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sorcyressOne of my less-active nerderies is that I am a big time musical theatre geek. I haven't had it reinforced nearly as much these days (I haven't seen a broadway show since 200_9_1 when Tho visited :/), but it's still there, lurking quietly under the surface. Theatre is an addiction, and musicals are life.
Three or four years ago, I was hanging out withanu3bis, probably after a PicnicCon. We were shootin' the shit and chatting about music, and he mentions something about this hip-hop concept album. I go ?? and he shows me this:
Okay, yeah. Hip hop is not my thing necessarily, and history is not really my thing, but I watch that and go "oh yes, that is most definitely my thing.
In 2015, Lin Manuel-Miranda --that cute little skinny Puerto Rican rap artist singing to the Obamas-- brought Hamilton: An American Musical to Broadway. They release the soundtrack for free listening on NPR. It is the highest selling album debut since Camelot, in 1961. It wins the pulitzer prize for drama. It wins best cast album at the Grammys. It gets nominated for 16 Tony awards (there are only 13 categories it's eligible for). Currently, if you would like to buy tickets, you can start with November, and most of those are only available through resellers.
Hamilton is the biggest news in the musical theatre world since Rent, since Cats, since ever. And they genuinely want everyone to be able to appreciate their show. In addition to doing huge amounts of outreach with schools (20k students in NY will be able to see this show for $10 each), and working frantically to put together a tour and a video and whatever else they can, they host a $10 lottery before most of the shows. For one "Hamilton", and a lot of luck, you can see the biggest hit on broadway for a fantastically good price.
Alongside the lottery, they've been doing the #Ham4Ham performances. These are completely free street performances, where the actors of Hamilton --joined by the cast of other amazing local shows, various celebrities, and whoever else they can get their hands on-- sing songs and do mini-performances. When the days got cold, they moved the #Ham4Ham to the digital realm. Do you want to see Lin-Manuel sing alongside Weird Al Yankovic? I can arrange that for you.
I haven't actually managed to sit and listen to the whole soundtrack yet. That's not to say I'm not familiar with what's been going on --this is the darling of Tumblr, of musical theatre, of young weird ambitious creators and fans everywhere2. I've been watching snips and snatches, laughing at the jokes, admiring the fanart, and generally accepting Lin as the leader of our revolution. Theatre should not be limited to the elite. It should not be seen only by the people who have enough money to get to it.
And hence, Ham4Ham. And popping up on Tumblr, as happens at least every other week or so, someone reblogged the most recent performance for me to watch.
The movie of Rent came out in 2005, halfway through my junior year of high school. Of course I knew about it before then --by the time it was released I had acted or teched six shows, and was frantically helping build for the seventh. Like I said before, musical theatre is life. So yeah, of course I had the soundtrack to Rent. Of course I knew a lot of the songs. And What You Own was probably in my top five3.
So of course that's fucking awesome. Oh sure, it's no mashup between Hamilton and Sweeney Todd (gosh, I would probably be reduced to a screeching fangirl mess!4) but you can't really be a millennial into musical theatre without at least recognizing the impact of Rent.
And then I actually watched it. And just...it is so hard for me to put into words the sense of utter rightness about this video, and about the world that has built itself to create this thing. Because it's not just _cool as fuck_ that this amazing accessible show is paying tribute to the influences of the past. It's that you have this man (just zis guy, you know?) who says "there's a million things I haven't done" and who has gone out and conquered the theatre world.
It's that you have this man and who is clearly one of *his* idols, sitting in what looks like a living room, or a cast lounge, or some other just...tiny little random real room. Not a theatre. Just a couch and a cramped little desk and something we could all share. And they're singing together. Oh sure, there's a performance aspect to it, there's a camera and they put it on YouTube. But watching them, and listening to them, it feels less like celebrity gods putting on a show for us mortals, and more like stepping through the door when Becca's got the folk crowd over5.
People sing because they want to feel connected. Because music is good, and strong, and links us to one another. Because it gives us feelings to hear songs, and to share songs. Because in singing, there is joy.
This video feels like joy.
I have sung Rent with other people before --not on stage, not performative, but just singing along with a CD for the sake of singing. It's how Nathen and I got to my senior prom, with La Vie Boheme blasting. It's how I've done work backstage and onstage and house lights up and sawdust and sweat and singing between the swearing. It's standing around the piano while Johnny!!!!! runs through Seasons of Love and thinking that this song is stupid and insipid and I'll never stop loving it because here I am standing shoulder to shoulder with my family.
I am really excited that Hamilton exists. And I am really excited that they let us witness this joy.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I've seen maybe a dozen total, between ages about 13 and 19 mostly. Mum and I used to go off fairly regularly. No wait! I saw N2N in early 2010 or '11, that might've been the last. Still a long damn time. But! Les Mis, Spamalot (with Tudyk but not Curry) Movin' On, Avenue Q (three times), Sweeney Todd (2005 revival cast with the actors playing as the band SWOON!), Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown...probably two or three others I'm forgetting just now.
Yes, my privilege is showing.
2: And doubly so when you can add "of colour", because this is a show that caused a controversy for releasing a casting call where they specified they were looking for nonwhite actors. I think it's fucking brilliant of them, and anyone screaming "reverse racism!!!" needs to get their head out of their ass and go enjoy _basically anything else that's ever been on broadway ever_. We want media to be accessible and welcoming? _this is how it's fucking done_.
3: Alongside La Vie Boheme parts 1 and 2, Out Tonight, Take Me Baby, and Finale B. (Part two of La Vie Boheme has "to dance" --I have memorized that particular chant. (what a way to make a living, masochism, paid perfection, muscles spasms, chiropractors, short careers, eating disorders!))
4: YES IT'S REAL AND IT'S AMAZING SCROLL DOWN FOR THE VIDEO!
5: I am going to miss living with someone who hosts Sings. My favourite was the one where a half dozen of us sang through about ten Dar Williams songs, trading stories and rewriting tempos. Maybe I should host a musical theatre sing-night sometime.
Three or four years ago, I was hanging out with
anu3bis, probably after a PicnicCon. We were shootin' the shit and chatting about music, and he mentions something about this hip-hop concept album. I go ?? and he shows me this: Okay, yeah. Hip hop is not my thing necessarily, and history is not really my thing, but I watch that and go "oh yes, that is most definitely my thing.
In 2015, Lin Manuel-Miranda --that cute little skinny Puerto Rican rap artist singing to the Obamas-- brought Hamilton: An American Musical to Broadway. They release the soundtrack for free listening on NPR. It is the highest selling album debut since Camelot, in 1961. It wins the pulitzer prize for drama. It wins best cast album at the Grammys. It gets nominated for 16 Tony awards (there are only 13 categories it's eligible for). Currently, if you would like to buy tickets, you can start with November, and most of those are only available through resellers.
Hamilton is the biggest news in the musical theatre world since Rent, since Cats, since ever. And they genuinely want everyone to be able to appreciate their show. In addition to doing huge amounts of outreach with schools (20k students in NY will be able to see this show for $10 each), and working frantically to put together a tour and a video and whatever else they can, they host a $10 lottery before most of the shows. For one "Hamilton", and a lot of luck, you can see the biggest hit on broadway for a fantastically good price.
Alongside the lottery, they've been doing the #Ham4Ham performances. These are completely free street performances, where the actors of Hamilton --joined by the cast of other amazing local shows, various celebrities, and whoever else they can get their hands on-- sing songs and do mini-performances. When the days got cold, they moved the #Ham4Ham to the digital realm. Do you want to see Lin-Manuel sing alongside Weird Al Yankovic? I can arrange that for you.
I haven't actually managed to sit and listen to the whole soundtrack yet. That's not to say I'm not familiar with what's been going on --this is the darling of Tumblr, of musical theatre, of young weird ambitious creators and fans everywhere2. I've been watching snips and snatches, laughing at the jokes, admiring the fanart, and generally accepting Lin as the leader of our revolution. Theatre should not be limited to the elite. It should not be seen only by the people who have enough money to get to it.
And hence, Ham4Ham. And popping up on Tumblr, as happens at least every other week or so, someone reblogged the most recent performance for me to watch.
The movie of Rent came out in 2005, halfway through my junior year of high school. Of course I knew about it before then --by the time it was released I had acted or teched six shows, and was frantically helping build for the seventh. Like I said before, musical theatre is life. So yeah, of course I had the soundtrack to Rent. Of course I knew a lot of the songs. And What You Own was probably in my top five3.
So of course that's fucking awesome. Oh sure, it's no mashup between Hamilton and Sweeney Todd (gosh, I would probably be reduced to a screeching fangirl mess!4) but you can't really be a millennial into musical theatre without at least recognizing the impact of Rent.
And then I actually watched it. And just...it is so hard for me to put into words the sense of utter rightness about this video, and about the world that has built itself to create this thing. Because it's not just _cool as fuck_ that this amazing accessible show is paying tribute to the influences of the past. It's that you have this man (just zis guy, you know?) who says "there's a million things I haven't done" and who has gone out and conquered the theatre world.
It's that you have this man and who is clearly one of *his* idols, sitting in what looks like a living room, or a cast lounge, or some other just...tiny little random real room. Not a theatre. Just a couch and a cramped little desk and something we could all share. And they're singing together. Oh sure, there's a performance aspect to it, there's a camera and they put it on YouTube. But watching them, and listening to them, it feels less like celebrity gods putting on a show for us mortals, and more like stepping through the door when Becca's got the folk crowd over5.
People sing because they want to feel connected. Because music is good, and strong, and links us to one another. Because it gives us feelings to hear songs, and to share songs. Because in singing, there is joy.
This video feels like joy.
I have sung Rent with other people before --not on stage, not performative, but just singing along with a CD for the sake of singing. It's how Nathen and I got to my senior prom, with La Vie Boheme blasting. It's how I've done work backstage and onstage and house lights up and sawdust and sweat and singing between the swearing. It's standing around the piano while Johnny!!!!! runs through Seasons of Love and thinking that this song is stupid and insipid and I'll never stop loving it because here I am standing shoulder to shoulder with my family.
I am really excited that Hamilton exists. And I am really excited that they let us witness this joy.
~Sor
MOOP!
1: I've seen maybe a dozen total, between ages about 13 and 19 mostly. Mum and I used to go off fairly regularly. No wait! I saw N2N in early 2010 or '11, that might've been the last. Still a long damn time. But! Les Mis, Spamalot (with Tudyk but not Curry) Movin' On, Avenue Q (three times), Sweeney Todd (2005 revival cast with the actors playing as the band SWOON!), Little Shop of Horrors, Urinetown...probably two or three others I'm forgetting just now.
Yes, my privilege is showing.
2: And doubly so when you can add "of colour", because this is a show that caused a controversy for releasing a casting call where they specified they were looking for nonwhite actors. I think it's fucking brilliant of them, and anyone screaming "reverse racism!!!" needs to get their head out of their ass and go enjoy _basically anything else that's ever been on broadway ever_. We want media to be accessible and welcoming? _this is how it's fucking done_.
3: Alongside La Vie Boheme parts 1 and 2, Out Tonight, Take Me Baby, and Finale B. (Part two of La Vie Boheme has "to dance" --I have memorized that particular chant. (what a way to make a living, masochism, paid perfection, muscles spasms, chiropractors, short careers, eating disorders!))
4: YES IT'S REAL AND IT'S AMAZING SCROLL DOWN FOR THE VIDEO!
5: I am going to miss living with someone who hosts Sings. My favourite was the one where a half dozen of us sang through about ten Dar Williams songs, trading stories and rewriting tempos. Maybe I should host a musical theatre sing-night sometime.