the America Revolution.

(Mele and Healy)

31

Those aspects and hidden meanings of Hamilton are contradictory to most of

Trump's opinions and ideology as he is known for very harsh comments about immigrants “that Mr Trump used during the campaign and his focus on appealing to white men with statements about returning America to "the good old days"” (Mele and

Healy).

As it was discussed already, Miranda's intention with the cast was to reflect

America in the way it looks nowadays. That includes immigrants, who create a massive part of the number of America's population. “Today immigrants and their children make up about a quarter of the American population. In New York City immigrants and their second-generation children are now the majority, and the children of immigrants outnumber the children of natives” (Kasinitz, ‘Immigrants!...”). Miranda's family are immigrants so he can identify himself with this topic and understand it well.

By being included in this affair, it was proved once again that Hamilton is not just an ordinary Broadway show yet it is a show which except of other aspects which make the show different and unique uses its power, reach and influence for referring to essential problems and considered the fact that this short innocent note made react even the current American president Donald Trump, it is clear that its power and purposes are much more profound than by other Broadway shows which only sticks to the role to entertain people.

The second time when Hamilton was used for purposes beyond Broadway was when Puerto Rico, the country of origin of Miranda's family was destroyed by the

Hurricane Maria. It is not something usual for the Broadway show to be brought to a country such as Puerto Rico is. Although there are many theatre-related charity

32 organizations, Hamilton outstands a lot of them as in this case the charity project was brought directly to the place where the help was needed. (Fierberg) Moreover,

Miranda's personal involvement and connection made it different as well.

When the plot of the musical and the life story of Alexander Hamilton is considered, it can be seen as an ironical situation as Alexander Hamilton was born in the Caribbean which was at that time also destroyed by a hurricane, moreover there is a whole song in the musical devoted to this unlucky event of a hurricane. (Schulman)

Miranda proved many times his character and humanity; therefore it was not surprising when he decided to get involved in the charity work and raise money which would help the people who often lost their homes. Not only he wrote a charity song on which many celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez collaborated, but also Miranda decided to involve the whole show in his charity project which helped to ear forty-three million dollars. Miranda left the official Broadway production of Hamilton in 2016. Being smart enough to know that the audience of Hamilton would highly appreciate to see him back in the role as well as that his persona will bring much attention to Puerto Rico, it was announced that Hamilton will be brought to Porto Rico and Lin-Manuel Miranda will be starring the leading role of the show Alexander Hamilton again.

It is necessary to mention that the ticket price range was wide. When the primary purpose of the show in Puerto Rico is considered - raising money- it was not expected that the Hamilton ticket lottery, which was mentioned in this thesis already, would also be brought there. However, it was. The limited number of tickets for ten dollars were provided to local people. “A thousand of the ten thousand lottery tickets were set aside for students” (Schulman). Other visitors to the show had to pay the price as height as

33 five thousand dollars. As much as the price may sound high, it cannot be forgotten that that money was benefiting the charity in this case Flamboyan Arts Fund.

In bringing Hamilton to Puerto Rico, Miranda called international attention to

the island's progress and also to its daunting obstacles. The island, in return,

projected both its hopes and its frustrations onto the show. On the morning of the

première, Miranda tweeted a message to Alexander Hamilton: “Happy birthday,

man. I have kind of a weird present for you this year.” But the gift was clearly

for Puerto Rico, delivered from the heart and received with ripples of excitement

and a degree of wariness. (Schulman)

Hamilton was planned to be brought to Puerto Rico already after it was opened on

Broadway. However, with the hurricane that happened meanwhile, the purpose of the show was changed to raising funds for charity and also to become a marketing attraction which would attract tourists to this place where they would be eventually spending money on the island and with that providing help to the local economic system.

(Pollack-Pelzner)

Although, bringing the show, which was by that time has been known worldwide, raising a significant amount of money to destroyed Puerto Rico, where people were forced to live for months without such things as electricity ended up with unwanted controversy. (Schulman) It was necessary to choose a place where Hamilton would be staged. The first idea was to stage the show at the theatre of The University of

Puerto Rico nonetheless the theatre was also partly destroyed by the hurricane. (Pollack-

Pelzner)

The money needed for the renovation was provided by “Hamilton” which donated more than a million dollars.

34

A university-employee association, facing slashed benefits, sent Miranda a letter

last November stating that demonstrations might occur if Hamilton were

performed on campus. Seller worried about security; police routinely patrolled

Hamilton events in New York, but they are restricted on the UPR campus (and

recently clashed violently with university protesters). (Pollack-Pelzner)

One of the university students María Rosa López decided to share her own opinion on the situation from the point of view of a local person who can provide the most significant insight on the whole situation.

It's complicated,” she said, of the Hamilton drama. “They should have consulted

at least with the students,” she said. “The government is saying it's the workers'

union's fault. They didn't want a protest here, so they moved the play. But they

weren't going to protest. It was just an excuse. The government wants to close

the university down. They don't want people to get educated.” (Schulman)

Despite this, Hamilton was staged at a new place Bellas Artes, a government theatre.

However, this step only supported the already raising controversy. Puerto Rico as a country is currently highly in debt. (70 billion dollars). “In 2016, the U.S. Congress created an oversight board to essentially take control of the island's finances and renegotiate the debt. This law was called Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and

Economic Stability Act or PROMESA” (Florido).

It should be made clear that when there was the discussion about this idea, both

Miranda and his father showed support to this plan even though Luis Miranda currently claims he does not agree with the moves which are made. PROMESA resonates with the inhabitants of Puerto Rico negatively as a kind of colonialism, so eventually, people realized the irony between the plot of Hamilton which responses to colonialism and the

35 current situation in their country. People felt offended that Miranda was too afraid to risk performing at the university and instead preferred the fine art center. They tried to make clear that there were some strikes only as the government did economical restriction which affected the university and that Miranda was blinded by the government to see the reality differently. (Florido)

Musicals are intended to mainly entertain people. Nevertheless, Miranda intended to give it also a more purposeful meaning. While the intentions were nothing than positive, the realization was a bit unlucky after connecting the show to the government. On the contrary, the purpose of this project was fulfilled, and the show was expected to earn 15 million dollars which were intended for the arts organizations on the island. (Pollack-Pelzner)

“The power of Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Hamilton” to arouse curiosity and compel attention, four years after the show came into being, seems a phenomenon unparalleled in the annals of Broadway” (Marks).

36

5. Conclusion

This thesis aimed to discuss whether the massive success of Hamilton is caused by its originality and revolutionary aspects or its great marketing strategies. One of the crucial aspects which is often marked as revolutionary and about which this thesis argued is whether the hip-hop and rap music are indeed that innovative on Broadway. In conclusion, it should be said that the music is not as revolutionary in the meaning that rap and hip-hop would never be seen on Broadway before. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that Hamilton is the most significant hip-hop musical produced on Broadway so far. However, what is revolutionary about the music is the way the music is written.

The author of the show Lin-Manuel Miranda proved that he knows how to write hip- hop music which is mixed with other contemporary music styles and which quickly leaves the audience amazed. Due to this, it can be said that Broadway is revitalized by

Hamilton as it attracts a much younger audience to Broadway than the usual average is.

The present findings confirm that the color-blind cast of the show is something revolutionary especially for Broadway where the actors and singers with other than the white ethnicity are rarely cast. Not only Miranda brought the attention to this problematics, but also he explained the meaning behind this decision as in his opinion it reflects the current situation in the US where different ethnicities can be found. In addition to that this decision probably also helped the show with its success as the music styles in this show comes mostly from the background of people of color so if the cast was not cast as it is maybe the harmony in between the singers and the music would not blend so well together. However, this decision also brought controversy to the show which can also be seen as a marketing strategy as people are naturally curious to see something new mainly when the topic was discussed often in the newspapers.

37

Undoubtedly what can also be considered as revolutionary is the reach Hamilton has beyond Broadway. It is not usual for a Broadway show to be involved in the political affairs which as it was described in this thesis in details happened twice to

Hamilton. Those examples only proved the strong impact Hamilton has even beyond

Broadway and that it is not only a show with a purpose to entertain people yet the show can be used as a tool to raise money for charity or to reflect the current political situation and give people their voice.

The unique marketing strategies, which firstly probably was not even used with the marketing intentions undoubtedly had an impact on the popularity of the show. It is not every day that the at that time the president of the US himself would pay so much attention to a Broadway show, promote it loudly and even invite the cast of the show several times to the White House. That was undoubtedly one of the best promotion

Hamilton could ever get. Nonetheless, the whole concept of Ham4ham discussed in this thesis as well as Miranda communicating with his fans daily was assuredly also the critical factors which contributed to the popularity of the show.

In conclusion, it would appear that it is the combination of all the aspects that makes the show so prosperous even years after it was introduced. The quality of the show was proved mainly by the number of prestigious awards the show received and also by the reality that the show holds its success for so long where even nowadays the tickets are often sold out, and the hype about the show continues. The marketing behind this show seems to be so natural that it is probably perceived positively by the people.

Undoubtedly Hamilton brought the Broadway world some revolutionary aspects, yet it is essential to mention that more than those are hidden behind the phenomenon of which

Hamilton has become over the years.

38

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revolutionizing-the-broadway-musical/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2019

Spanos, Brittany. “‘Hamilton’ Soars From Broadway to Your Speakers.” Rolling Stone,

no. 1246, Oct. 2015, p. 64. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=110330920&lang=

cs. Accessed 17 Apr. 2019

“To Life: Vanessa's Wedding Surprise.” YouTube, uploaded by Usnavi, choreography

by Sara Miller, studio by Andy Blankenbuehler, filming by Films by Francesco,

song by and , 8.Sept. 2010,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZ4ZTTfKO8. Accessed 15 Mar. 2019

Vozick-Levinson, Simon. “Revolution on Broadway: Inside Hip-Hop History Musical

‘Hamilton’.” Rolling Stone, 6 Aug. 2015, www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-

features/revolution-on-broadway-inside-hip-hop-history-musical-hamilton-

74059/. Accessed 10 Mar 2019

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Wickman, Forrest. „The Show Is Nonstop.” Slate, 24 Nov. 2015,

slate.com/culture/2015/11/ham4ham-lin-manuel-miranda-and-the-cast-of-

hamilton-reward-ticket-lottery-entrants-with-free-shows.html. Accessed 6 Apr.

2019

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6. Summary

This Bachelor thesis is focused on Hamilton: An American musical, a current

Broadway show written by Lin-Manuel Miranda which is telling the story of American

Founding Fathers through modern music which is combining hip-hop, rap and other contemporary music styles. In particular, this thesis argues whether the aspects which make the show different from other Broadway musicals are revolutionary or not and whether the show gained its popularity and success due to its quality and uniqueness or the unique marketing strategies.

The first chapter of this thesis introduced the author of the musical Lin-Manuel

Miranda and described his life and career with the aim to better understand the musical and its background as both Miranda's life and career had the impact on the way how

Hamilton was created.

The second chapter discussed the story about the whole process of how

Hamilton was created. Firstly, the songs should have only created a hip-hop concept album yet thanks to many lucky coincidences it ended up being a full production musical staged on Broadway.

The third chapter consists of four subchapters which in detail discusses the aspects which differ Hamilton from other successful Broadway musicals. Topics such as the colour-blind cast of Hamilton, the hip-hop/rap music, the exceptional interaction with fans and the affairs of Hamilton beyond Broadway are included in those subchapters.

Finally, the conclusion summaries the whole thesis as well as provides the final statement which claims that some revolutionary aspects can be found in the show, however, the complete success of the show consists of several factors which were

45 luckily combined at the right moment and created this nowadays Broadway phenomenon.

7. Resumé

Tato bakalářská práce se zaměřuje na muzikál zvaný Hamilton: An American

Musical, který už po dobu několika let dominuje místu, jakým je Broadway. Muzikál, jenž napsal Lin-Manuel Miranda vypráví příběh z americké historie, avšak je pojatý v moderním stylu.

Hlavním cílem této práce je pokusit se dokázat, zda aspekty, které toto představení odlišují od ostatních muzikálů na Broadwayi jsou skutečně tak revoluční a také, zda se tento muzikál stal natolik populární díky jeho kvalitě a jedinečnosti nebo tomu dopomohly neobvyklé marketingové strategie.

První kapitola této práce představuje autora celého projektu, jímž je Lin-Manuel

Miranda. Zároveň popisuje jeho život a kariéru, což by mělo dopomoci k lepšímu porozumění muzikálu i jeho zákulisí a vzniku, jelikož obě hlediska měla vliv na to, v jaké podobě byl Hamilton vytvořen.

Druhá kapitola rozebírá proces vzniku celého muzikálu. Prvotním nápadem bylo vydat pouze hip-hopové koncepční album. Díky několika šťastným náhodám však v závěru vznikl celý muzikál, jenž si nakonec zasloužil své místo i na Broadwayi.

Třetí kapitola se skládá ze čtyř podkapitol, které pojednávají o aspektech, jimiž se Hamilton vyjímá a liší od ostatních současných amerických muzikálů. V těchto podkapitolách jsou rozebírána témata jako například specifické herecké obsazení, samotná hudba, která je napsaná ve stylu hip-hopu a dalších současných hudebních stylů. Také rozebírá neobvyklou interakci s příznivci představení stejně tak jako působení muzikálu za hranicemi Broadwaye.

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Na konci jsou zrekapitulována hlavní témata této bakalářské práce a zároveň je zde uveden finální závěr, jenž tvrdí, že ačkoliv tento muzikál disponuje několika aspekty, které jsou neobvyklé či revoluční, tak úspěch celého muzikálu tkví v kombinaci několika hledisek, které byly vhodně zkombinovány v pravou dobu tak, aby vytvořily tento současný broadwayský fenomén.

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