I cried at the end of Hamilton when Eliza sang her final song and stated “I put myself back in the narrative” and ended it with “who tells your story”. I saw Hamilton back in December with Tristan. I paid a heck of a lot of money. I went mostly for him because he had been talking about it and singing all the songs for four years now. I knew how popular it was. I knew who it was about. I knew who wrote it. But I wasn’t ready for all of the things I felt.
I watched while the stage was occupied by actors of different ethnicities. I watched while Asian actors portrayed Hamilton and Washington. I watched while black actors portrayed Burr and Eliza. I watched uneasily at first because I was unsure what would transpire. Then I watched in fascination, and finally I felt an overwhelming emotion come over me. It was important. It was a musical set in history about the founding fathers of America. It was sang in hip hop and rap. It was portrayed by actors who were descendants of immigrants, refugees, and slaves. It was powerful. It was about putting us back in the narrative. It was about us telling our story.
I sat in the audience overcome with so much emotion but afraid to feel it. Is this for real? I heard a comment about how talented Lin-Manuel Miranda was. I heard a woman say that this was her fourth time seeing Hamilton. They were both white. I looked around and saw faces who were not the same color as mine. I was surrounded in a sea of white. I thought, do you even know? Do you even know how important this musical is for me?
It's ok, though. In the end, the most important thing is that I know.
If you can, I encourage you all to go see it. It's not about the story. It's about the narrative. And, I do see it, the irony in how expensive it is to even see this musical, a musical that affects the very people who cannot even afford to go and see it. For those of you who can, please go see it. For those who can’t, just know…the narrative is changing.
I watched while the stage was occupied by actors of different ethnicities. I watched while Asian actors portrayed Hamilton and Washington. I watched while black actors portrayed Burr and Eliza. I watched uneasily at first because I was unsure what would transpire. Then I watched in fascination, and finally I felt an overwhelming emotion come over me. It was important. It was a musical set in history about the founding fathers of America. It was sang in hip hop and rap. It was portrayed by actors who were descendants of immigrants, refugees, and slaves. It was powerful. It was about putting us back in the narrative. It was about us telling our story.
I sat in the audience overcome with so much emotion but afraid to feel it. Is this for real? I heard a comment about how talented Lin-Manuel Miranda was. I heard a woman say that this was her fourth time seeing Hamilton. They were both white. I looked around and saw faces who were not the same color as mine. I was surrounded in a sea of white. I thought, do you even know? Do you even know how important this musical is for me?
It's ok, though. In the end, the most important thing is that I know.
If you can, I encourage you all to go see it. It's not about the story. It's about the narrative. And, I do see it, the irony in how expensive it is to even see this musical, a musical that affects the very people who cannot even afford to go and see it. For those of you who can, please go see it. For those who can’t, just know…the narrative is changing.