PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA MADRE Y MAESTRA

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMANITIES, AND ARTS

SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES

Abril Rosario
1014-0231

English III
Why is Hamilton so successful?

Professor Gabriela Acosta

October 6th, 2021

Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Why is Hamilton so successful?

How does Hamilton, a musical that tells the story of the first secretary treasury of the United
States of America, gets to become a social phenomenon between young and elderly people as
well? Hamilton: The musical, was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, it took him seven years to
write it, and by 2015 it was performed in Broadway, which is quite rare for a rapping musical.
Hamilton is admired, mainly among young adults because is not another boring show or movie
about history. It tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant, orphan, and poor guy,
who makes his way to United States in 1772 with 16 years old to study law in New York. Lin-
Manuel Miranda included the ups and downs of Alexander Hamilton’s life as well as the
historical facts in a dramatically and hilarious way to watch. In this essay I am going to talk
about the causes why Hamilton: The musical is so successful because of its diversity, leitmotifs,
the modernity on its songs and costumes, and above all, the way it connects with the audience.

Hamilton tells the story of a bunch of whites with a principal cast with diverse backgrounds. The
cast of Hamilton is constituted by Hispanic, Afro-American, and Asian people, but this is not a
matter of race. Miranda on interview of THNKR (2013) said: “I’m going to cast the best rappers I
can find, whether they’re white or not.”. With this we confirm that, although skin color and
diversity in Hamilton are a factor that attracts a lot of attention, the reason that this happened that
way, did not exactly depend on whether or not Miranda wanted to make a protest about the
“colorblind casting”. The main reason for this is that white people did not create rap or hip-hop and
Miranda was always very clear about how he wanted to present his show. Consequently, he not
only gets to create an appropriate representation on the exact way he wanted, but at the same time
he brought diversity to a white led franchise causing approval in new generations on favor of equal
rights and against racism.

The way the story is told in Hamilton is enough to trap us and make us empathize with the
characters, but there’s something else and it’s the way they are stylized. For a moment we may
forget we are watching people from the 1800’s, and this is mainly caused of the hairstyles. Paul
Tazewell (2016), the costume designer, said, “Tommy [Kail, the director] and I decided it was most
important to have the period represented from the shoulders down, and then everything from the
shoulders up was contemporary. A representation of the actor and what they brought to the
character, unadorned.”. This was a right guess, because the actors were constantly moving and
dancing, and of course it makes the songs fit in better. In this age these people were always wearing
big white wigs and women would never go outside without them, but in Hamilton we are able to
see the essence of the performers in every act, and that’s because they are a part of the costume.
Tazewell tries to tell tons of things at the same time with the costumes, for example, the colors they
are wearing. At the beginning Alexander Hamilton is wearing brown and neutral colors, but while
climbing in society and gets wealth his clothes change to green, representing the money and avarice
because “he will never be satisfied”. The costumes in Hamilton are effective for providing a
historical context and take care of the details but resonate with contemporary audiences
incorporating modern aspects on them.

The use of leitmotifs in Hamilton are essential for the journey the music is trying to take us. A
leitmotif is a short, recurring musical phrase that is related with a certain person, place, idea, or
situation (2013), and Hamilton is full of them. Since the first time we hear “Alexander Hamilton”
it is said with the same melody we will hear it again and again during the whole musical, or when
Alexander says, “just you wait”, referring he has a lot of things to do, but he needs time to achieve
them. But this is not the only phrase thar represents a character. On the other hand, Aaron Burr,
Hamilton’s first friend and later his nemesis, has its own, “wait for it”. Owing to the fact he was
always a cautious person who wouldn’t speak up for the new constitution waiting for other power
figures do it first; or would not support the revolution until he was sure which side would win. But
then it takes us into a journey where we get to see how their “mantras” became into what destroyed
them. Alexander is all the contrary to Burr and the leitmotif “I am not throwing away my shot”
describes him perfectly, he is impulsive and assertive and won’t miss his opportunity, he repeats
this phrase plenty of times, but then he does it, changing the meaning of what he has been saying
during all the story, Hamilton dies because he throws away his shot, in a duel with Aaron Burr who
did not wait for him.

Evidently, Hamilton: The musical worth it. Everything in the show and songs is specifically there
for a reason. The word orphan is used constantly, most of times to refer to Hamilton, and at the end
when Eliza Schuyler, Alexander’s wife tells she founded an orphanage hit hard. This happens
because we realize all those orphan repetitions surprise us with how even a little detail in
Hamilton’s story is unbeknownst the base of one of the most touching parts of the show. So, why
is it so successful? It is a hip-hop Broadway musical, which is not common. It is racially diverse,
and its lyrics are a work of genius with funny, happy, and sad moments. On the other hand, the
show has a big and beautiful character development and incredible plotline. In my opinion,
Hamilton is a masterpiece, and I strongly recommend that at least you listen to it, slowly so you
can catch all the details.
References

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia (2013, November 24). Leitmotif. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/leitmotif

Miranda, L.-M. & THNKR. (2013, January 22). Lin-Manuel Miranda on Race & Its Role in

Theater. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQEtqkwDTkI

Tazewell, P. (2016, April 7). Hamilton’s costumer turned the cast inside out. Bloomberg.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-design/a/paul-tazewell/