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treehoes · 6 years

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Ok so I saw Hamilton today (4-4-18) on broadway and here’s like a lil review of how amazing it was

•Alexander Hamilton- I was going through so much shock that i was actually there I don’t remember much but the placements of all the characters during the “me? I _____ him” was spot on

•Aaron Burr Sir- The guy playing burr made burr so sarcastic it was great

•My Shot- This is probably my least favorite song but like the bros™️ were hitting the table with cups and their fists and it was so cool

•The Story of Tonight -Very low key bros being bros drinkin

•The Schuyler Sisters- The “and Peggy” was so like hey what about me it was great. Also those girls are phenomenal like wish I was half as talented

•Farmer Refuted-I’m pretty sure thayne Jasperson was the og Samuel seabury and he’s on point like Hamilton was all up in his face and he just pushed ham away and moved his box in front of him

•You’ll Be Back- Ok so king George was a great singer but he sang kinda annoyingly and I thought that really portrayed king George

•right hand man- G-wash was so great honestly and the ensemble in this song was so awesome and on point

•A winters ball- Reliable with the LADIES

•helpless- Lexi Lawson is very different from Phillipa soo but she’s so talented and absolutely killed it also Hercules as the flower girl was the best creative decision ever

•satisfied- Um ok so like actually shook Mandy fricking Gonzales is so talented like at the part at the end she not only killed it, she stabbed it 27 times and drop kicked it to mars like it was a mouth drop open and they redid everything from helpless perfectly 11/10 one of the best parts

•the story of tonight reprise- Drunk Lauren’s is the best

•wait for it- Ok home slices you know how much I went off on how good satisfied was well, this was 100 times better. Burr was better than Leslie Odom by a lot he was the best in the show

•stay alive-There were British soldiers in the background it was cool also Charles Lee was funny cuz he’s a general WEEEE

•10 duel commandments-Laurens, who has just shot someone: fuck ya I just shot that bitch fuck him.

Me: I’m so proud of you

•meet me inside- Ham: im not your son

G-wash: that sound fake but ok

•that would be enough-Again, Lexi Lawson slayed as eliza like she was pregnant and still killing it

•guns and ships- Lafayette was mega fast like I know all the words to that song and I could barely understand what he was saying but he was still great

•history has its eyes on you- G-wash gave ham a sword and when he put it in the holder it made such a nice noise

•Yorktown- I love big group numbers like this the choreography was on point. Right before herc entered they were waving redcoats and he burst through them and it was awesome

•what comes next-King George went im so blue and all the lights turned blue I just really like that part

•dear theodosia-This is my favorite song on the soundtrack and I wish they did a bit more with it onstage cuz they kinda just stood and sat and that was it

•the part where Laurens dies that I can’t remember the name of- Ok this was so sad but herc and Lafayette were up on the top part with the same letter that eliza was reading to ham and I didn’t know that they did that and it made the scene a lot more sad

•non stop- Ham is so extra I love it. They had chairs to represent ham, john jay and Madison and they all faced backwards and when John jay got sick after writing five they flipped his chair around and they took away Madison’s chair when he only did 29 and Hamilton was sitting in the third chair and I just really liked the way they did that. Also when ham goes to burr in the middle of the night there’s a light that makes it look like burr is standing in a doorway and I just really liked that lil detail also non stop is the song that got me and my friend that i went with into Hamilton so it has a special place in my heart

•intermission- Umm pretty boring actually, 15 minutes of random dudes coming on and off stage making sure everything is ok, no singing or dancing 0/10 but here’s a photo of me at intermission

•what’d I miss- Ok so at the start of this, ensemble came out from different places and one of them came from the orchestra hole and I thought that was hilarious also this is 10x better on stage than it is on the soundtrack the ensemble was all on point doin their thing

•cabinet battle one- There was a mic drop and that’s all I wanted from this song and I got it

•take a break- Ok so Philip was great in this he was so nervous doing his poem and eliza was beatboxing like the true queen she is. And the beginning part made great use of the circle thing on the stage like ham was facing back when Philip and Eliza sang and then it circled him to the front and Philip and eliza to face the back I loved it

•say no to this- Spoiler, Hamilton didn’t say no. Also James Reynolds had a southern accent and I thought it was so funny

•the room where it happens- I said it once I’ll say it again burr was phenomenal like his lil dance was awesome this song blew me the fuck away

•Schuyler defeated- Idk what to say about this one except for I liked that Philip and eliza were on the balcony thing off to stage left

•cabinet battle 2- I love that these are rap battle but also epic rap battles of history is literally this cuz it’s a musical about history also when Madison said France it was so small it made it more funny

•Washington on your side- When they go OH the lights went big on the floor it was cool. Also “look at the bill of rights, which I wrote” I always thought Jefferson said which I wrote so since I started listening to Hamilton, I’ve had three tests/quizzes with a question on who wrote the constitution and the bill of rights and I always put Jefferson cuz of this line and I always got it wrong so fuck you hamilton

•one last time- I cried, g-wash was so good at the end of this song I can’t I want to hear him sing this every day

•I know him- When the lady whispered in his ear he was like what cuz like john Adams? That’s short bitch?

•the adams administration- Ham drops a stack of papers from the balcony and it hits the ground on a big beat and it was soo cool

•we know- Hamilton spills his soul out and Jefferson burr and Madison are like :o

•hurricane- I never really liked this song too much but The ham dude did it so amazing and the lighting looked like water and hurricanish

•the Reynolds pamphlet- Ok king George is in this and it’s the funniest thing ever cuz he’s all like I told you that you guys would suck and look! A very upper person had an affair

•burn- I’ve seen bootlegs of this song so many times but there’s nothing like seeing it onstage cuz it goes black at the end and all you can see is the fire from her lantern it’s beautiful

•blow us all away- I love Philips character cuz he’s such a kid and he’s great and talks a little fast

•stay alive reprise- I cried real hard during this, 11/10 death, would cry about again

•its quiet uptown- So sad lots of crying from the big tough looking guy sitting next to me. I really like how angelica narrates it I think that’s cute

•election of 1800- Ham: sad cuz of sons death

Everyone, chanting: choose you Bitch we’re incapable of doing it ourselves

But Jefferson did an I win dance when he was endorsed and burr was like wtf bro guess i gotta kill you now

•your obedient servant- When Hamilton writes a letter to burr it was 5 pages long and they had a different person deliver each page and the last girl had two and was doing a little dance to deliver them it was great

•best of wives best of women- Look at ham writing his note to next of kin, love your wife more she’s Lexi Lawson for Christ’s sake

•the world was wide enough- I cried even tho I knew he was gonna die. Hams part where there was no music was so dramatic and g-wash came on and hams Mom and Laurens/Philip it was so sad I loved it

•who lives who dies who tells your story

Thinking about this is gonna make me cry again but Hamilton was not in this number at all and I thought that was great cuz he’s dead but honestly fabulous way to end the show I’m shoooook

All in all it was a beautiful show, much more than I could have ever asked for. We had terrible seats but that’s ok cuz it’s Hamilton. The lighting and dancing and blocking was phenomenal I never really notice anything like that when I see shows but it was so good I talked about the lighting for 5 minutes straight and I don’t know jack shit about lighting

#hamilton #alexander hamilton #aaron burr #eliza schuyler #eliza hamilton #angelica schuyler #peggy schuyler #maria reynolds #james madison #thomas jefferson #hercules muligan #john laurens #philip hamilton #george washington

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erikathewriter · 7 years

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Why Every Writer Should Listen to Hamilton: An American Musical

I didn’t say a writer who writes poetry, or a novelist, I said <b>”writers”<b/>. Anyone who writes.

I have listened to the Hamilton soundtrack in its entirety four times in two months and some of the songs more than fifty. So when I say that a writer should listen to this soundtrack, I mean it very genuinely. After listening to this soundtrack, you will be motivated to write, I can tell you this right now. I will tell you why:

<b>1. Music is poetry.</b>

This is common knowledge, but Lin-Manuel Miranda takes it to a completely different level. Rap is fast spoken word poetry, essentially. His lyrics are pure genius, and some of them are metaphorical:

<div style=“text-align: right;”>”Foes impose us. We take an honest stand. We roll, like Moses, claiming on promised lands.</div>

Other lyrics are amazing analogies:

<div style=“text-align: right;”>”You have married an Icarus, who has flown too close to the sky.”</div>

These could hands-down be used as inspiration, like everything else a writer is surrounded by. Lin’s rhymes make the entire musical worth it!

<b>2. Tension</b>

If you listen to the soundtrack, you can pick up on how the composer makes the audience feel tension with the characters with the use of percussion. The heartbeats in “Stay Alive (Reprise)” lets the audience know that this is a life or death situation and when the heartbeats stop, it tells the audience that someone died. The soldier drums (yes, I’m <i>very</i> educated in music) in “My Shot”, “Yorktown”, and “History Has Its Eyes On You” show the audience that the characters are at war or that a character is thinking about war. The lack of music in Hamilton’s lead in “The World Was Wide Enough” show the audience Hamilton’s life flashing before his eyes and helps create more feeling in the scene.

In a novel, this could be an overuse of words in a scene to create tension, or a lack of words. If a character is thrust into an action scene and you let it calm down for just a moment to let your reader breathe, that creates tension. If you describe a scene very graphically or if you describe how quickly the world went into utter chaos, that also creates tension.

Also, the tension between characters is very well done. Lin uses a lot of references to previous songs to show how grave a scene is, like the references between “Yorktown” and “My Shot” and between “Meet Me Inside” and “Cabinet Battle #1″. Also, when Hamilton references almost every song in the musical in “The World Was Wide Enough”. No shade intended. *distant sobbing*

This is an awesome trick for final books in a series or sequels; like when a reader somehow picks up the second book in a series instead of the first, or when it’s the last book and you want to make a reader feel something by making them think about the journey they had with the characters or when they read it for the first time.

Oooh… this is one of my favourite parts in storytelling, and Hamilton once again manages to ace it. The more you listen to the soundtrack, the more you’ll find that the songs start to blend and you really see the story shine. Every song in Hamilton is like a chapter in a novel, as well as its content. Every word in Hamilton has been put into consideration. Every note, every drum, every skit.

The opening number, “Alexander Hamilton” gives the audience a brief look into Hamilton’s life without revealing too much and enough to keep the audience interested. We also get some of Hamilton’s tragic backstory, which makes you sympathize for the character and root for his success as a protagonist. We also get a glimpse of what’s going to happen at the end of the musical. Now, all the audience has to do is sit back and wait for the meat in between. “Aaron Burr, Sir” is the first interaction between the protagonist and the antagonist, and introduces crucial side characters. It also gives the audience a better look at Hamilton’s character as well as Burr’s. “My Shot” shows Hamilton’s motivations for the first time and his drive and ambition. “Farmer Refuted” shows the problem in Act I in more detail to keep the audience invested, and once again, we get more character development. I could go on and on for the rest of show, but I don’t have the time or the patience for that.

It should be the same thing with your novel. There shouldn’t be any fluff in between plot points. There can be to transition the story, but scenes that don’t help move the plot forward should be cut or edited so they do.

<b>4. Character Arcs</b>

The character arcs in Hamilton are phenomenal, notably the way some actors play two characters: Laurens/Philip, Lafayette/Jefferson, Mulligan/Maddison and Peggy/Maria.

I love these, and for good reason. This is a story of Alexander Hamilton, not Laurens or Jefferson in any way. Once the actors play their roles in Act I, they move on and play a new character in Act II. Their old roles are no longer needed. Laurens died. Lafayette went back to France like he said he would. Mulligan, I don’t really know, and Peggy served her purpose in “The Schuyler Sisters” and maybe “A Winter’s Ball”, I’m not really sure. Their place in the musical isn’t needed, so they play a new character in Act II who’s important to the story.

The characters balance out really well and you see that in the opening number, “Alexander Hamilton” and it’s really an act of genius of Lin’s part. Lafayette and Mulligan fought with Hamilton in the war, and Jefferson and Maddison fought with Hamilton in Congress, hence when the actors say “We, fought with him.” The Schuyler sisters and Maria Reynolds all loved Hamilton (”Me, I loved him.”). Laurens and Philip both died for Hamilton (”Me, I died for him.).

Character Development

The character development is awesome, too. Burr’s is probably the best. They make it very obvious. He’s essentially the narrator of the story, but he cuts the story short by killing Hamilton. You can see his anger growing throughout the entire second act. He starts getting tired of being the side character and being shoved around by Hamilton, so he kills him. We get a backstory to understand why Burr is like he is very early on. Hamilton has an awesome character arc, too. We get his backstory to create sympathy for his character and to root for him. We understand his character the minute he gets on stage. He starts off as an overly enthusiastic college student filled with ambition and ends the show more morally grounded with years of experience.

Your characters should walk into your book one person and come out another. It’s the same with every single human on planet Earth or otherwise (high fantasy). We’re ever changing. Your characters should be the same, and you have to let them.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed my ramble of all things Hamilton. If you listened to it, what do you stall for(hehe)? If you thought this was useful, please tell me! I also now have a posting schedule! You will get a new post from me <b>guaranteed</b> every Sunday. It’s the best way I can balancing writing and school and I hope you like it!

That’s all for now, folks!

#hamilton #amwriting #writers of tumblr #laurens #mulligan #marquis de lafayette #lafayette #eliza #and peggy #angelica schuyler #writing advice #am editing #books

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