“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?” That is the harrowing opening line of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony winning smash hit musical “Hamilton.” Said “Bastard bastard, orphan, son of a whore” is Alexander Hamilton himself and the musical shows his rise from adversity to become one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. Tickets go for upwards of a thousand dollars. Movie stars, politicians, and athletes have filled the seats. Since it’s broadway debut in August of 2015, Hamilton has quickly become the must see musical that, and it seems no one can. (To be clear, I am in the camp of people who have not seen the musical. I am smitten by the music and feel thoroughly connected to the story without having seen the show.) But what separates Hamilton from other contemporary, tony winning musicals like Kinky Boots (Best Musical 2013) or Once (Best Musical 2011)? Why are people so invested in the musical even if the closest they’ll get is the soundtrack? While this could probably be answered in a plethora of equally valid ways, I found an answer when I played the opening song for my family. My mother …show more content…
His first musical, In The Heights, which also won the tony for best musical, was also set to hip-hop. He’s got a way with words that has received compliments from Stephen Sondheim to Questlove. Sondheim admired Miranda’s understanding and implication on rhyme. “Rhyme does something to the listener’s perception that is very important, and Lin-Manuel recognizes that, which gives the ‘Hamilton’ score a great deal more heft than it might otherwise have,” said Sondheim. While Questlove was impressed by his skill at writing hip-hop lyrics, he explained that “watching the show [he] realized: ‘O.K., Lin-Manuel knows hip-hop. This guy has totally done his