On June 12th, 2016 at 8 PM, we were blessed with the broadcast of the 70th annual Tony Awards. For those who don't know, the Tony Awards are an annual presenting of awards to the best of Broadway's previous season. This time around, the revolutionary musical, Hamilton, was nominated for a record-breaking sixteen Tony Awards. This is the highest number we've seen since The Producers and Billy Elliot were nominated for fifteen awards in 2001 and 2009, respectively. Hamilton brought home eleven well-deserved wins, stopping just short of The Producers' twelve award win, also in 2001.
Why is Hamilton such a big deal, you might ask? Well, let me share with you a few of its achievements in the theatre thus far:
1. It has already earned other prestigious awards.
Hamilton had already received two other notable awards prior to its Tony win. It was the winner of the 2016 Pultizer Prize for Drama as well as the GRAMMY winner for Best Musical Theatre Album. In addition, the writer, composer and star of the show, Lin-Manuel Miranda, was awarded the MacArthur Genius Grant. The musical is sure to keep racking up awards and even though it didn't break the record for the most Tony Awards, it's on its way to winning the most awards ever!
2. It broke the box office.
A ticket to see Hamilton is currently the most difficult ticket to obtain on Broadway. That is, unless you don't mind paying hundreds or even a couple thousand dollars, but even those tickets are in short supply. Due to this high demand of ticket sales, the musical recouped its production cost of about $12.5 million dollars within just a few months of its opening on Broadway. It is now raking in about $600,000 per week and is expected to reach $1 billion from sales on Broadway alone.
3. It has begun to bridge the gap between theatre and popular culture.
Once upon a time the music of theatre and the music of pop culture were one in the same. Over time, music formed its own separate industry. What Hamilton has done is it has successfully merged the two by the integration of rap and hip-hop styles into musical theatre. The musical has become popular enough that people outside of the realm of theatre have come to appreciate its hits. This is major in relation to education; younger people can learn the stories of significant historical figures through the styles of music they listen to on a daily basis. This mixing of old and new has never been done before with this kind of success, and will surely work to change theatre for the better.
4. It has promoted and celebrated ethnic diversity.
Only one major character in the musical is played by a Caucasian actor, despite the actual race of the founding fathers and their female counterparts.
"I think one of our overarching goals with this show is — with any show — is, you want to eliminate any distance between your audience and your story. And so let’s not pretend this is a textbook. Let’s make the founders of our country look like what our country looks like now."
"And this is what our country looks like now. It looks like, you know, we are — we are every shade and every color. And it also comes organically out of the music. This is hip-hop and R&B music. These are the best people to sing this type of music," Miranda shares on PBS News Hour.
This means so much to me as an Asian-American performer. The opportunities for non-Caucasian actors in the theatre are unfortunately still quite small. According to the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC), the NYC theatre industry saw it's highest rate of diversity so far in the 2014-15 season; a whopping 30% of all available roles went to minority actors. Although this is a higher number than usual, it's still a very meager portion for the remaining ethniticies to fill. Seeing a cast full of colors succeed so majorly gives me hope for the future of all ethnically diverse actors.
5. Barack and Michelle Obama presented it at the Tony Awards.
It may not have been live and in person, but the President and First Lady of these United States announced Hamilton pre-performance at the Tony's. They described it as "a musical about the miracle that is America: a place of citizenship, where we debate ideas with passion and conviction. A place of inclusiveness, where we value our boisterous diversity as a great gift. A place of opportunity, where no matter how humble our origins, we can make it if we try."
Need I say more?
As someone who has had the great fortune of seeing this wonderful work of art, I can tell you with utmost confidence that it deserves every award it has received. It is beyond the title of just "a great show." It is a carefully crafted, beautifully executed piece of theatre that is giving just as much back to its community as it has received. It is breaking the mold of musical theatre and paving a new path of righteousness.
Thank you Lin-Manuel and thank you Hamilton for doing great things in theatre and entertainment. History certainly does have its eyes on you.
