1. Essay on Hamilton, Waitress and Chicago
A musical is a stage show that is performed using the three components of singing, acting
and dancing. They all link in with each other to create amazing sounding and amazing visual
performances and routines. All musicals follow a specific story and you can often tell apart
different musicals which have different writers/practitioners. Each musical is different in their
own way and will never fail to amaze an audience by creating all sorts of emotions for them,
from laughing in one scene to crying 5 minutes later with the next song. This essay is about
the three different musicals all written by different people: Hamilton, Chicago and Waitress. It
tells you how each of these musicals differ, and also how they can be quite similar. It also
touches on all the different components of musical theatre and how each component helps
to highlight each musical in different ways. In my opinion each of the musicals focus on one
element more than the others; Hamilton is heavily song based, Chicago is based off of
dance and Waitress tends to have more acting, giving it a more realistic feel. This is why I
picked these three musicals, as they are all stylistically different.
Themes are a major component of a musical, as it will be what the musical is linked back to
all throughout the show and is hugely what the play is about. For example, in Hamilton the
two main themes are history and legacy. This is because Hamilton is based on a true story
and actually is the story of Alexander Hamilton’s life throughout the American revolution,
along with telling us about the aftermath and his journey later in life. Legacy is a key theme
as the idea is continually repeated throughout the performance as Hamilton tends to
reiterate that he is fine with dying as long as it is for a good cause. A second example could
be Chicago where the main themes are celebrity, scandal and corruption. This is because
the main character Roxi, has dreamt her whole life of performing up on stage and she
heavily idolises the performers which in her case is Velma Kelly. Scandal and corruption are
linked in as the show is about women who have committed crimes, usually murder, and they
are trying to get out ot prison by simply trying to win over the public and almost turn their
testimony into a show. Lastly, I’d say the main themes of Waitress are womanhood, love and
independence. This is because the 3 main characters are females; Jenna, Dawn and Becky
and throughout the play they all try to help each other out with issues only women could
really have. Also, the main character Jenna, battles with a mix of love and want for
independence all throughout the show as she’s stuck in an abusive relationship and is
struggling with the idea whether she can get out, and survive on her own. This links back to
Chicago as the girls in the prison are apparently hopeless unless they have Billy Flynn, the
man who can argue their way out of getting the death penalty.
The regular structure of a musical is act one, interval, act two and then curtain call. Hamilton
has two acts with one interval and is 2 hours and 45 minutes long. The showstopper number
in it is “Non-Stop” which is situated at the end of act one. The showstopper number is the
song that wows the audience and may be used for promotional material. Following this, the
11 o'clock number is “Burn”. This is a number that drives the musical towards the end and
tends to have the main character come to a realisation. All musicals will have these numbers
as these are fundamental numbers in musicals and are what drives a musical from start to
finish. Chicago is 2 hours and 30 minutes, with two acts and one interval. The showstopper
number for Chicago is “Cell Block Tango” as it’s very visually effective, it encompasses all
the parts of musical theatre, acting, singing and dancing perfectly. The 11 o'clock number is
Razzle Dazzle as it is sung to Roxi before her court showing. This song is what drives the
show to its end, as it tells you how Roxi gets released which leads her to, in the end,
creating a stage show with Velma. Lastly, Waitress is 2 hours 30 minutes, with two acts and
one interval much like the previous ones. I would say that in Waitress the showstopper
number and the 11 o’clock number is the same with that being “She Used To Be Mine”. This
2. is because this is the song that showcases the main character's voice (Jenna), along with
creating an incredibly emotional atmosphere for the audience. During the song she talks
about how she's lost her ways and doesn’t “recognize” herself anymore, because of how
she's been treated, by her husband. She goes on to sing about how becoming pregnant has
made her feel herself again, and makes her want to fight to get herself back on track. This
then indirectly causes Jennas urge to end things with her husband and start to make more of
a life for herself and her baby. This is also why I think this song is the 11 o’clock number,
because it’s what drives her to realise something needs to change and make her want to
change her life for the better. Which is how the play is concluded.
Dance is a huge focus in musical theatre and although a dance number isn't always on its
own, being the centre of attention, it is almost always put in in the background to add visual
effects for a certain song. Without dance it can make a stage look empty and make a section
look unfinished or not effective. This is why dance is very important. You also have dance to
often symbolise an inanimate object, for example in Hamilton a dancer on stage is shown to
be holding a bullet in slow motion, and her job is to just be that bullet for that scene. You
often have big dance numbers in shows too and the main one for Hamilton I would say is the
number “The Room Where It Happens”. This is because dance is highly used to create
visual effects for the audience, and as the song progresses, more dancers come on stage
which creates more of an impact to the audience. The dance (along with the majority of
Hamilton) is all quite technical, in which the movements seem to be simple, but are
performed in a specific way that is very hard but looks very appealing to watch. Unlike
Hamilton, Waitress does not as heavily use dance. There doesn’t tend to be a big dance
number as the performers don’t tend to have massively technical dance routines. Instead in
Waitress, dance is used to enhance the movements and songs a little and is still somewhat
realistic to the real world. This could be because the plays style is a lot more realistic and
uses a lot more set in comparison to Hamilton. On the other hand Chicago is hugely based
around dance, as it has a key theme of jazz which runs throughout the entirety of the play.
This theme is so prominent because one of the playwrights was Bob Fosse, and he has a
major background in jazz, as he shaped jazz, along with musical theatre to what it is today.
Pretty much throughout the whole show, dance is a majorly prominent feature, and I’d say
the big dance number in it is Cell Block Tango, which is what I think is the showstopper too.
This routine makes sense to be the same, as the whole show is based around jazz dance.
This scene is particularly spectacular as it has impeccable vocals, mixed with intricate dance
style, brought together by amazing storytelling. The scene as a whole is just spectacular to
watch as it incorporates the key style brilliantly and really showcases jazz.
In every musical, the music and songs are different from one another. This is due to the fact
that each musical has different meanings behind them, along with having a different style.
For example, Hamilton is probably most well known for the difference in voice during the
whole of the show. This is because there is almost no talking, or casual acting during the
show, instead interactions and storytelling is shown to the audience either through singing or
rap. This is what makes Hamilton so recognisable. Another factor that makes Hamilton so
great, and what ties the whole show together is that specific tunes or lines have a meaning
to a specific character and then that characters will use that lyric throughout the whole show.
For example, one of the main singing numbers is Satisfied, which is sung by Angelica, and
almost everytime Angelica comes out to sing, the music will fit the tune of her song and she
will tend to sing a line from Satisfied. Another major musical number in Hamilton is My Shot,
which is sung by Hamilton towards the start of the play. The line from this song “I am not
throwing away my shot” is once again repeated by Hamilton whenever he has the chance to
step up, or is given a new opportunity. On the other hand, Waitress does not have a heavy
focus on music, as you get casual acting throughout the show, with different songs
3. embedded for each character to showcase their thoughts and feelings. In my opinion there
are a couple musical numbers, one being Opening up. This is performed towards the start of
the play, to introduce the audience to the characters and the story. Later on, Opening up
reprise is then sung, which gives the piece a cyclical structure and it is also used to highlight
the differences in Jenna's life to the audience. Doing this also helps to create a complete
contrast. I also think another big musical number is When He Sees Me, which is sung by
Dawn. This number helps to show the audience who Dawn is, as it lets the audience get to
know her and her insecurities. I have also found this song to be very popular and tends to be
a song that is widely known from the musical. Lastly, in Chicago, music is used throughout
and it always used to act as a stage show, as the main story line is Rozx sees her life in a
stage show. In my opinion, one of the big musical numbers is All That Jazz, that is
performed at the start of the play. It introduces you to the jazz style, and all the
choreography that goes with it is jazz. It is also one of the most well known songs from the
musical. I also think We Both Reached For The Gun is a big musical number, as it is very
visually effective as it incorporates dance into the scene beautifully.It also stands out to me
that during this scene Billy Flynn, treats Roxi as if she is his puppet. The way this is done is
amazing and the way Roxi interrupts Billy a few times, saying things she shouldn’t have, is
performed brilliantly as she breaks out of the character of being the puppet.
Every musical is different in its own way, this can be due to a specific style, or a different
playwright, or even down to the influence of where the musical has come from. You also
tend to get different types of musicals, some being a jukebox musical; a musical in which is
influenced by a singer or band, an example of one could be Tina or We Will Rock You.
Another type is a film musical, which is literally based on a film. You tend to find many
musicals that are film musicals, some examples of them are Mamma Mia, The Lion King and
Wicked. Hamilton is an autobiographical musical, which means it's a story that is compiled
with a person's life, or ideas. Hamilton is therefore this type as it is based on a real person,
Alexander Hamilton. Moving on, I’d go on to say that Chicago is a concept musical. This is
because the style of jazz is prominent throughout and the characters in the show always get
brought back to the ideas of wanting fandom. Lastly, Waitress is a book/film musical, as it
was originally a book, written by Jessie Nelson and then became a film directed by Adrienne
Shelly in 2007 and finally debuted on stage in 2015. Overall, each of these musicals are
incredible pieces of work and have continued to amaze audiences with every showing,
throughout the years of their release. Each of them are quite different, with the fact they all
have different styles and are all different types of musicals, but in my opinion one is not
better than the other. They all have their own different strengths and reasons as to why they
are brilliant.
