Hamilton
Hamilton
DKlainberg
Swing Joined: 10/4/15
#1Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 8:38pm
I'm having a serious crisis about Hamilton. Because I have loved musicals my whole life. And I have hated rap from the first moment I heard it back in the 80's. And now, based on the acclaim for Hamilton (and I've reluctantly watched the clips online) I'm terrified that the future of musicals will be rap. Does anyone else fear this?
#4Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 8:41pm
If you listened to the score, you would know that the whole thing isn't rap. And the parts that are aren't (in my opinion) "real" rap. It's more of a musical-theater version of rap. I don't think the future of musicals will all be rap, but if we see more diversity like this score and cast, it would make musical theater better, I think.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
#7Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 8:44pm
I don't listen to rap in my free time and I really don't like it very much, but I do think Hamilton is nothing short of brilliant. It has rap, yes, but it has a ton of other musical styles as well. I think it would be silly to assume that the future of Broadway will consist solely of rap musicals, but if the future of Broadway consists of shows that are as great as Hamilton, I'll be happy.
Jabere
Stand-by Joined: 10/3/15
#8Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 8:46pm
I? I doubt you even believe that all musicals will be all rap. I doubt that Grandhog Day will be rap . I also wonder why you just simply would not see another musical that is not rap. Even if it is I hardly think its the end of the world. I think having terrorism in the world, mass shootings in america are crisis. Musicals with rap are not
"
Updated On: 10/5/15 at 08:46 PM
#9Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 8:49pm
Another After Eight just got off of the train
And came up through the ground,
While another After Eight just got off of the bus
And is looking around
At another After Eight who got off of the plane
And is looking at us
Who got off of the train
And the plane and the bus
Maybe yesterday.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#10Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 9:00pm
Ha!
So, you're prejudiced, OP. Everybody's got prejudices. So I would say skip Hamilton and leave the seat available for one of the thousands of people who'd love to see it and spend the rest of your life seeing revivals, because moving forward doesn't seem to be for you.
Hip hop, don't stop, do punk rock.
Twitter @NamoInExile
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indytallguy
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/08
#11Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 9:11pm
DKlainberg said: "I'm having a serious crisis about Hamilton. Because I have loved musicals my whole life. And I have hated rap from the first moment I heard it back in the 80's. And now, based on the acclaim for Hamilton (and I've reluctantly watched the clips online) I'm terrified that the future of musicals will be rap. Does anyone else fear this?
No, I don't.
But I do fear people who join this board and on the same day start yet another inane thread like this one.
Showface
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#12Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 9:18pm
I'll start this off by saying I'm not the biggest fan of the hip-hop and rap music on the radio, and I like maybe a few of those types of songs...but even then, I don't listen to them by choice, I just hear them on social media or whatever...
But I want to see Hamilton so badly! Hamilton is different from "radio rap/hip-hop", the lyrics are smart, the rthyms are clever, the infusion of modern day music with this story is inspired, the casting of POC is "white roles" is wonderful, and it overall seems really great!
And the score features so many other types, and my favorite is a non-rap song, "The Room Where it Happens"
It's not for everybody, of course, and, yes more "traditional" and wonderful musical theatre scores will be produced...it's just that Hamilton adds more variety
However, I'm still not sure if Hamilton is going to spark a hip-hop musical revolution...time will tell
:)
#13Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 9:37pm
It can't be denied that Hamilton is heavily influenced by rap and hip hop and the show incorporates that into the score. But despite the influence, the rap in the show isn't NWA, Tupac, or Snoop Dogg. Many people dislike rap music because of how they view the content--which can be hateful, disrespectful, and use language that some consider disrespectful. But happily, the lyrics in Hamilton aren't those things. The beat? Absolutely.
I don't think we're about to see a hip hop revolution in musical theater. Someday? Sure, maybe. I think we're living at a time of transition in theater and that transition is going to include changes in music and scores. I think we're going to see more and more types of current popular music integrated into shows. Who knows how that will end up. But the world changes. Do you think that in the months after Oklahima! opened that critics or fans believed what we would hear in Company, JCS, or Les Mis.
snl89
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/4/05
#14Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 9:57pm
Honestly, if all rap was like the rap in Hamilton (which, as others have mentioned, is not at all the only music there is in the show), I would absolutely love it as an art form :) And I'm someone who also has never been a fan of it whatsoever!
I've always been a little more onboard with hip hop and rap from the '90s because I can at least appreciate the social significance of it and that that rap actually MEANT something and SAID something as opposed to the absolutely grossness and misogyny of so much of the popular rap today. But even so, even old school rap was never my speed at all. It just never sounded pleasant to my ears- at best it's just kind of white noise to me that's not grating but not engaging at all either.
But the way LMM does rap? It actually SOUNDS amazing and pulls me in in a way standard rap never has before. It's intensely amazing word play that truly tells a story, and because of that I not only respect the artistry of it but am also thoroughly entertained and engaged by it.
So I guess my thoughts on this are... will we probably end up getting some rap musicals in the future that are just trying to cash in on LMM's success and end up being terrible? Yeah, probably some. But I also think Hamilton is also huge proof that you CAN have a brilliant musical that uses rap as a major medium to tell the story, that is every bit as smart and clear and emotionally impactfull- not to mention inclusive of MANY different genres of music within that overarching rap theme- as any other brilliant musical.
Even as someone who's never been a fan of rap before, that really excites me because it's just a whole other window of possibility for storytelling in musical theater that has now been proven CAN work if it's in the hands of someone who knows how to craft it really well.
I don't need a life that's normal. That's way too far away. But something next to normal would be okay. Something next to normal is what I'd like to try. Close enough to normal to get by.
Updated On: 10/5/15 at 09:57 PM
#15Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 10:01pm
indytallguy said: "No, I don't.
But I do fear people who join this board and on the same day start yet another inane thread like this one."
On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely do you think it is this this is the OP's first time at the rodeo?
My great fear, BTW, is pretty much the opposite: that Broadway continues to trafficin the music of our grandparents, and resonates for an decreasing percentage of the population. As I have said before, what is significant about Hamilton is not that it has some rap music in it, but that it is a clever, intelligent show that doesn't insult our intelligence.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#17Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 10:04pm
Op, I'm getting a bit old. And trying hard not to become too curmudgeonly. I have never had patience or interest in rap. I suppose it was the subject matter. And it's difficult to follow the lyrics. Well, impossible for me to follow the lyrics. Like you I was concerned about a rap musical. I did see in the heights and enjoyed and appreciated it. Rock musicals concern me too. I was afraid I wouldn't "get" hedwig. Or American idiot. On the other hand I want to see these shows that are acclaimed as important. I want to see them with an open mind. The strategy that works best for me is to listen to the music and learn it before seeing the show. It helps tremendously.
Art museums are the same way. It's easy to scoff at new stuff but with a bit of effort one can appreciate a new approach. Which is the point. We benefit from seeing old things (ie. The founding fathers -and mothers) in a new way.
Open the mind suppress the curmudgeon.
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#19Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 10:20pm
I understand how OP feels. I heard Adam Guettel was going to write this absolutely beautiful, classical score for a stage adaptation of A Light in the Piazza, but three years after he was born Hair debut on Broadway and it's been nothing but these new-fangled "Rock Musicals" ever since. Nothing but loud noise and offensiveness. Guettel eventually changed his mind and went on to write Bollocks!: the Sex Pistols musical.
Shame.
Seriously people, let Hamilton be your opportunity to put more Hip Hop into your life. There's more to it than just 90s gansta rap and today's embarrassing Young Money #YOLO crap. Conscious Hip Hop is an actual genre and I bet there's a lot there that people who "don't like rap" would like. Listen to KiD CuDi, OutKast, Common, Das Racist (and Heems' solo album), Mos Def, Saul Williams, Flobots, The Roots, P.O.S., Soul Position, Immortal Technique, Dynasty, etc. and stay far, FAR away from Lil Wayne or any other rap artists they play on the radio.
You're reminding me of people you hear at the movies asking questions every ten seconds, "Who is that? Why is that guy walking down the street? Who's that lady coming up to him? Uh-oh, why did that car go by? Why is it so dark in this theater?" - FindingNamo on strummergirl
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
Updated On: 10/5/15 at 10:20 PM
"If artists were machines, then I'm just a different kind of machine...I'd probably be a toaster. Actually, I'd be a toaster oven because they're more versatile. And I like making grilled cheese" -Regina Spektor
"That's, like, twelve shows! ...Or seven." -Crazy SA Fangirl
"They say that just being relaxed is the most important thing [in acting]. I take that to another level, I think kinda like yawning and...like being partially asleep onstage is also good, but whatever." - Sherie Rene Scott
Showface
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/25/14
#21Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 10:27pm
I likely wont be searching for more rap/hip hop, because it's just not my cup of tea.
I don't hate rap music/hip hop--I can appreciate good rap and hip-hop when/if I hear it, which is why I appreciate Hamilton, because it's good and it incorporates different kinds of music...it's not just a "rap musical"
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#24Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 10:40pm
I was lucky enough to see Hamilton Saturday night and it was nothing short of brilliant! Imo all these comments worrying about rap and hip hop are so unfounded. If you want to try to train yourself for the "rap" then just listen to the pitter-patter of Gilbert and Sullivan. Sondheim has some great examples of rap in Company and Merrily We Roll Along; it's not something to be afraid of. I've listened to rap and hip hop to educate myself on where popular music is headed. Listen to the Black Eyed Peas, you don't have to start with heavy rap and hip hip. You can even start with baby steps like RuPaul.
I'm hoping Hamilton will go on Jimmy Fallon because the Roots are the house band. I had a great time seeing Hamilton and can't wait to go again; (I need the prices to come down now)
"it must be jelly cause jam don't shake!"
I Can Has Cheezburger With This?
Lilly7
Stand-by Joined: 7/7/15
#25Hamilton
Posted: 10/5/15 at 10:47pm
I dislike the idea of putting down rap and hip-hop to elevate Hamilton. Hamilton is a masterpiece but it was strongly influenced by rap and hip-hop. Lin has even said that Hamilton is his love letter to hip-hop. I think Lin would probably rather have people come out of his show with a new viewpoint on rap/hip-hop and be inspired to listen to new music rather than thinking Hamilton is so much better than any rap or hip-hop song out there.
