What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1462098
Miranda was inspired to write "the story of American then, told by America now," after reading a biography of Alexander Hamilton while on vacation in 2008. He even performed a spoken word piece that later became the basis for the musical at the White House in 2009. Audiences laughed, but Miranda's musical opened in 2015 at The Public Theater in New York. From there the musical that incorporates hip-hop and jazz has gone on to Broadway and theaters across the nation. It racked up 16 Tony nominations and took home 11 wins, a Grammy for best musical theater album and even a Pulitzer Prize for Miranda among many other accolades. The cast is comprised of POC performers, and while Miranda said that it wasn't a deliberate choice, it was essential that the performers could rap. "'Hamilton' changed what was possible in musical theater," Park says. Although he had plenty of training in singing, Park had to rely on his love of hip-hop to prepare for rapping in "Hamilton." "When I started in theater, rapping in musical theater was not a thing," Park says. "I never took a class or anything, it's just something that I've always loved to do on my own." Daveed Diggs, who played the Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson role in the Broadway production, left big shoes to fill by laying down rhymes at an estimated 6.3 words per second. "He definitely stood out to me when I saw the show," Park says. "This role is just so much fun, especially Jefferson, who just gets to play by his own set of rules. That's kind of written into his character, where he's supposed to represent someone with this really charmed life and someone that comes in with a lot of privilege and doesn't really expect a lot of opposition … and there's Hamilton waiting to get in his way every time. "In preparing for this role, I was finding out how to make this larger- than-life character true to who I am as a person and what I resonate with, but watching [Diggs] … made a huge imprint on me from all those years ago. So he's definitely a huge influence on me." Several cast members pull double roles for the show, which illuminates a lot of the play's themes. Obvious connections between Lafayette and Jefferson were their ties to the French Revolution. "They both had an earnest desire to fight for what they truly believed. And I think Jefferson is the main antagonist of Act Two," Park says. "But — and I think every actor will tell you this — a good villain, a good antagonist, is not just a bad person. … It's someone who's fighting for what they truly believe in. And you can't approach a character as like, 'Oh, I'm the bad guy.' … I think for me what's always stood out for these two characters is how much of a fighter they both are and what lengths that they're willing to go to fight for what they believe in." THE LINCOLN CENTER THEATER PRODUCTION THEATER / VENUE NAME VENUE URL SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT DATES NOV. 3-8, 2020 SIX SHOWS. 26 TONY ® AWARDS. ONE SPECTACULAR SEASON! 2022/23 Broadway Series SUBSCRIBE ONLINE NOW! AUG. 9-14, 2022 SEPT. 20-25, 2022 NOV. 8-13, 2022 JAN. 17-22, 2023 FEB. 9-19, 2023 MAY 23-28, 2023 Series Support: Friends of Broadway 4 WHAT'S UP! MARCH 20-26, 2022 COVER STORY Hamilton Continued From Page 3 "I may not live to see our glory. But I will gladly join the fight. And when our children tell our story, they'll tell the story of tonight." (Courtesy Photo/Joan Marcus)