Hamilton - Introduction to Character and Context.pdf
1. Hamilton - Introduction to
Character and Context
In our first lesson of Hamilton, we focused on getting an idea of what the musical is about,
and brainstorming some ideas of how we were going to create the piece for the showcase
in June. We discussed the reasoning behind why we chose to do the song ‘Non Stop’ from
Hamilton, in which we chose it because it has all three performing arts elements of acting,
singing and dancing. Our group is very versatile, however we all have our specified
elements of performing arts that we prefer, so picking a song that has all three elements in,
means that everyone can do the element they are the most confident in, e.g. mine is
dance. In the end we decided that this song was definitely the best option, as there were 3
people who wanted singing parts, and took the roles of Washington, Elisa and Angelica,
the two actors took the roles of Hamilton and Burr, as they more rap than sing so it was
perfect for the actors to do, and then we had the five dancers in the background.
Therefore, my SMART Target for this lesson was to be engaged in giving ideas on how we
could create the piece, in terms of choreography and directions, and to quickly pick up
choreography for the start of the routine.
As this was the start of our Musical Theatre unit, we discussed as a class that we were
going to challenge ourselves, and create a huge showcase of a bunch of different musical
numbers, including all the three elements of performing arts to show off all our different
musical theatre skills. This is a challenge as we have to learn many different routines,
songs and monologues including in areas we are not so confident in. For example, I am
not very confident in singing, but within the showcase, I will have to sing in a group singing
number, which is definitely out of my comfort zone. We decided on many different songs
we are going to use in the showcase which includes; a main singing number for the whole
class in which we decided is going to be the opening from Rent, a small group dance
number which is Cell Block Tango from Chicago, Non Stop from Hamilton which includes
all aspects of performing arts, two other whole class dance numbers (Revolting
Children-Matilda, and One Short Day-Wicked), and we decided on some people doing
solos. Doing all these routines, and more that we haven't decided on yet, all of this in one
performance will definitely challenge our stamina, but will help us develop for future
performances and will help us in the performing arts industry.
Hamilton is an American musical that tells the story of American Founding Father,
Alexander Hamilton set in the 1700s. The idea of the musical was created by Lin-Manuel
Miranda, who was inspired to write the musical after reading the biography Alexander
Hamilton (2004) by Ron Chernow. Not only did Lin-Manuel Miranda come up with the idea
of the musical, but he also wrote it, made the music for it, and plays the main character,
2. Alexander Hamilton. The music in Hamilton is unlike any other musical, in which it has
genres of Hip Hop, R&B, Pop and Soul, in which they discuss in the words of Lin-Manuel
Miranda “America then, as told by America now”. In our version of ‘Non Stop’ from
Hamilton, I am playing an ensemble character. Being a part of the ensemble in this routine,
means that I have to do a lot of different elements within the piece. I have to sing, act and
dance all at the same time, to fill the space on the stage and to help tell the story of the
piece ‘Non Stop’. During our first few lessons on this piece, we watched the video of Non
Stop being performed live, so that we could understand how the characters we are playing
move/act, and how we can incorporate the original choreography into our routine. The
ensemble in ‘Non Stop’ have very good posture and are presented as quite powerful, in
which every step they take has a purpose. In order to fulfil my role in this piece, I need to
make sure that when I am singing the ensemble pieces I add facial expressions and match
my facial expressions to the powerful movements.
During our first lesson on Hamilton, we split off into our three groups of acting, singing and
dancing. Within this lesson, I helped give ideas for choreography, as our dance group
started with choreographing the start of the piece with chairs. In the first few lessons, we
didn't really do much on the ensemble singing parts, so we mainly focused on discussing
ideas for choreography, in which we decided to walk on with the chairs above our heads
and for the whole first section, use the chairs and incorporate them into the dance like they
do in the original musical. I gave the idea of walking on with the chairs, and I discussed
with the group that we all need to practise in our own time so that we can move on with the
next part of the routine next rehearsal. Giving ideas and helping with choreography was
my SMART Target, which means I have started to develop and achieve that target to help
me reach my target grade at the end of the unit. Within choreographing this opening
section, we looked at the original video of Hamilton being performed live, and took some
inspiration from the style of dance they do to choreograph our own, in which we all thought
the style they used for choreography was like a mix of Jazz and Contemporary dance.
Therefore, we decided to use very Jazz and Contemporary like moves to choreograph the
opening chair section of the routine, and throughout the next few rehearsals that we
choreographed for.
After starting the routine in the first session and discussing what we were going to do to
develop, I set myself the SMART target of perfecting the choreography that we started,
and thinking of ideas to give for the next lesson. To achieve this SMART Target i needed to
practice in my own time to make sure i really understand the choreography, so that next
lesson i can show improvements. I also set myself the target of watching the Hamilton
scene we are doing a few times, to see how the ensemble characters act and sing to
understand and start to learn the small singing parts that I will have to sing as an
ensemble character.
One strength I think I had during these first few rehearsals, was that I think I helped a lot
with giving ideas for choreography. This shows great leadership qualities, and also helps
out the director, as they have had to choreograph a lot of routines already and might like
3. some help with ideas. I also think that another strength I had was that I was willing to try
anything. Although I am not that confident with singing, I gave the ensemble parts a go,
and I am now getting more confident with those parts as our rehearsals go on, which
shows improvements in my determination and confidence. I also contributed to thinking of
some other routines we could put in the showcase, in which I offered to do a dance solo,
and got a group of 5 of us to do the routine Cell Block Tango from the musical Chicago.
One area I think I could develop in during our rehearsals is being much more engaged and
having a much more positive attitude, as my mood will reflect on everyone else too.
Therefore, if I am in a bad mood, then it means that my relationship with everyone else in
the class will not be very good, and ultimately will reflect on what we do in the lesson that
day. Especially because we are picking up choreography in these early sessions of
Hamilton, I need to be fully engaged so that I don't miss anything, otherwise I will slow the
whole group down by having to go over it again, which is why I need to have a positive
attitude.
Overall, during our first few rehearsals of Hamilton’s ‘Non Stop’, I feel as though I
managed to reach my SMART Target of giving ideas for choreography, and picking up the
choreography I was given by the director quickly. Reaching this SMART target will help me
to improve within this unit, as we will have to learn a lot of different choreography, whilst
singing and acting, so reaching this target of picking things up quickly will help me
progress quickly. Helping give choreography ideas to the director, also shows great
leadership qualities, and will definitely help me later on in the performing arts industry, as
choreographing is a key skill a
performer in the industry needs.
This is an image from the start of
the routine, in which I helped with the
ideas for the chair choreography. My
peers playing Hamilton and Burr are
singing, and the others of us are
dancing in the chairs around them to
create a sense of chaos whilst they
are competing over their opinions.
Within this image, we are practising
another section of the routine, in
which we are on the chairs again,
however, we were also practising
singing the ensemble parts at the
same time. As a group, we were
very quiet when singing the
