Musical Theatre Lovers Thread

[MatthewPaul]

It dawned to me that we have quite a few musical theatre lovers on this forum, so I figured why not dedicate an entire thread towards that shared love?

I’ll start by talking about my recent musical obsession, Hamilton. Hamilton became a smash hit on Broadway this year, and for good reason. The musical tells the story of United States Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. The most famous aspect of Hamilton’s life is of course his rivalry with Aaron Burr, and their fateful duel that resulted in his death. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show’s writer and star, got the idea after reading the biography “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow while on a vacation. Reading the biography caused Miranda to instantly picture it as a musical, and development began. Miranda first gave people a taste for his project when he performed a rough draft of the show’s opening number at the White House Evening of Poetry in 2009:

Hamilto’s music is rooted in hip-hop with some R&B, jazz, pop, and contemporary Broadway. Miranda was also liberal with the show’s casting using the concept that this is America of the past presented as America of the present. For example, Lin-Manuel Miranda himself is of Puerto Rican descent, and plays the title role of Hamilton. Leslie Odom, Jr., an actor of African American descent, plays Aaron Burr.

Immediately upon listening to Hamilton’s cast recording, I instantly fell in love with the show. The music sounds fantastic, and the entire idea behind the show is so fascinating and innovative. Not only does the music sound great, but Lin-Manuel Miranda’s lyrics are just so inventive. Here’s a great video looking at the show:

Unfortunately I have not seen the show itself yet, as tickets are sold out for the next several months and are very hard to get. However, the musical is almost completely sung-through, and very little was cut out of the cast recording. Therefore, I highly recommend picking up the cast recording. Lin-Manuel Miranda happens to be the song writer for Disney’s next animated musical, Moana. His involvement gives me high hopes for that movie. Also, here’s the finalized version of the opening number, which just gets you hooked immediately:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp9HUc9HraQ

Feel free to talk about any of your own current musical obsessions.

[kpercyman]

I love this musical! I love Ron Chernow and my favorite biography of his is Alexander Hamilton. The history and musical nerd in me is just geeking out. I already have the music and am waiting for the tour to start and come to Houston.

We saw Book of Mormon in February and that was funny. It was a Christmas gift for my hubby, whom also loves musical theatre. I’m debating whether or not to get tickets for Wicked or Beauty and the Beast.

My favorite of all time is Legally Blonde. I can sing that in my sleep.

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