Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter is three hundred pages of wonderful, unadulterated squee. It’s a companion to the musical that I’ve been listening to nearly non-stop since last September, a documentation of the development of a show that’s clearly going into the canon of American theater and has already burst the boundaries of Broadway success. Because nothing says “massive Broadway hit and cultural phenomenon” like “based on an 800-page biography of a Treasury Secretary who’s been dead for more than 200 years,” right?
And yet, that is precisely what it has become. Over the last nine months, since its Broadway debut, Hamilton has exploded into popular culture. Its original cast recording had the highest debut on Billboard’s album chart since 1963. For good measure, it also debuted at number three on the rap album chart. The musical was nominated for a record 16 Tony awards, and won 11, one win shy of an all-time record. After the Tony awards, the album became one of only three cast albums to reach the Top Ten in the last 50 years. An entire subculture is growing up around Hamilton, with tumblrs, pastiches, and related items just a small part of what fans are producing. A Chicago run opens later this year; national touring companies will begin on the West Coast; the show is set to run in London next year, and I am already on the mailing list for information about that one. Some months ago, a friend who saw it a couple of times while it was in development at the Public Theater asked whether a singalong at a Brooklyn bar was an indicator of peak Hamilton. Not a chance, I replied; just you wait.
To give a far too truncated summary, the show tells the tumultuous story of Alexander Hamilton, a leader of the American Revolution who died in a duel in 1804 and was largely overshadowed by other founders who outlived him. The musical draws directly on the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow, who became an advisor to the show. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the music and lyrics, and he played the title role.
Hamilton: The Revolution is both serious and playful, a documentation of the process of creating the show and bringing it to Broadway, a printing of the libretto, and an object the creators had fun making and sharing with their still-growing fan base. The thick pages, mock leather spine, and ragged page trim are all meant to suggest a book from Hamilton’s period. The suggestion continues on the title page, which reads, “Hamilton The Revolution, Being the Complete Libretto of the Broadway Musical, with a True Account of its Creation, and Concise Remarks on Hip-Hop, The Power of Stories, and The New America, by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter.” The table of contents follows the same form, with chapter titles that include “Of Oskar Eustis, His Politics, His Eventful Career, His Thoughts on Verse Drama, and His Stewardship of The Public Theater, with a Word About The Pharcyde,” or “On Killing Your Darlings, with Reference to ‘The Adams Administration,’ the Seductions of Ben Franklin, and Songs on the Cutting-Room Floor.”