Hamilton: The Revolution

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I opted for the audio on this one in an attempt to turn my frown upside down on my daily commute. I went in blind thinking Lin-Manuel himself would be doing all of the reading, but sadly he only did the footnotes (which, trust me, were well worth the price of admission). Mariska Hargitay wound up being the voice and while I realize she’s become some sort of pop culture icon I have to say . . . . There's a chapter on the book that explores the impact the play is already having on kids, many of whom before seeing Hamilton had not interest in learning American history and are now, like my own kids, thoroughly engaged and fascinated by it.

Edit:*This play is so relevant to our world right now. This country has been a place where "A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up" since the day we've been founded. Why should that ever change? The fact that people are calling for a boycott of this play is complete idiocy. The only people who are calling for one are those who support the hate and the racism in the first place. How about we try our best to not let them EVER win?*I found this behind the scenes story utterly inspiring, if nothing else, it is the most delightful and entertaining history lesson ever! And, honestly, I didn’t think much about it until September when I saw that NPR was streaming the album. I immediately grabbed my earbuds and hopped into the bathtub to listen to it, and that was really the first time I actually started to pay attention to the show’s content: researching the cast; trying to understand the historical context for the song’s lyrics; trying to find interviews with anyone who was involved in it. My appreciation grew, and I began to realize just how buzzy and sensational it was for everyone else, too.

It is expected that in a few years, the musical will be licensed so high schools all over the country will be able produce the show. I believe that will be the lasting legacy of this play and Lin-Manuel Miranda. I have always loved history. Always. And while Rap isn't my #1 genre, something about the mastery of lyrics that some rappers have will never cease to amaze me. When I first heard about this play--that it took one of our founding fathers (one that had had such a HUGE impact on our young nation but that no one spoke much about) and turned the events of his life into a rap musical I just KNEW that this was going to be something that I was going to love. I'd say it has been at least three months since I have really started getting into the play and I seriously sing applicable lyrics or talk about these historical figures throughout each and every day (ask my boyfriend and sister). Alexander Hamilton was just such an intricate man that I think the best way to show our nation what he was really all about was in the form of rap lyrics. It truly encapsulates his life. From his lowly beginnings to his gradual and then meteoric rise to the top--we are able to FEEL every experience. I get goosebumps every. single. time. listening to "Yorktown (1776)" when Hamilton sings "Tens of thousands of people flood the streets." after the battle of Yorktown is fought and won. (I mean just picture the EXCITEMENT of this huge mass of newly free people. I can practically hear the roar of their voices as they flooded the streets). I tear up every. single. time. listening to "It's Quiet Uptown" and "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story." I just think this play is SO ENTIRELY IMPORTANT because it shows the rise of our nation, but it also shows how we struggled in the beginning. Just as we are struggling now.This book does a fantastic job of exploring all of these themes, bringing in notes and interviews and discussions along with the history of the musical. Being able to read Lin's thought process was fascinating, and because I don't know a lot about rap/hip hop/r&b, reading about how much music influenced Lin's process was SO interesting. I love learning, and I love reading about subtle things artists do within their craft (e.g. the choreographer having Burr walk in straight lines while Hamilton walks in arches, because it represents how the two men thought and acted) of which audiences may not be cognizant, but are still able to register. Like Aaron Burr, I want more. I'm never going to see the musical in person, or if I do, it's going to be years from now with a new cast, probably on tour, and that's just not the same. So if you're going to give me this book, dammit, I want ALL YOU CAN GIVE ME. What was here was great. BUT I WANTED MORE. The essays were probably at just the right amount, and the pictures were beautiful, but I needed at least double the footnotes from LMM. If I can't be in the room where it happens, I need you to tell me exactly what happened in that room in excruciating detail, or I will never be satisfied (noooooot even sorry). UPDATE 1/22/17: Sooo because this world is crazy and sometimes dreams do come true, I saw Hamilton on Broadway last week. :O You can read about our trip here, if you're into that. (We stayed in a hotel that used to be a library!) The audiobook provides a similar content with chapters alternating between bios, essays and the song selection process. It is now less than 2 months until we see Hamilton. It will be about 1 year after they moved into the Rogers Theatre and most likely right after Hamilton cleans up at the Tony Awards. I bought this book which, btw, is beautifully made and organized and a sort of cheat-sheet, uber playbill for the musical. It is organized into 32 chapters and two acts. It roughly follows the Musical and history of the musical. It tells the story of the production. Each chapter contains a detail about the musical, written like a review or online article. One chapter discusses the choreography, another discusses the album, another discusses Daveed Diggs, another Ron Chernow. Each of these chapters gives a little bit more insight into the development of the Musical from one song played at the White House, to a Mix Tape of songs, to the Public Theatre, to the Richard Rogers Theatre. This is a book definitely for fans.

I also loved learning the inspiration behind each song. Listening to them after reading the book was like a brand-new experience. I had no idea the show was so full of Easter eggs for both hip-hop and musical theater fans. LMM is clearly a man of diverse tastes and talents, and he brought it all to the table when he wrote Hamilton. Everything is relevant, everything fits in. It's magic. For those of you who live in caves, Hamilton: The Revolution is the story behind the musical. Specifically, how it went from a crazy idea for a concept album to a once-in-a-generation smash hit. It takes you inside not only Lin-Manuel’s head, but also Thomas Kail and Alex Lacamoire who completed the trifecta which brought Hamilton to life. As nearly everyone who has ever bothered listening to all FORTY-SIX songs in this nearly 100% sung production says . . . .

Hamilton: The Revolution, which tells the story of the musical from its inception through its current Broadway run, has just the kind of fun, conversational tone I was hoping for. It makes you feel like an insider, which is exactly what fans like me who aren't going to get within a thousand miles of New York City are clamoring for. You want to feel like Hamilton is your musical, too, even though you're limited to blasting the cast album and binging on #Ham4Ham videos on YouTube. I think is difficult to overstate the importance of having a second generation Puerto Rican drawing attention to the story of Hamilton, himself an immigrant from the Caribbean. It was just amazing to learn how many people were involved in the creation of the musical. I was also intensely happy that it contained more in depth information than what we usually hear in the interviews - as these kind of books often just end up repeating and summing up everything you hear in the interviews.