If you couldn't tell by my past two articles, I've been on a bit of a "Hamilton" kick. Why wouldn't I be? It is one of the most innovative and interesting shows that has been on Broadway in the past year, if not ever. It is novel in its sound, in its casting, and in the obscene demand for tickets. All guaranteed tickets are sold out as far as the schedule on the official site goes. Just crazy. However, despite being unique in many regards, there is one thing it unfortunately shares in common with most Broadway shows: It's an adaptation.
Well, it's as much of an adaptation as the show from "Smash" was. Lin-Manuel Miranda, in 2009, managed to pick up a biography of Hamilton for vacation reading. Miranda was inspired, and composed a piece that was performed at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word. The author of the bio in question, Ron Chernow, when hearing the song (which became the opening to the show) said that "He had accurately condensed the first 40 pages of my book into a four-minute song." Ron Chernow then acted as the show's history consultant during the six years it took to get to stage.
Me, being a book nerd long before I became a theatre nerd, managed to track down the 818-page goliath, fortunately, as a 1.63 megabyte e-book. And, of course, the show is not 100 percent accurate to the book. Then again, most shows aren't. My personal favorite, "Be More Chill," also based on a young adult book by Ned Vizzini, took major liberties with the ending, including the play scene and the Squip's malicious intentions (ha, ha, whoops, spoilers). Here are a few moments that particularly stand out. (WARNING: spoilers for "Hamilton," but Alexander's Wikipedia page is also spoilers in that regard.)
1. The Hurricane article was not the first thing Hamilton wrote.
If I haven't made it clear before, I find the story behind Hamilton's exit from an obscure plantation island onto the revolutionary stage incredibly touching. However, that is not the first thing Hamilton ever wrote, as you may be led to think. The first surviving document by Hamilton is a letter to a close friend, dated November 11, 1769: he writes to his friend, who is in King's College (now Columbia), venting how he feels his clerk position is a dead end and that he wishes "there was a war." Other notable early documents include two love poems sent to the local paper that eventually sent him off: one featuring a pure young bride, the other "an artful little slut."
2. Hamilton's college life was different/exactly what'd you expect.
The exact timeline of Hamilton's connections and life in New York City is different than what the show gives. Hamilton was enrolled in King's College in 1774, not 1776 as stated in the musical. The only person Hamilton knew for certain at the time was Hercules Mulligan, whose brother worked at the mercantile firm Hamilton did. Hamilton only met Lafayette and Laurens after the war had begun; he also had an opportunity to meet Aaron Burr, but it's not certain. However, this did not mean things were boring for young Hamilton: he helped the president of King's College escape a mob of angry patriots (the president being a noted loyalist), gave his first speech at a Sons of Liberty meeting on the common on July 6, 1774, famously refuted the "A Westchester Farmer" pamphlet by Samuel Seabury, and went to daily militia drills. He never ended up formally graduating due to the revolution.
3. Hamilton actually had military skills.
He may seem like he never had a real position in the army in the show, but Hamilton did lead men before the battle of Yorktown. When New York's congress was building its militia, Hamilton quickly raised up an artillery company and led it with the upmost seriousness and care. He paid for the food, uniforms, and wages out of his college fund, being so firm yet fair one of his men kept him as his lawyer although they were political enemies! Not bad for someone whose only war experience was from books.
4. Aaron Burr wasn't Lee's second.
While Hamilton was Laurens' second in his duel with Charles Lee, Burr was not even present at the duel; he had actually gotten heat stroke in the Battle of Monmouth, and would not fight again for the rest of the Revolution. I can understand why Miranda changed things up: it would be too complex to introduce random characters for one scene only, and we get more Burr-Hamilton banter. Honestly, Hamilton was expecting Lee to duel him, having given negative testimony at Lee's court-martial. Yes, Lee actually got arrested and booted from the army for a year because of his incompetence; after the duel, he retired to live alone with his dogs.
5. There were more than three Schuyler Sisters.
Beyond Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy (full name Margarita), there was their younger sister Cordelia, and at the time unborn sister Catherine. Schuyler also had three sons, John Bradstreet, Phillip Jeremiah, and Rensselaer. Fun fact about the Schuyler sisters: each one could play a different musical instrument. I'm surprised there wasn't a good-time family band solution.
6. Angelica was married at the Winter's Ball.
Yeah. She eloped with the husband she mentions at the end of act 1 in 1777, which makes the romantic tension in their relationship all the more...scandalous. In fact, all the Schuyler sisters eloped, except for Eliza. I guess Hamilton satisfied Phillip Schuyler, although the former had denounced the latter after the disastrous Battle of Fort Ticonderoga.
7. Hamilton wasn't fired after the duel.
This is another case where the chronology of the show contradicts history. The Battle of Monmouth was in the summer of 1778, years before Hamilton met Eliza (well, if the time he was in the area on business didn't count). If Hamilton had been dismissed after the duel that winter, as shown in the show, he wouldn't have had anything to go home to. The real story is far more complex and interesting. Hamilton, as the show accurately depicts, did not want a desk job; he had turned down two other offers before accepting Washington's. So, in 1781, after starting a family of his own (the courtship, proposal, and wedding with Elizabeth Schuyler took place all within 1780), he decided he could afford to leave Washington's "family," or company of aides. So, after the General in mid-February got upset over a misunderstanding (he was waiting on the stairs, not in his office), Hamilton left and refused all apologies. Of course, they kept working together until March.
That story, while incredibly strange, is incredibly hard to stage in an engaging matter. That's why any attempt to tell a convincing story usually changes something, even when based on a historical account. To go further, isn't history itself a kind of story created from memory and records of events to explain the past? But I digress. That's just everything I felt like sharing from the first seven chapters of the book (which is only 15 percent of the way through, according to my Kindle). May I do something like this again? Maybe, but probably not for a while. I've been raving about this show for weeks. It probably deserves all the praise I'm giving, though; who doesn't share their inspirations?
