#Bam4Ham

March 10, 2016 7:41 AM

On Monday, the cast of Broadway's Hamilton will be going to the White House today to test a pilot version of its educational program as well as perform a concert of “Hamiltunes” for the kids and the First Family.

Related Ham: Lin-Manuel Miranda, the genius behind Hamilton and In The Heights, visits us at BuzzFeed. We learn a lot about his life, geek out about Outkast, and sing. Plus: Jeb! An Uncomfortable Musical. (autoplay)

Making Herstory on Broadway

Bark less, wag more

This is a cupcake

posted by roomthreeseventeen (162 comments total)

(mods, sorry about the extra "today" there)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:45 AM on March 10, 2016

LMM, great job!
posted by runt at 7:53 AM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

Bark less, wag more

That's cute, but the true MVP in the dog/Hamilton mashup world is Hamilton as Dogs. It is INCREDIBLE.
posted by kate blank at 7:57 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

Don't let the "Buzzfeed" fool you, if you're still fooled by it. Another Round is a podcast you should be listening to even when it's not about Hamilton.

I am very excited about Bam4Ham!
posted by Lyn Never at 8:11 AM on March 10, 2016 [8 favorites]

It must be tough to be so popular; the poor cast must be exhausted, getting pulled in on Mondays for so many big events.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:23 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

I swear, the lengths some people will go to see Hamilton. Getting elected President of the United States when you could just do Ham4Ham.
posted by RakDaddy at 8:25 AM on March 10, 2016 [21 favorites]

I don't think it's a coincidence that Trudeau came down from Canada to visit today.
posted by zombieflanders at 8:34 AM on March 10, 2016 [7 favorites]

I don't think it's a coincidence that Trudeau came down from Canada to visit today.

He wanted to be in the room where it happened.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:36 AM on March 10, 2016 [50 favorites]

As far as I'm concerned, they should just release an album called HAMILTON FOR SINGING TO YOUR PUPPY, 'cause everyone's doing it. ("Why do you assuuuuuuuuuume/you're the cutest in the room?")
posted by praemunire at 8:39 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

I love all of this so much, thanks for this post!
posted by LooseFilter at 8:42 AM on March 10, 2016

I'm also wearing a "I Wanna Be In the Room Where It Happened" shirt today, which is awesome.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:43 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Funny about the dog thing because my dog Maggie gets the most concerned look on her face when I'm singing along with Hurricane: "*I* picked up a pen *I* wrote my own deliverance!"
She thinks I'm actually upset.
posted by asavage at 8:47 AM on March 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

Anyone know when the original broadway cast is going to stop performing in New York? I saw they opened up a Chicago tour in late September.
posted by Karaage at 8:52 AM on March 10, 2016

I know STEM is important, but it's nice to see Social Sciences getting some love.
posted by MrGuilt at 9:03 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

it seems like many of them will leave in the summer. i've heard at least 3 members of the cast reference that their contract is up then. i'm pretty sure groffsauce has verified he's done in june? july?

speaking of groffsauce, i spent last evening watching him do interviews :

Jonathan Groff Talks ‘Hamilton’ During ‘Show Biz After Hours with Frank DiLella’ - lots of hamilton stuff, some stuff about growing up among mennonite family, a tiny bit about being closeted

Groundbreakers- A Conversation with Jonathan Groff Part I - this is almost zero hamilton content, but there's a lot of really beautiful stuff about being closeted, being gay, adopting a home city, stuff about "looking" and "spring awakening," how a song from annie get your gun is the perfect gay song (and then he sings it) - it's a really great 30 minutes. i'm looking forward to listening to part 2 tonight.
posted by nadawi at 9:04 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

As far as I'm concerned, they should just release an album called HAMILTON FOR SINGING TO YOUR PUPPY, 'cause everyone's doing it.

Unsurprisingly, The Toast has you covered there.
posted by lunasol at 9:08 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

I have been awash in coverage and publicity for this show since the New Yorker article in February 2015. All of the coverage since then has been extremely granular. Like, how does the understudy for Burr feel about ponytails? What kind of underwear does Mr. Miranda wear to cut down on chafing? Which songs should you sing to your puppy? (love you guys. don't get me wrong.)

Could someone point me to the three best essays that explain why this show matters from a cultural perspective? I have seen many musicals and never, ever "gotten" them on the visceral level that so many of you clearly do. I have to settle for reading about why they're important for the particular cultural moment.

Thanks, for real.
posted by radicalawyer at 9:38 AM on March 10, 2016

I listened to the soundtrack for the first time yesterday WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG
posted by Lucinda at 9:46 AM on March 10, 2016 [18 favorites]

I should mention that I've listened to a lot of the soundtrack to Hamilton and had my usual response to a musical, as described above. AND I'm a history buff.
posted by radicalawyer at 9:49 AM on March 10, 2016

I should mention that I've listened to a lot of the soundtrack to Hamilton and had my usual response to a musical, as described above. AND I'm a history buff.

One of the songs that took a while to grab me but now has a firm hold on me is "Burn":

I’m erasing myself from the narrative
Let future historians wonder how Eliza
Reacted when you broke her heart
You have torn it all apart
I am watching it

It's one of those things about this show that's incredible to me - essentially, it's: "Oh, I'm also going to write a song about the destruction of primary source source documents that, if they still existed, would have given us clearer insight into the relationship between Alexander and Eliza, and just as importantly, about Eliza herself as a person."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 9:59 AM on March 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

Here's one from The Nation last summer that might give some illumination.

But if musicals are just not your thing - any of them, pretty much ever - then you may have to settle for just not really getting it and instead acknowledging that other people do and for good reasons, though those reasons may never be yours to grasp. I have this response to opera, and I've performed (in the chorus) of a couple of them.
posted by rtha at 10:01 AM on March 10, 2016 [5 favorites]

radicalawyer, once again, The Toast has you covered, in terms of the cultural importance of Hamilton: Race, Immigration, and Hamilton

I was also going to link you to the 60 Minutes segment about the show, which I think covered its cultural significance better than anything else I've seen. But now you have to buy a subscription to watch it, ugh. As a half-measure, here's the making of the cast album clip, with some really great interviews with the cast where they talk about what it means to be people of color playing the founding fathers.

As for my own personal thoughts, I think it's a perfect storm of things:

- The mix of different musical styles done really well means there's something in there for almost everyone.
- The excitement of seeing this old history retold with a diverse cast. As LMM says, it's the America of yesterday told by the America of today.
- It's just really freaking good. Obviously, that's subjective, but even objectively speaking, the music is incredibly complex and yet very accessible. Same for the lyric/book writing. It manages to pack an extreme emotional punch while being technically very complex and intricate. That's a rare thing in pop culture.
- The creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, really, really gets social media and how to engage with fans in 2015. He's also extremely likeable on TV shows and such. People just like the dude.
posted by lunasol at 10:03 AM on March 10, 2016 [11 favorites]

primary source source documents

*ahem*

primary source documents.

Anyway, here's the article I was thinking of in that comment: The Women of Hamilton
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:06 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Thought 1: I hope they will not be performing "Say No to This" at this family event

Thought 2: I hope they WILL be performing "Say No to This" at this family event, except instead of adultery, the thing he is not sure he can say no to is eating too many cookies, cookies baked by Maria Reynolds without her husband's knowledge. It feels so right at the moment! But you keep paying for it after the fact! Mr. Reynolds will never forgive you for eating the cookies that should have been his!
posted by a fiendish thingy at 10:08 AM on March 10, 2016 [9 favorites]

I have the companion album to Hamilton for Singing to Your Puppy, Hamilton for Singing to Your Senior Cat, featuring the song for when she runs away from you because she's afraid you're going to scoop her up and put her in the cat carrier:

I am not taking you to the vet
I am not taking you to the vet
Hey, you
don't have to outrun me
You're old, stroppy and grumpy
And I'm not taking you to the vet
posted by bakerina at 10:09 AM on March 10, 2016 [12 favorites]

Thought 3: Groff does "You'll be Back" and runs his finger under Obama's chin as he delivers the "sweet submissive subject" line.

Thought 4: "I Know Him" ends with "President Joe Biden? Good luck!"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:13 AM on March 10, 2016 [11 favorites]

I didn't realize until the Grammy performance that it is Aaron Burr who narrates the whole thing. (I have a hard time differentiating voices without context sometimes) That blew my mind. Who tells your story? The dude who SHOT you. Wow.

At first, I was in love with the growth of Hamilton - from the rough-edged but smart and eager young adult who hasn't had friend before but is a mastermind for battle tactics and wins George Washington's trust, to the career-driven man with a plan who overlooks his own family and gets bogged down by his own damn self, to the parent mourning a child, to the opinionated adult who snarkily signs himself as "your obedient servant" while agreeing to the final shoot-out.

Then I fell in love with King George and his attitude. The fleet of ships to show his love.

Then it was Leslie Odom Jr's Burr. Wait For It is so emotional and powerful. And the hatred he finally expresses when he loses the presidential election.

Then it was George Washington, who I knew little about before other than the obvious. But his character and confessions finally made him a real person to me. Those founding fathers aren't just symbolic heads anymore - they were real people with real feelings and growth and mistakes.

Today, I have been in love with Daveed Diggs and how you can just HEAR the side-eye he gives Hamilton when they learn about the Reynolds truth.

Um. Have I said too much? *blush*

And I was never a musical fan or history fan before.
posted by jillithd at 10:17 AM on March 10, 2016 [13 favorites]

I think if you stick it in a predefined box called "musical" before listening to it, and you know you don't like musicals, you're unlikely to enjoy it. I myself am not a huge Broadway fan (the musical drama I do like is mostly opera), but what caught my attention was all the elements from outside the pop musical tradition. Hamilton has pieces ranging from boogie-woogie to trap to pure 80s rap and brings them all together surprisingly effectively. Honestly, the more traditional Broadway moments are the bits that are more likely to lose my attention.

I also tend to raise my eyebrows when someone says they're a "history buff" in this context. If you bring the frequent rigidity and pedantry of the historical auto-didact to historical fiction, you're bound to ruin it for yourself. It's fiction. In this case, grounded on respectable scholarship, but not intended to reproduce facts with utter fidelity. If you can't let those kinds of expectations go, it's a pity. You'll be cutting yourself off from a lot of enjoyment in the genre, though.
posted by praemunire at 10:19 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

Which is to say, maybe I shouldn't ever actually go see it because I'm not sure it can live up to my own mental renderings.
posted by jillithd at 10:20 AM on March 10, 2016

I totally hear what you guys are saying, but I feel compelled to note that HERCULES MULLIGAN A TAILOR SPYING ON THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT I TAKE THEIR MEASUREMENTS INFORMATION AND THEN I SMUGGLE IT
posted by prefpara at 10:24 AM on March 10, 2016 [37 favorites]

YES. I forgot to add when I was in love with Hercules Mulligan! Dammit! But was that before or after (or both?) I was in love with King George. Dammit!

And I still crack up when they say Burr is someone you could have a beer with.

Oh! And when Burr and Hamilton first meet and he says "fools who run their mouths off wind up dead" and the other guys come rapping in and Burr says, "Like I said."

This is some hilarious stuff right there.

"I'll show you where my shoe fits!"

If only there were funnier/funner parts for the women. Eliza is smart as a whip, but where is the fun?! (Other than checking out hot guys in the city. That sounds pretty fun to me.)
posted by jillithd at 10:28 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

the charlie rose segments with leslie odom jr and lin-manuel miranda & tommy kail do a good job of getting into the art and craft about what's going on. this new yorker profile on lin-manuel miranda also puts this all in context, i think. talib kweli has some things to say as does questlove.

i think the really good pieces of what this all means, how it all went down, how it progressed, etc is something we'll need to wait a year or five to really get. you see this in some of the more serious interviews with lin or the cast or kail or lacamoire - they're asked what this all means, how this will change them/broadway/race issues in entertainment and there's just no way to know while it's still in its initial thrust. we can feel that some things have changed, we can feel that this is an exceptional work, we know this will be written about for decades, but there's a certain aspect of having to wait for the history to be written before we can analyze it, which is especially appropriate for this show.
posted by nadawi at 10:31 AM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

Oh! And when Burr and Hamilton first meet and he says "fools who run their mouths off wind up dead" and the other guys come rapping in and Burr says, "Like I said."

Not to mention, the person rapping at that point is John Laurens, who is first of the group to die.

BTW, the hilarious serious Side by Side With Susan Blackwell has a bunch of Hamilton people, including Groff two different times, LMM, and Leslie Odom Jr.

The Hamiltome is coming out in April and the audiobook version will have narration by Lin-Manuel and Mariska Hargitay! (I have the paper, ebook, and audiobook versions pre-ordered. Problem, what problem?)

For vinyl fans out there, Vinylton is coming out April 15.

Great NPR article about the contrast of the diversity on stage vs the diversity in the audience.

And seriously, if you aren't already listening to Another Round every week, what are you even doing?
posted by kmz at 10:43 AM on March 10, 2016 [10 favorites]

SIDE BY SIDE IS SO GOOD! why does leslie odom jr love the mattress store?? lol
posted by nadawi at 10:47 AM on March 10, 2016

Not to mention, the person rapping at that point is John Laurens, who is first of the group to die.
*GASP* That is not even funny anymore!
posted by jillithd at 10:51 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

A while back, I commented that a different part of Hamilton makes me cry each week or so. This week? "Freedom for America, freedom for France!"

That's all.
posted by lunasol at 10:53 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

oh! and i find if you're having a hard time grabbing the voices and references, following along with rap genius is very helpful. there are so many hidden gems. for instance, in the opener the double casting of lafayette/jefferson, john laurens/phillip and ANDpeggy/maria makes for an interesting moment during the "i fought with him," "i died for him" and "i loved him" parts.
posted by nadawi at 10:54 AM on March 10, 2016 [9 favorites]

this piece of fan art is perpetually the thing that makes me cry.
posted by nadawi at 10:56 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

Oh god nadawi! That is nuclear-level tear-making.
posted by lunasol at 10:59 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

in the opener the double casting of lafayette/jefferson, john laurens/phillip and ANDpeggy/maria makes for an interesting moment during the "i fought with him," "i died for him" and "i loved him" parts.

A friend I have who has seen it said that peggy/maria is dressed as Maria when she says she loved him. But BAM I am just realizing the the other double meanings of each pairing. Thanks for pointing that part out!

LMM definitely earned his genius grant.
posted by jillithd at 10:59 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

"As far as I'm concerned, they should just release an album called HAMILTON FOR SINGING TO YOUR PUPPY, 'cause everyone's doing it. "

We have friends with a baby named Alexander, and I'm always going, "I am the AL EX AN D ER We are meant to be ... an infancy that runs independently, you want Britain to keep spittin' on us endlessly?"

"Could someone point me to the three best essays that explain why this show matters from a cultural perspective?"

The most basic point is that by taking the Founding Fathers and making them rap and sing hip-hop, it infuses the boring old fuddy-duddy deified founders with the edgy, angry energy the Revolution actually HAD. Instead of dudes declaiming fancy phrases in stuffy halls on a PBS period drama (which, don't get me wrong, is kinda my favorite thing, I will watch even very bad period dramas), translating it into a modern idiom, one widely used by marginalized people in American society, revivifies the Founders and illuminates the intensity of the Revolutionary period. And then by casting them as minorities, it claims the American story for ALL Americans, not just the white ones, and it reinforces how marginalized colonial subjects were by their British masters. Like, George Washington, man of clearly vast talents, had the misfortune to be born in Virginia so was never taken very seriously by his British army superiors and would never be able to rise above his very limited station (wealthy, but stuck in a colonial backwater with little respect from the people who mattered) while a British subject. Casting Chris Jackson in that role captures some of those resonances -- here is a man of vast, vast talents who, because of accidents of birth, a lot of people are going to dismiss and overlook: more fools them.

If you're a person who nerds out about history and has ever been stuck in a conversation where you're earnestly trying to explain why Thomas Jefferson is actually really COOL to someone who's skeptical and not into history and just sees powdered wigs and meandering 18th century sentences, Hamilton is awesome because you can finally be like, "THIS IS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SHOW YOU, THIS IS WHY THE FOUNDERS ARE COOL."
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:00 AM on March 10, 2016 [22 favorites]

a different part of Hamilton makes me cry each week or so

YES. That's fascinated me too. (And yeah, it was that very song--"World Turned Upside Down"--that did it the most recently. I don't think of myself as being hugely patriotic but there is something stunningly moving about the portrayal of the end of the war.)
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:05 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Mariska Hargitay!

Like Hercules Mulligan, she needs no introduction and should always be followed by an exclamation point.

(I somehow didn't know this news and I can't believe I'm going to get the audiobook too.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:06 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

in the opener the double casting of lafayette/jefferson, john laurens/phillip and AND peggy/maria makes for an interesting moment during the "i fought with him," "i died for him" and "i loved him" parts

The tiny, elegant complexity of just those few lines has blown me away.
posted by dlugoczaj at 11:07 AM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

> A while back, I commented that a different part of Hamilton makes me cry each week or so.

So glad I'm not the only one. A couple days ago it was

“Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid.”

for me. In the midst of this already hideous election season, where so many people in power are so obviously trying to make us afraid, it just knocked me down. (I got the fuck back up again.)
posted by rtha at 11:11 AM on March 10, 2016 [17 favorites]

The part that last made me cry unexpectedly was "I see George Washington smile." But I have long-standing issues with my father never saying he was proud of me, so I think it's tied in with that.
posted by matildaben at 11:13 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

if you find that "the world was wide enough" just isn't making the waterworks start up like they used to, this fan storyboard should fix that for you.
posted by nadawi at 11:17 AM on March 10, 2016 [11 favorites]

I actually had to take a break from the entire soundtrack because I would start crying at "Wait for It" and basically keep crying through the finale, and then for several minutes after.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 11:18 AM on March 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

Oh, and force4ham is still a great way bring the tears. (Force Awakens spoilers.)
posted by kmz at 11:18 AM on March 10, 2016

Sometimes I think "oh, this time I'm not going to lose it" and then

Every other founding father gets to grow old

And then I'm a wreck right through the end. And my iPhone used to stop at the end, so I would have a few minutes in the car sniffling quietly and getting a hold of myself, but now it just starts over, presumably because it knows I will do that myself eventually.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:24 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'm obsessed with Burr's big number "The Room Where It Happens" for reasons both personal and political.

[COMPANY] The art of the compromise—

[BURR] Hold your nose and close your eyes

[COMPANY] We want our leaders to save the day—

[BURR] But we don’t get a say in what they trade away

[COMPANY] We dream of a brand new start—

[BURR] But we dream in the dark for the most part

Which is so good and timely AND (as the people on Rap Genius point out) a sweet T.E. Lawrence reference AND a callback to an earlier song.
posted by Wretch729 at 11:25 AM on March 10, 2016 [5 favorites]

I got a new tattoo last week. As my artist was setting her stuff up, she said "I'm sick of all the music on my phone. If there's anything you want to listen to..." And I was like "WELL NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT."

Parts of the tattooing were extremely painful, and muttering the lyrics definitely helped keep me from leaping off the table and running away. My artist is now a fan as well (though I did warn her I'd be looping back to the start of things once we got to a certain point in the album - I think I let us get to Cabinet Battle #2).
posted by rtha at 11:39 AM on March 10, 2016 [9 favorites]

I think I let us get to Cabinet Battle #2

That's where I usually stop too. But sometimes I have to skip "Say No To This" because it's just too painful to listen to Alex start to ruin his (and everyone else's) life.
posted by lunasol at 12:04 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

I have heard a couple of funny stories about people going to see the play and just having NO IDEA that Hamilton dies in the end until they talk about in the first song, hahaha, but, um, guys I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT PHILIP AND IT FUCKING WRECKED ME. I sobbed for an HOUR. It's Quiet Uptown? Not with Captain Waterworks over here. Jesus.
posted by kate blank at 12:13 PM on March 10, 2016 [7 favorites]

It sounds to me like you guys are a bunch of bush league Hamilton crybabies. I am a very excellent and advanced Hamilton crybaby.

At first, I only cried during "Burn," but it wasn't long until, by the complex interconnectednesss of the lyrics and foreshadowing, I found the means to cry earlier and earlier, squeezing motherly affection tears to "Dear Theodosia," and then onward toward the beginning with tears of lonely bitterness to "Satisfied," and tears of pride and earnest optimism to the refrain "Rise up / Take a shot." I thought that crying in the second track was probably the ultimate in Hamilton crying. I was wrong. I bested my own expectations. I believe I have now reached the pinnacle of crying early in Hamilton. I now cry at the line "Alexander Hamilton, America sings for you."
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:13 PM on March 10, 2016 [25 favorites]

Today, for every day brings a different day in which the tears start for me as well, was in the Reynolds Pamphlet, when Angelica shows up. And throws down You could never be satisfied. God, I hope you're satisfied.

Ouch.
posted by gaspode at 12:14 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

I think the only thing I can add to this thread that hasn't been said is fuck Charles Lee. Wheee!
posted by cmfletcher at 12:17 PM on March 10, 2016 [10 favorites]

I think I let us get to Cabinet Battle #2
Ha ha ha. I actually started my listening this morning with "Washington On Your Side" to the end. So I started immediately AFTER Cabinet Battle #2.

It was kind of refreshing, actually. Not as much built-up hope to be dashed to pieces.
posted by jillithd at 12:18 PM on March 10, 2016

Today, for every day brings a different day in which the tears start for me as well, was in the Reynolds Pamphlet, when Angelica shows up. And throws down You could never be satisfied. God, I hope you're satisfied.

I literally just discovered that there is a whole song about Angelica confronting Hamilton, most of which was cut (but pieces of which are in the Reynolds Pamphlet). It's called Congratulations and it is magnificent. I see why they cut it (it's not as musically strong as the rest of the show) but I really enjoy it.
posted by lunasol at 12:22 PM on March 10, 2016 [9 favorites]

And oh, another thing! Yesterday was the 8th anniversary of the Broadway opening of In The Heights. Do not sleep on In The Heights if you've not heard it before! It's so good, and I so wish I could go back in time and watch the original cast of that.
posted by kmz at 12:35 PM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

"Dear Theodosia" is gutting because it's an upbeat tempo song to two people who will both die young (and both pre-decease their fathers). Philip dies in his duel and Theodosia, after losing her son at age 10, is lost at sea at 29. A deeply ambivalent note about hoping for a better future, there.
posted by Wretch729 at 12:37 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

GOD-DAMMIT I ONLY JUST YESTERDAY GOT THE OPENING SONG OUT OF BEING STUCK IN MY HEAD AND NOW YOU PEOPLE DO THIS TO ME
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:39 PM on March 10, 2016

Lunasol's YouTube link led me to this parody rap about Donald Trump. It's not brilliant but it has some good moments.
posted by matildaben at 12:42 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

I literally just discovered that there is a whole song about Angelica confronting Hamilton, most of which was cut (but pieces of which are in the Reynolds Pamphlet).

Oh man, I'm at work, and I can't listen now, but one of my very favorite parts of the show is the reprise of "I know my sister like I know my own mind. You will never find anyone as trusting or as kind." Golsberry's delivery of that line is just fantastic. Thank you for posting that!

Could someone point me to the three best essays that explain why this show matters from a cultural perspective?

Joanne Freeman, a Yale University professor of history, has a good piece about how much history Miranda was able to include in Hamilton to capture the spirit of the man/the nation.
posted by gladly at 12:49 PM on March 10, 2016

Holy crap, nadawi, that Charlie Rose segment with Leslie Odom, Jr. is so good. Odom's performance through all of Hamilton (and I've only heard the cast recording, not seen it) might be what tips it from merely a masterpiece to a transcendent masterpiece for me, and it's fascinating to have him talk about what goes into it.
posted by valrus at 12:50 PM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

From the Another Round interview: "Hercules Mulligan, that is the most Busta Rhymes name in the world"

LMM is so adorkable, and also so creative and thoughtful. The discussion of code-switching is really interesting.
posted by epersonae at 12:53 PM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

I believe I have now reached the pinnacle of crying early in Hamilton. I now cry at the line "Alexander Hamilton, America sings for you."

NOPE

I'M CRYING JUST FROM READING THIS
posted by librarina at 1:01 PM on March 10, 2016 [11 favorites]

Parts of the tattooing were extremely painful, and muttering the lyrics definitely helped keep me from leaping off the table and running away.

As I mentioned in another thread, I'm getting a bunch of EXTREME dental work done this year. Before the first round of extractions, I was listening to "The Schuyler Sisters" on the bus, and I attempted to talk myself out of my dental terror by thinking "The Schuyler sisters wouldn't be scared of the dentist. They'd be happy for modern pain medication. The Schuyler sisters wouldn't think about getting off this bus and cancelling the appointment. Except for Peggy maybe. Are you a Peggy, Mike? ARE YOU?"

I went to the dentist.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:02 PM on March 10, 2016 [21 favorites]

Peggy in real life was badass too!
posted by kmz at 1:12 PM on March 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

I don't think it's a coincidence that Trudeau came down from Canada to visit today.

EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR AMERICA'S FAVOURITE FIGHTING FRENCH-CANADIAN
posted by ilana at 1:21 PM on March 10, 2016 [14 favorites]

Yeah, Peggy needs her own musical about leaving her sisters to deal with their Hamilton drama to go be an indomitable winner elsewhere. Inheriting her own money! Scandalizing everyone by marrying a dude so much younger than her! Basically being amazing and unstoppable!

#andpeggy
posted by a fiendish thingy at 1:22 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

Seriously, though. I cannot stop writing Hamilton song parodies. Does anyone else have this affliction? I seem to have gone through Hamilpie and The Ten Pie Commandments to a Trek4Ham "Satisfied" to today's angry anti-plagiarism screed, "Learn," which I think would actually be great for the educational program:

Do you know how the college dean scoffed,
Pitched it into the bin?
He said
“You are teaching an idiot
He does not understand Turn It In"
...
I’m erasing your name from my course’s list
Let future students of mine wonder how I knew it
And acted when you broke the rules
You are banished from my school
I am watching you
Learn
posted by ilana at 1:35 PM on March 10, 2016 [6 favorites]

BTW, if there's one Hamilton tumblr to follow, it's The Federalist Freestyle. Fan art, daily roundups of Twitterico, deep critical analysis, it's all there. It's one of the six Tumblrs that Lin himself follows!
posted by kmz at 1:36 PM on March 10, 2016 [8 favorites]

I wonder how the US archive's web traffic for Hamilton-related pages like this are doing. I'd love to see what those metrics look like between August of 2015 and now.

I like the idea that their webmaster, blissfully unaware of the musical, was asked to look into why the site kept going down, and had to meet with his or her superiors to report back.

"So are these denial of service attacks or something?"

"I don't think so. But it seems that there's been this explosion of traffic on pages related to..."

*double checks report*

"...Alexander Hamilton?"

"Who's that?"

"I think he's on our money somewhere."
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 1:51 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

I've been listening to the soundtrack every morning when walking my dogs and every day something new makes me tear up, say "wow," or both. Just now it's the musical convergence at the end of "Non-Stop," where everyone sings "History has its EYES ON YOUUU!" And then LMM sings "I am ALEXANDER HAMILTON!" Chills.

Two more random thoughts:

Lately I've been contemplating the theme of fatherhood throughout (Founding Father, fatherless Alex, Washington as Father of His Country and father figure to Alex, Dear Theodosia, the sins of the father being visited on Phillip...) and I wonder about the interplay between all that and LMM's own new-ish experience of fatherhood, and his closeness with his own father.

And what on earth are they going to do about the Southern Motherfucking Democratic Republicans during the kids' shows?
posted by GrammarMoses at 2:11 PM on March 10, 2016

On the topic of things noticed on repeat listening, and particularly the symmetry in the I fought with him/I died for him/I loved him part in the opening number... I've listened to the last number a zillion times but only recently noticed that when Eliza starts talking about Angelica, Angelica comes in at a couple of very specific and obviously consciously chosen points: her name motif (appropriate enough), with we tell your story, and the near you of buried in Trinity Church near you, which sent a chill down my neck the first time I noticed that it was in sync like that. So many beautiful little details buried throughout the whole thing; it's amazing.
posted by Kosh at 2:21 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

I wonder about the interplay between all that and LMM's own new-ish experience of fatherhood, and his closeness with his own father.

i would have to read through a million articles to find it, but i'm pretty sure lmm has said that one of the things that drew him into the story of hamilton was the parallels to his father, and that at its core, the show is deeply personal (this also applies to his mom, his wife, and the women in the show). a lion's share of the show was done before his wife was pregnant, but it seems fatherhood was deeply on his mind during the creation.
posted by nadawi at 2:35 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

I think I read (maybe on Twitter? maybe on Genius?) that Dear Theodosia was written right after they got a dog. ;)
posted by epersonae at 2:53 PM on March 10, 2016

as it happens, just the other day i was reading this great little slice of life piece on miranda, which talks more about their dog (also, if i did my math right - this is probably right before or right after they learned that vanessa was pregnant).
posted by nadawi at 3:01 PM on March 10, 2016

When I first started talking about Hamilton, my boyfriend, a Canadian, thought momentarily that I was talking about a musical about the city of Hamilton, Ontario but despite that rocky start he's now as obsessed as I am and we're hoping to see it this year even though it is going to cost so, so, so much money.
posted by kate blank at 3:09 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

It was on his Twitter - someone asked him if he wrote it after having his son and he was like "nope, I had just gotten my dog!" And I'm pretty sure he was joking but as a dog owner I would also believe that he wasn't!
posted by lunasol at 3:14 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

LMM has also been doing a lot recently to help a local New York theater institution - Drama Book Shop is a local theater- centric bookstore which everyone with any connection to NY theater in any level knows about. They carry books about every aspect of the business, as well as copies of just about every play there is.

They had a pipe burst in the shop a few weeks back, causing a huge flood which wiped out a lot of their stock. They've cleaned up, but restocking was going to be costly. So the theater community took up the cause to encourage everyone to go on a buying spree there as a way to get Drama Book Shop some quick cash - and LMM was front and center in the promotion, and even devoted a HamForHam video to spreading the word.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:24 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Pipe Bursts at Drama Bookstore. Enter ‘Hamilton’ Creator to Drum Up Business. NYT link

A playlet in four acts, set in the Drama Book Shop, 250 West 40th Street, near Eighth Avenue, starring A BURST PIPE as the villain, and LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, the creator of “Hamilton,” as one of many heroes.

Act I. Time: Early morning, Feb. 15

SHAWN VERRIER, a manager, arrives to open the store for the day. Sees that the front windows are fogged up. Looks puzzled. Unlocks the door. Looks up at ceiling. Sees water dripping — a lot of water. Sees a sheet of ice on the floor — water that had frozen after pouring down from A BURST PIPE upstairs. PIPE’S motivation for bursting is unclear.

posted by rtha at 6:28 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

> Another Round is a podcast you should be listening to even when it's not about Hamilton.

Also, now I am hooked on a new podcast - this one was great, I love those hosts. Thanks!
posted by rtha at 6:29 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

"I think the only thing I can add to this thread that hasn't been said is fuck Charles Lee. Wheee!"

I'm still working on writing up some long-ass book reviews featuring Charles Lee (seriously, what a fucker), Laurens, HERCULES MULLIGAN even though there's not a whole lot, etc. The book I read on Lee is called "Charles Lee: Self Before Country," and ain't that the truth.

I went to the dentist.

I am also having extreme dental work this year and I had Hamilton on during said surgery this morning.

Thought 2: I hope they WILL be performing "Say No to This" at this family event, except instead of adultery, the thing he is not sure he can say no to is eating too many cookies,

Pretty sure this is gonna be a Sesame Street parody.

A friend I have who has seen it said that peggy/maria is dressed as Maria when she says she loved him.

I read somewhere that supposedly the actress is supposed to be a mix of the two there and is wearing Peggy's earrings? I dunno who'd be able to tell that detail though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:31 PM on March 10, 2016

A friend I have who has seen it said that peggy/maria is dressed as Maria when she says she loved him.

The people who play two characters have a third outfit for company numbers and that's what she's wearing then. It's the same reason that Daveed Diggs doesn't sing with a French accent or a southern twang when he says "I fought with him" -- he's both/neither characters.
posted by kate blank at 6:49 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oh, guess who also had a dental procedure and then had to sing on top of it?
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:31 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

[stage show spoilers follow]

The cast all have a neutral beige costume called the "storyteller costume" that goes under the over-jackets and -dresses of the specific characters. Burr is the only one in the opening number wearing a color: the dark brown velvet jacket you've probably seen in photos.

At the start of the "In New York you can be a new man" bridge, a company member hands LOJ a buck-brown jacket that he hands to Philippa Soo, who helps Alexander into it. He shoulders his bookbag and gets onto the "ship" at that point, but the rest of the company and principals are still in storyteller beige for the "we" segment.

There are similar coat changes throughout the rest of the show to indicate the passing of time and allegiances. I am not sure about Peggy/Maria's earrings in the opening song.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:36 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]

I know that we've already mentioned the foreshadowing of Laurens' tragic end, but can we pause for a moment to celebrate instead the optimistic hope that he'd SALLY IN ON A STALLION WITH THE FIRST BLACK BATALLION?

I love those lines.
posted by TwoStride at 8:32 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

Pretty sure this is gonna be a Sesame Street parody.

Won't be the first.
posted by persona at 8:34 PM on March 10, 2016

You guys. YOU GUYS! I just now purchased Hamilton tickets for April. I am giddy with glee and I figured if anyone would understand, it would be my fellow Hamilnerd mefites.
posted by lunasol at 10:04 PM on March 10, 2016 [11 favorites]

I am like 98% sure that Obama has a presidential bucket list for his last year in office. Most of it is probably policy stuff, but there has to have been a moment when he stared into the middle distance in a thoughtful manner and said, "I'm going to have the cast of Hamilton come perform at the White House. Yeah, I can do that. You know why? 'Cause I'm the President."

And then he did. Because he's the President.

(also I'm seeing it March 29 eeeeeeeee)
posted by nonasuch at 11:00 PM on March 10, 2016 [14 favorites]

I've been obsessing over Hamilton for a few months, and now I'm going back to NJ (where everything is legal) for a visit next month--reading this thread has basically convinced me I really should throw an obscene amount of money on some tickets.
posted by lullaby at 1:49 AM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]

When the cast starts to turn over, I hope someone casts Russell from Sparks as King George. (Paul Weller would also be acceptable.)
posted by pxe2000 at 3:39 AM on March 11, 2016

In April I'm going back home (NYC) for a weeklong visit, and I'm determined to see the show, even though I don't have a ticket yet. Will be entering the lottery daily, but am also saving my pennies in case I have to go the online-resale route. lunasol, is that what you did?
posted by GrammarMoses at 5:19 AM on March 11, 2016

I'd posted a thing about Hamilton on my fb and a cousin of gingerbeer's - who is a nice dude! we like him! - came in and was all "it's bad and historically inaccurate and musically anachronistic and anyway rap is bad because sampling is stealing." I managed to reply politely but it was getting hard and then he decided it was better to delete his comments (it was) and so I hope that will be the end of that. Sigh.

We are going to be in New York City - the greatest city in the world! - in May for a reason that is not to see Hamilton, but we figured that since we were already going to be there, well...so yeah, we're also going to see Hamilton. I am already twitching in anticipatory delight.
posted by rtha at 6:21 AM on March 11, 2016 [5 favorites]

If you don't have the entire bucket of money for a resale ticket but have some money to spend, a friend of mine went last week and saw it a second time by paying someone to get in the cancellation line for her at 2am. She took over sitting in the morning, was the 6th ticket in the cancellation line, got 10th row center (obviously there's no guarantee you'll get a seat that good, but it was for face value + sitter fees which I think were $25 for the first hour and $20/hr after).

I don't actually know how you get a line sitter, I assume this is an informal arrangement and you can find someone outside the theater offering those services.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:56 AM on March 11, 2016

Will be entering the lottery daily, but am also saving my pennies in case I have to go the online-resale route. lunasol, is that what you did?

Yep, that's what I did. I considered trying my luck with the lottery, but I'll only have three days and, honestly, it's one of those things I would regret if I didn't do it.
posted by lunasol at 7:06 AM on March 11, 2016

Ok. Just bit the bullet and bought the cheapest resale tickets I could find for the time that I'll be there!! It appears to me that day-of (or even week-of) resale tickets are even more crazily expensive than they are in advance, so I figure it would be a pricy error to wait around for a possible lottery victory.

I can't believe I'm actually gonna see it AND that I just spent that much money on a ticket that does not involve an airplane.
posted by lullaby at 7:40 AM on March 11, 2016

We're going to NYC/NJ in October for a bar mitzvah and I got tickets for October 12!
posted by matildaben at 8:00 AM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

So... has anyone linked to the Angela Merkel Hamilton parody yet? (Found it in the Toast comments)
posted by Wretch729 at 9:02 AM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Philip dies in his duel and Theodosia, after losing her son at age 10, is lost at sea at 29.

I have a history headcannon that Theodosia actually survived the shipwreck, but faked her death because she knew society would not allow her to pursue her ambitions as an intelligent, headstrong woman. So she went off and became a pirate queen and explorer who explored Mexico and South America, etc. And Aaron Burr knew she was okay, because he would occasionally receive cryptic, unsigned notes that made literary references he knew she would make so he could recognize her as the writer.

You can't convince me this isn't what happened.
posted by meese at 10:08 AM on March 11, 2016 [11 favorites]

30 Years Before “Hamilton,” US Politics Were Rapped on NYC Stage
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:18 AM on March 11, 2016

a different part of Hamilton makes me cry each week or so

I think this might even be true for Lin-Manuel himself, the first time I saw the show, he cried during Yorktown while he sang "And as our fallen foes retreat I hear the drinking song they’re singing" and it just blew me away because it didn't feel like the obvious place for tears and I was obsessed with trying to figure out if he cried every night at that point but I couldn't verify it.

So, I got to see it a second time (I know, I know, I'm ridiculously fortunate - cancellation line is the way to go if you can) and this time there were no actual tears from him until "I know, I know, .. Save your strength and Stay alive… of course, at that point, we all joined him in tears.
posted by doublenelson at 10:40 AM on March 11, 2016 [5 favorites]

today for the very first time i thought i was going to make it all the way through the cast recording with no actual tears - sure, there were sniffles and a wet blink or two, but i managed to hold it - right up until the orphanage and then i bawled huge fat tears.
posted by nadawi at 10:57 AM on March 11, 2016 [7 favorites]

Wretch729: So... has anyone linked to the Angela Merkel Hamilton parody yet? (Found it in the Toast comments)

Oh shit. This is awesome.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:48 AM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

My nine-year-old daughter loves Hamilton (as do I), to the point where my husband and I are trying to figure out if we can swing the truly not inconsiderable sum to finance a 48-hour trip to NYC for her and I to see it. We've listened to the soundtrack together multiple times, and even my five year old loves it to the point where he will frequently bust out into "My Shot" or "The Room Where It Happens" during recess.

I cry at everything -- seriously, I cry at McDonald's commercials in Spanish, which I do not speak, so you can guess at the blubbery mess I am during Hamilton. My children lovingly tease me about this every time. But last night, driving home from girl choir practice in rush-hour traffic, we were listening to the Stay Alive reprise, and Lily said "Is the heartbeat in the background because Eliza and Alexander love Philip so much?" and I said "Pay attention to it and tell me what you think." So by the time Eliza says "Sept huit neuf" and Philip doesn't answer her, I am drawing in giant shuddering breaths as per usual and trying to blink away the tears so that I can drive safely, and my son says "Ha, mom's crying! Hey Lily, Mom's crying again! Lily! Lily, Mom's crying!" and Lily says, voice cracking, "shut up. we're not crying. nobody in this car is crying. MOM WHY DID YOU MAKE ME PAY ATTENTION TO THE HEARTBEAT WAAAAAAAAAH"
posted by KathrynT at 11:52 AM on March 11, 2016 [14 favorites]

This thread has given me An Idea For My Return To Freelance Writing.

.....I'm not saying anything just yet. I'm not throwing away my shot.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:53 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

My near-tears moment yesterday was "Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining brav’ry/We’ll never be free until we end slavery!" That mix of knowing that Laurens isn't going to make it, and that slavery is going to keep being...well, yeah. And in that song that has so much fierceness and swagger and joy....
posted by epersonae at 3:44 PM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]

That moment gets me too. Also, its pair in "Stay Alive:"

"I stay at work with Hamilton
We write essays against slavery
And every day’s a test of our camaraderie
And bravery."

LMM does so much with so little to paint a picture both of Laurens and his relationship with Hamilton. It's really beautiful.

This is actually the first time I noticed that LMM has the slavery/bravery rhyme twice: once with Hamilton talking about Laurens, and once with Laurens talking about Hamilton. It's one of those small things LMM does to tie different moments together.
posted by lunasol at 7:59 PM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]

This is so great: The Schuyler singers rap and sing feminist quotes.
posted by lunasol at 8:52 AM on March 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Schuyler sisters, not Schuyler singers. But if you're still reading this thread, you knew that.
posted by lunasol at 9:16 AM on March 12, 2016

EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR AMERICA’S FAVOURITE FIGHTING FRENCH-CANADIAN

(J Trudeau)
I’m takin’ my great nation’s reins
Making red turf redder with Lib gains

(J Trudeau)
And I’m never gonna stop until the hatred drops
And culturally my Canada remains

(J Trudeau)
Watch me financing ‘em
Entrancing ‘im
Bromancing ‘im

I know that you have more funds
(J Trudeau)
But we do not want your guns

And ‘ships
Since Trudeau made the trip

We pair him with Obama and take pictures of their lips

We can make both countries greater, cut the hatred and screed
But for this to succeed, now there’s slashfic on Buzzfeed

(sorry)
posted by ilana at 2:49 PM on March 13, 2016 [10 favorites]

Looks like the show is supposed to start at 5:30 PM ET. Livestream at the White House website, although I'm not sure if it's just for the president's speech or if they'll be showing any of the performance.
posted by lullaby at 1:54 PM on March 14, 2016

Oh man was I supposed to be productive right now? I was LOVING watching the backs of heads during My Shot. The president clearly shares my strong feelings about that verse monologue!
posted by prefpara at 3:04 PM on March 14, 2016

TWO SONGS?!??? *foams at the mouth*
posted by valrus at 3:10 PM on March 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

I did not throw away my shot to rewind the livestream and watch it twice.
posted by prefpara at 3:31 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I let my children out of timeout to watch the livestream. Given the behavior that landed them in timeout, this was a carefully weighed decision. Even at only two songs, it was the right thing to do.
posted by KathrynT at 3:34 PM on March 14, 2016

i thought it was supposed to be more!! :( maybe a fuller video will go up later...
posted by nadawi at 3:37 PM on March 14, 2016

ahhhhh they're holding the footage for the pbs spot
posted by nadawi at 5:05 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

Slate has video, if you can navigate their popups to actually get to it.
posted by suelac at 5:13 PM on March 14, 2016

Obama's speech about Hamilton, which does a really nice job explaining why people are crazy for it.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:25 PM on March 14, 2016

Freestyle with Lin-Manuel and the President. Because he's the president.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:10 PM on March 14, 2016 [4 favorites]

I was just about to post that link. So I'll just second it and say that it is a delight hearing our president ordering someone to "drop that beat."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:11 PM on March 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

I did not throw away my shot to rewind the livestream and watch it twice.

Once I noticed POTUS's and FLOTUS's heads at the bottom of the screen, I needed to watch again just to watch them bopping along.
posted by gladly at 6:23 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

I was somewhat surprised--and delighted--that they didn't censor "My Shot."
posted by TwoStride at 6:35 PM on March 14, 2016

I can't decide what I loved the most about this video:

1. Daveed Digg's face when anyone else was performing.

2. Becoming pretty sure that Barack was singing or at least mouthing along at the end of My Shot and realizing he's the biggest Hamilnerd of all.

3. Well, the performance, which was so good, and how did they make the vocals sound so amazing in a room like that?
posted by lunasol at 7:50 PM on March 14, 2016 [3 favorites]

For me, the best part was watching FLOTUS' shoulders bounce. She was definitely mouthing along.

Can I assume there were more women from the company there than just Philippa Soo? Because there was certainly more than one female voice on the first song.
posted by suelac at 10:49 PM on March 14, 2016 [1 favorite]

What are @reneeelisegolds, @JasCephasJones and @Phillipasoo gonna do? A show for the Obamas! #Bam4Ham
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 3:32 AM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

lunasol, I'm with you on loving Daveed's face and expressions during the performance! And seeing the performance instead of only listening to it makes Anthony Ramos stand out more to me. I may or may not have watched it four more times today, so far.
posted by lullaby at 5:48 AM on March 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

NYTImes: ‘Hamilton’ Takes a Road Trip to the White House
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:53 AM on March 15, 2016

I'll just leave this here as a testament to the richness of the pageant that is American political life...

Monica Lewinsky (???): "even i'm gonna retweet this...amazing "
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:31 AM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

From the NYTimes link:

Brody Brown, a student at Loudoun County High School, asked him what inspired his creative process.

“All of it,” Mr. Miranda said, name-checking the rappers Big Pun and Biggie Smalls, as well as crediting Shakespeare, the Bible, podcasts and the Beatles.

MBMBAM confirmed to be on par with Shakespeare, the Bible, and the Beatles.
posted by kmz at 9:22 AM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

Livestream at the White House website

Is there a place to watch it now? I can only find the video of the freestyling, not the other songs.
posted by kate blank at 10:34 AM on March 15, 2016

Is there a place to watch it now? I can only find the video of the freestyling, not the other songs.

Here's the President

Alexander Hamilton

My Shot
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:42 AM on March 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

THANK YOU SO MUCH.
posted by kate blank at 10:54 AM on March 15, 2016

Alongside Broadway star, lawmakers pitch relief for Puerto Rico in D.C.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:33 PM on March 15, 2016

Brody Brown, a student at Loudoun County High School, asked him what inspired his creative process.

One thing: I wonder how many kids were there? The kids I could see on the video all looked really white (at least, as much as I could see of them), which would be ... odd for the DC area. But maybe there were a lot more kids, and they reflected the diversity of the region? It would be weird and a super bummer if it were a bunch of kids from places like Loudon County (nothing against Loudon County, but it's known for horses and rich white people).
posted by lunasol at 7:52 PM on March 15, 2016

i saw a bunch of pictures that seemed to show it was a very diverse group of teenagers.
posted by nadawi at 8:16 PM on March 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

One thing: I wonder how many kids were there? The kids I could see on the video all looked really white (at least, as much as I could see of them), which would be ... odd for the DC area. But maybe there were a lot more kids, and they reflected the diversity of the region? It would be weird and a super bummer if it were a bunch of kids from places like Loudon County (nothing against Loudon County, but it's known for horses and rich white people).


This article lists three of the schools. This article says it was about 100 students total. Here's some demographic data on one of them, Laurel High School in Maryland. Here's demographics for another one, Osbourn High School in Manassas.
posted by anastasiav at 8:09 AM on March 16, 2016

Thanks nadawi and anastasiav. I just really hope at least some of the kids were from DC public schools.
posted by lunasol at 8:31 AM on March 16, 2016

So among the things Miranda did in Washington was meet with the Secretary of the Treasury. He was told that Hamilton fans "would be very happy" with the new $10 bill.

So... that's encouraging. Harriet Tubman? Eliza Schuyler Hamilton?

HERCULES MULLIGAN NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION.
posted by suelac at 10:02 AM on March 16, 2016

he's been saying for a while he doesn't think hamilton on the $10 is going anywhere. sadly, i think the popularity of the show has harmed efforts to get a woman on our currency any time soon.
posted by nadawi at 12:52 PM on March 16, 2016

Digital #Ham4Ham 3/16/16 -- History is Happening In DC
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:09 PM on March 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

(Is this the new Hamilton thread? One assumes so.)

Lin-Manuel had a phone interview with William Daniels, who played John Adams in 1776. Lovely chat.
posted by suelac at 10:00 PM on March 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenyyyyyyy
posted by kmz at 6:01 AM on March 17, 2016

suelac that interview is really great, thanks!
posted by Wretch729 at 6:50 AM on March 17, 2016

This link has probably been dropped somewhere on this site in the last month or so, but in case not: BroadwayCon 2016 - History is Happening In Manhattan: The Hamilton Panel. I'm listening/watching right now and it is fantastic. Yes, there is impromptu freestyling.
posted by rtha at 8:25 AM on March 17, 2016

The mashup you didn't know you needed
posted by kmz at 11:39 AM on March 17, 2016

Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda & Emma Watson Talk #HeForShe & Geek Out Over Hamilton & Harry Potter
posted by doublenelson at 12:42 PM on March 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

As far as I'm concerned, they should just release an album called HAMILTON FOR SINGING TO YOUR PUPPY, 'cause everyone's doing it. ("Why do you assuuuuuuuuuume/you're the cutest in the room?")

A favorite in our house is, "the sweetest puppy in the wooooorld."
posted by SugarAndSass at 1:41 PM on March 17, 2016

doublenelson's link is great and the interview covers all sorts of important topics (stick to the end to see LMM convince Emma to try beatboxing for him). But forget about all that. I got in a friendly argument on Metafilter a while ago about sorting Hamilton into a Hogwarts house and I am feeling so vindicated that LMM joins me in rejecting the wishy-washy half this/half this nonsense. Even if he and Emma and, apparently, Daniel Radcliffe all disagree with me about which house Hamilton sorts into. (They are allowed to be wrong.)
posted by Wretch729 at 2:46 PM on March 17, 2016

I really want to make an FPP out of the Emma Watson interview but the only versions are on Facebook (which I imagine lots of people hate for FPPs and may actually be against the rules?), so I'm going to wait and see if they put it on youtube. But in the meantime, I can't get over how ridiculously charming the two of them are together. A few things from those videos:

1. Love how he doesn't hesitate for even a second, or qualify at all, when she asks if he is a feminist. A small thing but so great.

2. Turns out Dear Theodosia really was written after he got his dog! Also, my dog was also a stray puppy brought back from Latin America with his sister by a friend who was on vacation. So if I ever meet LMM I guess I know what to talk with him about.

3. I really like her sorting of Eliza and Angelica.

Now I want the two of them to have a weekly show where they just chit chat about things.
posted by lunasol at 5:14 PM on March 17, 2016

"rejecting the wishy-washy half this/half this nonsense."

You know, I've decided to embrace the half/half nonsense (I assume you're referring to The Sorting Hat Chats) because (a) it makes more sense, and (b) really, what is this, fricking Divergent where we can only be one personality trait ever?

Also, that's kinda rich coming from the girl who really should have been in Ravenclaw just as easily. And probably should have been.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:53 PM on March 17, 2016

jenfullmoon you are also allowed to be wrong ;)
Actually you're allowed to do anything you want because your Hamilton/Book of Mormon mashups in that other thread cracked me up. I would watch that in a heartbeat.

(Sorry about the derail but for anybody who wants to geek out about Potter nonsense there's a reread happening on Fanfare.)
posted by Wretch729 at 8:31 PM on March 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

this article about javier muñoz [miranda's alternate] dealing with his recent cancer diagnosis is so touching, especially in the details of how the production really cares for one another.

i've been going back and watching some of the quick little interviews or snippets from in the heights and the early hamilton stuff and it's lovely to see how so many of the people show up there and now. what is happening behind the curtain is just as impressive as what's happening on the stage, i think.
posted by nadawi at 8:30 AM on March 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

nice little profile on anthony ramos (laurens/phillip) from teen vogue of all places.
posted by nadawi at 9:51 AM on March 18, 2016 [1 favorite]

So I'm just back from my first-ever Hamilton singalong and it was fucking awesome. The room was very hot and very packed. There was a sign-up sheet for people who wanted to take the lead and there were mics and a stage but really, everyone just sang everything (though the dude who did Lafayette in Guns and Ships? AWESOME!). I talked to random people the whole evening and it was all lovely. I bet solid money that anyone in this thread who lives somewhere with independent, quirky bars that have even primitive sound systems could call those bars up and arrange for this on off-nights (or even popular nights: pretty sure we dropped a lotta cash at our bar). Do it!

(From what I can gather, there was one or maybe two? in L.A. before this.)
posted by rtha at 10:42 PM on March 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

Today's #Bam4Ham -- a West Wing-style walk and talk Cabinet battle!
posted by gingerbeer at 1:32 PM on March 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

from McSweeney's: I Saw Hamilton So Now I'm Going to Orphan My Son
posted by lullaby at 12:34 PM on March 27, 2016

With obligatory post: "Yeah, That's A Concern".
posted by epersonae at 5:24 PM on March 28, 2016

Hamilton coming to Seattle in 2017 (at the Paramount, no dates announced yet). Paramount subscribers will get first dibs on tickets.
posted by matildaben at 11:06 AM on April 1, 2016