- Jake Jeppson's Advice for Playwrights (how to get started!)
- What actors want: Actors Imagine their Dream Roles (then ask your drama friends what kinds of roles they would love to play on stage...)
- Time Management for Playwrights by Martin Zimmerman
- Review: All About the Hamiltons (New Yorker)
- Review: "Why the show isn't as revolutionary as it seems"
- Using Jeppson's and/or Zimmerman's advice, along with the article on what actors want, speculate (write) your opinion as to why Hamilton, the Musical might interest or encourage actors to accept a role in the play. Also, comment on Miranda's success in starting and finishing his play from brainstorming/idea gathering to publication (drafting, revising, editing, etc.). Obviously, use specific details from the texts [to prove you understood and read these articles] for full credit.
- A story based on history or historical legends
- Hubris (a tragic flaw or Hamartia of a character who feels he/she is too great, powerful, or perfect to make a mistake...this is usually taking the gods or fate for granted, or ignoring the natural reality of life, etc.)
- A good (or powerful) character comes to a bad end (usually as a result of the character's hubris or hamartia)
- A peripety (turning point or change of fortune)
- An anagnorisis (a discovery) (enlightenment)
- A chorus representing the Populus (the people)
- Aristotle's 6 elements of a play: Character, Plot, Idea, Language, Music, Spectacle
- Stasimon (choral singing together)
- Stichomythia (alternating short lines of dialogue between 2 or more characters)
- Parados/exodus (the entrance of the chorus (parados) and the exit of the chorus (exodus))
- Deus Ex Machina (a contrived ending)
CLASSROOM TASK: As we read find examples of theatrical conventions used in the musical. Also, find at least 1 example of each of the Greek Tragedy elements (see handout) as we read/listen to Acts 1 & 2 of the play. You will turn in your notes at the end of the reading.
70th Annual Tony Award Opening (parody)
70th Annual Tony Awards: Hamilton Medley
70th Annual Tony Award Opening (parody)
70th Annual Tony Awards: Hamilton Medley
HOMEWORK: Please bring your scripts back with you to next class. Continue to take notes on your handout. This handout will be due when we complete the play next week.
10 comments:
The reason why actors were so drawn to Hamilton, the Musical is because it was this new approach to a historical event and to people in history, and people are drawn to fresh ideas. Miranda was able to develop these historical people in a manner that a lot of actors felt compelled to take on these roles; they saw a part of themselves in these particular roles because these characters were sculpted around America's diversity today, so a lot of the actors may have felt represented.
Miranda's success in starting and finishing of the play is based on the seven years that he took to conjure up and completely develop the musical. "His inspiration first hit when had been on vacation in Mexico...he started to read...Ron Chernow’s eight-hundred-page biography of Alexander Hamilton"(Mead). When reading the biography, "Miranda saw Hamilton’s relentlessness, brilliance, linguistic dexterity, and self-destructive stubbornness through his own idiosyncratic lens"(Mead). Juxtaposing his own history and Hamilton's history is made him want to diversify the concept of the play. In addition, him having "Hamilton reminded him of his father, Luis A. Miranda, Jr."(Mead) and "remind[ing] [him] Miranda of Tupac Shakur" contributed to this concept. It gave him an insight that any body could share the same experiences as Hamilton without actually having to be a founding father. Miranda's incorporation of Hip-Hop largely stems from his belief that " 'Hip-hop can save the theater' ". Which is another aspect of modern day America in the play along with America's current state as a melting pot.
Miranda took seven years to write Hamilton, after doing lots of research and subsequent brainstorming. Zimmerman talks about "Pomodoros," which are essentially short periods of nonstop writing followed by breaks (in order to avoid procrastination); Miranda probably wasn't writing all the time, focused on just doing it when he could, as seven years is significant amount of time. In order to bring actors to the role, there is no type-casting and it's a rap-musical. According to "What actors want: Actors Imagine Their Dream Roles," most actors want a role that is complex, has lots of lines, and breaks some barrier or boundary in a way that is interesting or revolutionary. Hamilton is different from the average musical, which will attract actors to the play, but these differences are also cause for a writer to worry about its reception. McCarter and Miranda comment briefly on their fears about this, as is natural. It was also interesting, in the reviews, how quickly media adopted the idea of Miranda getting the idea in Mexico (All About the Hamiltons/New Yorker),the fantastical tale, when in the information on the Hamilton packet before the play, McCarter digresses that it's not totally true.
Madison Sutherland:
One of the main things I noticed from reading the article, "Actors imagine their dream roles" is that they all like to play interesting and well-developed characters. Some people want crazy characters that no one has ever heard of before, and some want more general personality traits. In Hamilton, the characters aren't gimmicky and they feel like real people. This way, there are real emotions and the actors have something to work with. In the article, "All About the Hamiltons" the author explores his writing process as well as the reception of the play. Since it originally started as a "concept album about Hamilton" and he was inspired by rappers like Tupac as well as the non-fiction biography about Hamilton, the musical is unique in its origins as well as the type of music and characters within.
I think Hamilton interested and encouraged other actors because as the articles stated, the Hamilton was very unique at the time it was written. No one had even thought of mixing hip hop with playwright, and so, for some actors, they might have just had wanted to try something new and in their time, something revolutionary. But it was also very unique in a sense of history and how the musical represents history. There is no actual full out historical record of every single one of the character so that leaves Miranda to carve and mold the character to how he sees fit and best. I think the success was very much worth it because he spent so much time on it. 8 whole years.
The play/musical Hamilton on the life of real life immigrant turned american hero Alexander Hamilton by Playwright genius Lin Manuel Miranda will and has interest and/or encouraged actors to accept a role in the play because according to "What actors want: Actors Imagine their Dream Roles" many of the actors dream roles included already established people who are living their story or have lived through it, and Hamilton is full of important and prominent historical figures. As for Lin Manuel Miranda has much success with this play through his seven years of brainstorming and work on it. In the New Yorker it says that as he read the book on Alexander Hamilton in mexico, he found that "Hamilton also reminded Miranda of Tupac Shakur" and so he incorporated hip-hop into it and thus making Hamilton, Hamilton. Ironically as for the ending where Hamiltons death mirrors Tupacs, is the one scene where hip-hop hadn't inspired a scene, the article goes on to say that he went out walking with his notebook,but left his headphones behind and the last scene of the play was born. The play was performed at the white house where even Obama laughed at the idea, and not much long after the play was a Broadway hit and is currently on tour.
I think that actors would be so drawn to Hamilton because your taking history which can sometimes be boring and turning it into live action with music and dance and in a way putting you in history. And for it to have taken Miranda 8 years I feel like the sucess it has was deffinitly worth it and i'm glad it did.
Hamilton was a very new idea at the time it was written so it was very inspiring and encouraging for other actors who wished to accomplish the same goals. Hamilton uses rap music and hip hop to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton in the revolutionary period. Lin Manuel Miranda does a good job of creating the character into something that really enhances the story
It seems that a lot of actors want to play parts that are unique and that also challenge stereotypes and divert from how people from that race, ethnicity, body type, personality type, etc.. are usually written. For example, the women who wanted to play a "black female superhero who wears a giant afro, " or the women who wanted to play a fully developed Asian women who passes the Bechdel test. I think that actors are hungry to step out of the box their race, body type...etc. has given them in theater, and try something new that feels authentic. This then makes sense why Hamilton would be attractive to actors. It takes actors of color and gives them the chance to play powerful, well known, leading, men and women who's character's success/downfalls have nothing to do with race. This is probably a unique opportunity.
Miranda seemed to pull a lot of his ideas from other musicals and artists like Les Mis, Sondheim, and Tupac. Being inspired by other artists is not cheating, and is the way we can push and improve ourselves. Miranda also had to edit and revise like crazy and couldn't be afraid to discard things. For example, he had to change the way the entire ending was told.
Hamilton was unique at the time period it was in it was written to a audience who doesn't want to give up and to reach there goals back then music was a big thing also so for him to throw in some songs was a good idea because some people remember things by music. the author does a very good job with creating each character because every character has a role that someone should remember the author seemed inspired by other plays and people in that time period all the time the author took to make the play was worth it because it came out very good and popular in the end.
When Hamilton was written it was new during that time era because there was nothing else like it. Hamilton also made the play more live because instead of it being boring and read regularly, it was read with music and dances. Even though it was fun to read, it still told the story that had to be told.
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