BWW EXCLUSIVE: HAMILTON Showcased In T Magazine; Sondheim & More Comment

BWW is excited to share an exclusive first look at a comprehensive Hamilton New York Times piece!

Today, the New York Times exclusively shares with BroadwayWorld.com a first look at the cover and feature article from this weekend's "Summer Entertainment" cover story from T: The New York Times Style Magazine all about the brand new Broadway musical all of New York is abuzz about, Hamilton.

In "The American Revolutionary" by Judy Rosen, the background, genesis and reaction to the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical is exhaustively explored, dissecting the various elements that have made the rap musical not only a must-see theatrical event and buzz-worthy pop culture entity, but a cultural and even historical touchstone in its own time.

Additionally, modern musical theatre master Stephen Sondheim discusses the musical at length, revealing several insightful comments pertaining to its newfound position in the great pantheon of American musical theatre.

Sondheim offers, "But the wonderful thing about Lin-Manuel's use of rap is that he's got one foot in the past. He knows theater. He respects and understands the value of good rhyming, without which the lines tend to flatten out. Jokes don't land the way they should. Even emotional lines don't land the way they should. Rhyme does something to the listener's perception that is very important, and Lin-Manuel recognizes that, which gives the Hamilton score a great deal more heft than it might otherwise have. Most lyrics are by their very nature banal - it's the way they're expressed that makes them soar."

Furthermore, Sondheim astutely observes, "HAMILTON is a breakthrough, but it doesn't exactly introduce a new era. Nothing introduces an era. What it does is empower people to think differently. There's always got to be an innovator, somebody who experiments first with new forms. The minute something is a success, everybody imitates it. It's what happened with OKLAHOMA; everybody immediately started to write bad Western musicals. HAIR also had that effect. But eventually people stop imitating and the form matures. HAIR allowed young writers to say, 'Hey, let's use rock as a way of telling a story.' Now they'll say, 'Let's use rap as a way of telling a story.' So we'll certainly see more rap musicals. The next thing we'll get is Lincoln set to rap. If you think I'm kidding, talk to me in a year."

Miranda himself sheds some light on his initial inspiration for the groundbreaking musical in which he also stars, sharing, "'When I encountered Alexander Hamilton I was immediately captivated... He's an inspirational figure to me. And an aspirational one."

Also, Miranda says, ''Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?' It's a question for the characters on that stage, and it's also a question for the audience. It leaves you reckoning with: Wait, who does tell my story? What am I doing with my life? I think that's why, when I get emails about this show from people in the audience, they usually come at three in the morning. They're dark-night-of-the-soul emails. Because it's a question we're all grappling with. It's a question that we all pose at the end."

Check out the entire New York Times article at the official site here.

T: The New York Times Style Magazine "Summer Entertainment" issue hits newsstands July 19.

View a larger version of the cover image for The New York Times Magazine "Summer Entertainment" issue below.

Photo Credit: The New York Times