Hamilton It received 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, 16 Tony nominations, and the most ever nominations in Broadway history. (The New York Times) Why is the Broadway musical Hamilton so successful? Perhaps because America has fundamentally always been enthralled with the Founding Fathers and the birth of this country. It highlights the people that have always mattered most- the wealthy, slave owning white men. Hamilton is a musical that seeks to tell a more modern, more liberal version of our civic myths and the story of America’s founding fathers. More specifically, it highlights the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. His journey from being a “Bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman to the nation’s first
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Monteiro, a professor in History and American studies at Newark College argues that the musical falls short in a review titled “Race-Conscious Casting and the Erasure of the Black Past in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.” “With a cast dominated by actors of color, the play is nonetheless yet another rendition of the exclusive past, with its focus on the deeds of great white men and its silencing of the presence and contributions of people of color in the Revolutionary era.” (Monteiro, 90.) In other words, although there are no historical people of color represented, the largest roles are being played by people of …show more content…
Aside from a few brief mentions within the lyrics themselves, because there are no characters of color within the musical; Monteiro asserts that “One could easily assume that slavery did not exist in this world, and certainly that is was not an important part of the lives and livelihoods of the men who created this nation.” Hamilton is marketed as an all inclusive story, a rewritten history that will resonate with the masses. But it is still white history, it whitewashes our nation’s past. Which also correlates to the next dilemma, that it reinforces the myth that people of color were simply not a part of creating our nation. That white people were the only ones responsible for creating this country. And that simply is not true. In fact, many african americans were a part of the revolutionary war. One response to Lyra D. Monteiros article of came from a man named Jason Allen, who claimed that there is a certain “Stockholm syndrome” type naivety within the musical, that is inferred by the founder chic mentality. Stockholm syndrome being “Feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.” (Medical Dictionary) It might be a stretch, but Allen is onto something. He sees the glorification of
Monteiro, a professor in History and American studies at Newark College argues that the musical falls short in a review titled “Race-Conscious Casting and the Erasure of the Black Past in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.” “With a cast dominated by actors of color, the play is nonetheless yet another rendition of the exclusive past, with its focus on the deeds of great white men and its silencing of the presence and contributions of people of color in the Revolutionary era.” (Monteiro, 90.) In other words, although there are no historical people of color represented, the largest roles are being played by people of …show more content…
Aside from a few brief mentions within the lyrics themselves, because there are no characters of color within the musical; Monteiro asserts that “One could easily assume that slavery did not exist in this world, and certainly that is was not an important part of the lives and livelihoods of the men who created this nation.” Hamilton is marketed as an all inclusive story, a rewritten history that will resonate with the masses. But it is still white history, it whitewashes our nation’s past. Which also correlates to the next dilemma, that it reinforces the myth that people of color were simply not a part of creating our nation. That white people were the only ones responsible for creating this country. And that simply is not true. In fact, many african americans were a part of the revolutionary war. One response to Lyra D. Monteiros article of came from a man named Jason Allen, who claimed that there is a certain “Stockholm syndrome” type naivety within the musical, that is inferred by the founder chic mentality. Stockholm syndrome being “Feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.” (Medical Dictionary) It might be a stretch, but Allen is onto something. He sees the glorification of