Hamilton: A Cultural Phenomenon

“Hamilton” has touched and influenced the lives of many, one of the people being my friend, Rachel. Rachel’s grandparents immigrated from Jamaica to the US in the early 1950’s, and Rachel has been living in Virginia her whole life. Her life has been shaped by a variety of cultural blends: her immigrant grandparents, the suburban neighborhood she grew up in, her race. Growing up in America, Rachel has seen the racism that is still alive in modern US, whether it is the the racist castings in Hollywood or the police brutality many African-Americans are facing. When asked about the play “Hamilton”, her excitement was palpable -- not everyday is a play on Broadway made up entirely of a non-white cast, who happen to be portraying the founding fathers. “The representation found in this play… it’s amazing. The media doesn’t often show African-American, Latino, Asian, or queer people to the mass media, and for there to be a play about the founding fathers, who as we all know are white, portrayed by different races is groundbreaking. Not only that, but Lin Manuel Miranda comes from an immigrant background, so is there anyone better to write a play about an immigrant who forever changed the US?”

“Hamilton” is a play about an American founding father, Alexander Hamilton, who grew up in the Caribbean and was an immigrant from Scotland. The play has been nominated for 16 Tony's, which is a record setting number. The play was written and directed by Lin Manuel Miranda, who comes from a family of Puerto Rican immigrants.  Barack Obama happens to be one of the many fans of the play, and when he was asked about his thoughts on the racial choices of the play  and the relevance of the castings, Obama stated “With a cast as diverse as America itself, including the outstandingly talented women, the show reminds us that this nation was built by more than just a few great men—and that it is an inheritance that belongs to all of us.” Confronted with the same question as the US president, Miranda answered with “This is a story about America then, told by America now,” he explains, “and we want to eliminate any distance between a contemporary audience and this story.” In this quote alone, Miranda is able to explain not only his casting, but the unique (for “classical” Broadway) style of the songs that are performed in the musical: rap and hip-hop.

Upon analysis of the songs, one might come across numerous references to the era of rap. The “Ten Duel Commandments”, a 1 minute rap briefly explain the logistics of a duel, is an ode to the "Ten Crack Commandments" by the Notorious B.I.G, references to whom may be found across the whole play. It’s the incorporation of every musical style, from pop to R&B, that makes Hamilton not only infectious, but brilliant and relevant to today’s racial inequalities. The play is often considered a “call out” to the racial issues that are seen today across the United States, as well as a stark comparison of modern times to events that happened over 200 years ago.

Lin Manuel Miranda not only reintroduced theater back into the public after years of it being seemingly only meant for the older and upper classes, but also got his audience thinking about race issues, history, and the impact that theater, as well as media, has on us. The play is receiving backlash for the fact that the cast is almost fully, with exceptions such as King George (played by Jonathan Groff), non-white. Miranda managed to make a two and a half hour play on the American Revolution into a cultural phenomenon, something that reaches out to people who have and haven’t seen the play. The casts diversity is what makes the play so accessible, and the diversity breaks down the barriers often found in contemporary art. Hamilton shows the truth of the American Revolution: the shaping of the country done by women, immigrants, and yes, people of color, was vital to the way the US turned out.