Most people know Alexander Hamilton as our ten-dollar founding father, but now this man from the late 1700’s is making his way back into current American culture. ‘Hamilton’ is a Broadway musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, but told in a way many wouldn’t expect.
Hamilton’s story is told in a series of rap songs, which is something never seen on Broadway let alone in pop culture. Ever since its premiere on August 6th of 2015 in New York, the world has been ‘turned upside down,’ including many students and faculty catching the Hamilton fever. Due to it’s popularity, ticket prices have skyrocketed and the best seats now go for $849. As high school students, most aren’t able to afford this but don’t count out the staff!
Mr. Corpuz, music teacher and fellow Hamilton fan, was able to be ‘in the room where it happens,’ this past August. “I could talk about Hamilton for hours.” Mr. Corpuz says. “Me and my wife paid for the tickets in January, when it still hadn’t reached the public like it has now. It was also my wife’s first time visiting New York, so we visited Times Square and other famous places before seeing Hamilton.”
Although Mr. Corpuz and his wife stayed across the street from where Hamilton was taking place, they weren’t able to see the ham4ham show (a show some of the cast puts on before the show) as it was only a weekly occurrence, but they were able to see a parody of the popular musical the night after seeing the real thing. “We were able to get tickets for ‘Spamilton,’ which was fun to see the musical and a parody of it after.”
They also missed out on some original cast members like creator and former Alexander Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda along with the original Aaron Burr and Eliza Hamilton who left July 9th. “The night we saw it was also an alternate night so we saw the original understudy’s understudy for Alexander.” Of the people they did see, Mr. Corpuz says the person who played George Washington that night was his favorite. “It never was a favorite of mine, but seeing One Last Time performed in person gave me chills. The person who played Washington really did it justice.”
With Hamilton’s newfound popularity this past spring, shows are scheduled in Chicago as well as New York and a production in Detroit is rumored to be here in under 2 years. Mr. Corpuz says he would love to see it again whether it be in any of these cities. Although seeing the show is a truly different experience from listening to the album, Mr. Corpuz says seeing a live production isn’t needed. “I believe one reason why it’s successful is due to the fact that you can listen to all of the music included in the show minus one interlude. Although the show was amazing, you’re not missing anything new besides dance numbers and the great experience of seeing a show live.”
After seeing the show in New York, Mr. Corpuz decided to bring a little bit of it back to Tower. ‘Burn’ from Hamilton was included in the marching band’s set this year, themed ‘fire.’ Is there any hope for more Hamilton songs to be featured later on this year in band or choir? “It’ll be hard to incorporate Hamilton into choir due to its fast pace, but I’ll look into some arrangements.” Mr. Corpuz says it’s a possibility.
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