The musical told the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the American Founding Fathers. Hamilton is initially about the founding of America, written by a man who in many ways personifies the most idealized version of the American dream. The producer of the play Lin- Manuel Miranda, decided to write a hip-hop musical about the story of Hamilton, featuring the Founding Fathers as iconic rap artists. Hamilton is a modern twist on the historical figures who have shaped America. The play is rooted in the 1700s, during the time of Hamilton's birth, upcoming, and domination. The play covers about 100 years and 83 events according to the project timeline. (Hamilton, 2015). Miranda was inspired to write the musical after reading the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. (Shaw, 2020).
The director's focus is the artistic aspect of the play or production. The director (Thomas Kail) did a superior job of directing Hamilton, catching the mood of each act and scene. Kail captured the story of the play, by defining the action that holds the play together. The production did alter time, the play took us back to the 1700s with the scenic and costume design. The play made the audience really think about Hamilton's upcoming rise to founding America. Hamilton's production captured a historical event and intertwined modern language to make the audience interested, or relatable. The casting choices were unique because most of the actors were of color, which elevated the storyline. The actors played a major role in the Hip-Hop/ R&B musical because it influenced diversity on Broadway. The director's staging clearly conveyed the action of Hamilton, because the director wanted to catch the energy of the play while also zooming in on the quieter parts of the character moments. Hamilton had a variety of moods and tempos in each scene. The play built to its climax with the use of song and movement. It made the audience wonder what was going to happen next. For example, the dual between Aaron Burr and Hamilton was the climax, and to catch the moment the director added events that led up to that event. If anything after the battle, the audience was affected by shock. The actors were very well sought out, each actor knew his/her place and beautifully magnified their role. The actors of Hamilton listened to one another as they read their lines, they were very in the moment with each scene. The physical characterization of the play was not what was expected but as a result, diversified the play and made the plot come together. There were actors that acted more intensely during more scenes than others, however, this was not a bad thing because of how the moods of the play fluctuated. Some actors used more body language than others, others used force in their voices to initiate action. The actors in this production had skills in dancing, singing, and accents. As an example, the actor of King George had an old English accent while the others did not. All actors sang and danced. The actors were effective in singing and dancing to each song while conveying the plot. Each actor trained their voice to sound immaculate during the play, the central meaning of each song was to carry out events of Hamilton's lifetime. The scenic design of Hamilton was designed in the style of the ship that brought Alexander Hamilton from Britain to America. The scene had a second-level catwalk and scaffolding. The stage from the pictures looks smaller than it really is, and the limitations of this play design seem small. The production had three-dimensional units, stairs, and a second-level catwalk. The brick and second-level catwalk made it feel like we were back in the 1700s. The scenery made the actors pop out against the background. The elements that the scenic designer used for Hamilton enhanced the performance and compliment the actors by setting the time and place for the events in the play. The costumes were 18th-century style, with actors dressed in traditional silhouettes, women in corsets, and men in frilly coats. Costume designers had the ensemble wear cream or neutral tones while the leads used color to pop out. The costumes were traditional, but the makeup and hair were modern. Costume played a great role in helping the play come together. The theatre that Hamilton performed in was a proscenium theatre. The theatre supported the bright and sometimes blue colors for the play, the lighting and musical both set the tone and mood. The lighting enhanced the acting, scenery, and costumes by creating mood, time, and place for the play. Lightning helped time-warp the audience into the past.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
The value of this production to me is that anyone can do the impossible. The purpose of this play was to tell a story, which brought people together to tell the story of a Founding Father. I found myself gasping during some scenes, shocked by what had followed, or laughing because of the modern language. This musical gives me a visualization of what it must have been like back then, even though we don’t know what it was really like. Especially, with duals, and how legal it was to have a gunfight in the middle of ordinary life whereas now you have an army that goes overseas. The message I got from the play was that a good fight is always worth waiting for, but from Hamiltons' view, it seemed like it was worth pursuing no matter the cost.
Hamilton provides social commentary by pointing out the political system. This tie between a Broadway musical and the political administration ultimately increased awareness of the social inequalities today. One, for example, was the Black Lives Matter protest, where white officers avoided punishment for the death of African- Americans like Michael Brown. Another example of how the music brings out social commentary is the line “Immigrants we get the job done.” It emphasized the production's position towards the president's policies. This content is important because we live in America, the land of the free. We make our own decisions because that is exactly what the founding fathers sought, political justice and human rights. Gun control is also another issue addressed by the play. I was interested in what some of the songs meant so naturally, I did research. The song, titled “Found/Tonight”, was created to support a rally protesting the lack of gun control in response to the fatal Parkland shooting. (Garret, 2018). These examples show how the diverse cast and political commentary, and lyrics of Hamilton come together to create a musical to the social and social commentary. Hamilton is an artifact because it tells a historical story. The events of the play were followed by a song, the events chosen were chronological from Hamiltons' birth to his death. One example of a historical event in the play is the events in 1775. Wahington is appointed as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, which follows Hamilton’s capture of the British Cannons. During the war, Hamilton and his volunteers captured 21 British Cannons. A year later, Alexander meets Burr, Laurens, and Mulligan. Another example would be when the U.S. Treasury was founded in September of 1789 and followed by Hamilton taking office as Secretary days later. These events were all accurate and had a major impact on the play, there were added events that also made the play inaccurate at times because of the dates. The arts play a visual representation for explaining how a person might feel, and act towards a situation. Acting in this case served as a visual representation of how the characters might have felt back then. While the singing was added to become an entertainment aspect of the play to engage the audience.
Stuck on your essay?
