The best seat in the house turns out was my living room. I had the lucky chance to see Hamilton last fall after I won the lottery and got to see this play for 20 dollars. When this dropped early on Disney+ I couldn't contain my excitement to see it again. I know many have heard of this play or even listened to the music, but may not know what it's about. I'm here to tell you. Hamilton is a musical adapted by Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. It tells the story of him immigrating to New York, and the country is just ready to become independent under King George's rule. Hamilt0n becomes George Washington's right-hand man during the war and later his treasury secretary during his presidency. Along the way, Hamilton will make friends, find love, and develop plenty of enemies before his story is done being told. If you loved the music and listened to it on repeat since you can remember, then you'll love being able to see it in the comfort of your own home. Hamilton will please both the theatre lovers as well as history buffs. This is a good reminder that all theatre shows should be accessible to anyone who wants to see it. Like I said earlier, I was fortunate to see Hamilton after winning the ticket lottery. But I had to submit my name multiple times before it happened. If I hadn't won, I wouldn't have seen the play until now because the tickets were expensive. It's extraordinary to see it on the big screen - especially since Broadway has since been closed for months. By getting this intimate look of the iconic play, it shows how Hamilton's contemporary style will be unforgettable for the future of theatre. Hamilton has brought a lot of discourse to the table. A lot of people have problems with it, and it's not surprising why - many it feels like the Founding Fathers were celebrated throughout the play as the 'good' guys. Not only that, but they were portrayed by Black or POC actors when those same real-life men owned or benefitted from the enslavement and discrimination of others without really acknowledging it. Long story short, many claim Lin-Manuel created some dangerous propaganda that made the Founding Fathers palatable to be likable to any who watch this. After many discussions with others, my final opinion is I think these conversations deserve to be had. With full offense, the Founding Fathers were not good people, and that's putting it nicely. Sure they had some solid ideas when coming up with the foundations of America. But they weren't actually for equality like they said. Owning slaves and being openly racist makes them bad people. Point blank, period. While I can't say officially that this musical doesn't romanticize these men, in my opinion, we have to remember this is basically a historical fanfiction come to Broadway. These conversations require lots of complexity in figuring out because there's no clear answer. The better question to be asked is: do you think this criticism fits the medium of a fictionalized Broadway play? You'll know where you fall by answering it. Many things can be true at once. Hamilton is a play that can be celebrated for what it's done for diverse Broadway casting and incredible music. But also the Founding Fathers were not good people and can't be captured in all their complexities and failures in just 2.5 hours.
Phillipa's gasp deserved its own Tony. I said what I said.
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