Last night Jim and I viewed Hamilton, the film, on Disney+. Yes, we were those people who signed up for the service in time to see Hamilton. We could not wait to watch the original cast in the show that completely blew us away last summer when we saw Hamilton: An American Musical on Broadway. I had wanted to see the musical in the seat of the American revolution, New York City, since the musical opened at the Richard Rogers Theatre in 2015. The show focuses on the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, with music, lyrics and book by the incredibly creative Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was inspired after reading the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by historian Ron Chernow. Jim only agreed to go to NYC with me last summer because he is a lover of history. (He knows he was my second choice guest, but that is another story.)
Like one of my Kent School students studying for an assessment, I prepared for weeks to see Hamilton in NYC. With apologies to my next door neighbors for blasting the combination rapped-and-sung musical score, my first step was learning the entire soundtrack. All 46 songs. So that I could sing in the theatre, of course. And, I sang along on my couch last night! I also read the synopsis of the musical by scene last year, which I found online, and felt confident I could easily follow the storyline.
Last summer I also read about Alexander Hamilton in one of my children’s high school U.S. History texts still on our bookshelf, and filled in some memory gaps about our Founding Fathers. Yet, it was the reading about our Founding Mothers that really fascinated me. I read with interest about Martha Washington, the first FLOTUS, Abigail Adams, an advocate for education for children, and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, co-founder and deputy director of the first private orphanage in New York City. Their lives and their work inspires me.
Abigail Adams said: If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation. I believe that this is still relevant today, and all of my previous research made me increasingly excited as showtime neared yesterday. On Independence Day weekend, I can think of no better film/musical theater masterpiece to watch. Hamilton is truly a gift to the history of the United States and, without question, the history of American musical theatre. Contemporary and meaningful today. If you have not yet seen this, get Disney+, you won’t be disappointed.
At the end of the first acte after hearing these words, I suddenly realized, I am like Hamilton. I understood how it must have felt for him to have so much to say with so little time.
How do you write like you’re
Running out of time?
How do you write like tomorrow won’t arrive?
How do you write like you need it to survive?
How do you write ev’ry second you’re alive?
Hamilton is a kindred spirit to my writer muse and I vow to put his Federalist essays on my reading stack. But, alas, Alexander Hamilton, left us too soon, something about a duel with Aaron Burr. The final words of the show continue to resonate with me.
Every other founding father story gets told
Every other founding father gets to grow old
But when you’re gone, who remembers your name?
Who keeps your flame?
Who tells your story?
And, although Elizabeth Hamilton, broken hearted by her husband’s infidelity, claimed she would not help tell his story, after his death she established his legacy by collecting his letters and writings from others. She added to the narrative of her husband’s life by keeping his flame alive.
Jim and I loved seeing the film last night and are still talking this morning about who will tell our story. Our children for sure will have one version. And, Jim or I, whomever is last standing, will tell the story of us.
Who will tell your story…
That's Another Story 