Hamilton bias

There is a true Hamilton bias now when it comes to everything in the theater community. As a theater fan, people who recognize me for being a theater person always ask me about shows. Now, all I hear about is Hamilton. All I read is Hamilton. All I see is Hamilton. Do people realize there are other shows??? I am not saying in any way that Hamilton is bad, but there are other shows that are very good that are currently running. Plays including Long Days Journey Into Night and The Humans, and musicals from Shuffle Along to Waitress. I really don't put Hamilton on the pedestal over those other great shows, if you ask me.

I'm a huge Hamilton fan but I also like and respect other new shows. In my next trip to NYC, I am seeing Hamilton again but I'm also seeing She Loves me and Shuffle Along and am very excited for both. I don't think there are many true theatre fans that are only talking about Hamilton, that will be the people that don't know a lot about theatre but have heard a lot about the show. As well, when a show is so hard to get tickets for, it becomes more of a subject of fascination. People can't afford to see for themselves, so they ask others what its like, if its really that good etc.

Honestly, this hype is temporary. The show will be successful for a long time but once the Tonys are over, the OBC have left, the documentary and the mixtape have been released etc. it will all calm down. It's just been difficult to NOT talk about this show (especially if you have seen it and love it) when at the moment there's something new to get excited about all the time. (Grammys, Pulitzer, record breaking Tony noms etc). As well, the tours and the London production will open and the show will become more and more accessible.

I understand not everyone likes the show (there's never something that everyone likes) but for what they set out to do and set out to create, they did it almost perfectly. The show IMO deserves its success and its time in the spotlight and I never think its a bad thing when mainstream attention is focused on Broadway for once. It will be a long time before it happens again.

Updated On: 5/5/16 at 01:50 AM

Also I know people on here get annoyed with too many Hamilton threads but you can just choose not to read them. The annoying thing is when other threads get detailed by Hamilton discussion when there's no need! I almost lost it the other day when someone asked if Rory was better than Groff as King George in a thread about Tony performances (or a similar thread).

Ok some of you guys really have to realzie that not everyone is as privileged as you and that Broadway is not a mainstream thing. Most people can't go to New York City regularly and don't have the money or time to see 6 shows a season. Hamilton has reached a larger audience than usually goes to Broadway. Anything that brings more attention to broadway is a good thing. You can simply ignore Hamilton news and threads if you are tired of it. Book of Mormon was similar that it captured mainstream interest as well, perhaps on a smaller scale though.

Updated On: 5/5/16 at 02:11 AM

Yeah I don't really put Hamilton on a "pedestal" but I personally don't live close to New York and can only see a few shows a year. People very rarely watch Broadway shows. Hamilton has just captured mainstream interst. The people who always ask you about Hamilton wouldn't have asked you about anything becaue most of he population has no idea what's playing on broadway.

It will never cease to amuse me that so many on here complain that Broadway is ignored by the population in general but when one show manages to get mainstream interest, everyone gets so damn salty about it.

I love Hamilton and all that it is doing for the community. That being said, I have a feeling the Tony Awards are going to show just how tired people are of the onslaught of Hamilton this year.

wonderfulwizard11 said: "It will never cease to amuse me that so many on here complain that Broadway is ignored by the population in general but when one show manages to get mainstream interest, everyone gets so damn salty about it. "

This is how I feel about this, I'm like wait...so now we're upset theater art is being appreciated, celebrated, loved and thrust into the mainstream? I thought we were always upset about it being ignored and and treated as less than? I mean, think about it, the Tony's are probably going to see a huge ratings boost this year, because of Hamilton, and because of that, people who wouldn't normally pay attention, are going to be treated to performances by all those other wonderful shows that are happening right now, and of those people, some of them will have an interest sparked. I really don't see how anything but good can come from this Hamilton overload. (Literally theater fans are the only people I've seen complain about it, well you know aside from those that can't wrap their heads around a multi-racial cast, but those are the people who have more problems than not appreciating Broadway)

But like why are we getting upset that people LOVE something. There is so much hate and negativity in the world, and this is something that people are LOVING that is sparking happy and positive comments, why on earth would we want to try and squash that?

Updated On: 5/5/16 at 07:46 AM

The point I tried to make in the latter part of my post was that I love how Hamilton is bringing attention to Broadway and the arts (I had insomnia so I might now have made perfect sense). But, I wonder if the enthusiasm and attention will extend beyond Hamilton. I really, really hope it does.

I apologize if I came off as ungrateful for the attention rightfully being paid to something we all love (Notalwaysontime you put this very well). I think the overload just got to me this week. Maybe I got greedy because I want people to take interest in the other amazing art being produced too.

I really do hope Hamilton is the "gateway drug" into theatre for people (like Wicked or Rent) and that our community grows in a positive manner. The Tonys should be bigger this year and hopefully the shows that perform get a boost.

I only think those in the industry that are tired of it are people that are incredibly jealous of its success. (and I don't throw around the "jealously card" often.)



And people that come on these boards (and others like it) soaking up all sorts bway information. The general theater going audience is not oversaturated with articles. They aren't overkill in general publications.

I also think the amount of friends that Lin (and other people working on the show) have in the Broadway community means the jealousy/resentment would be pretty minimal. It's not a Harvey Weinstein musical.

I didn't mean it as anything bad. I just meant (as someone - maybe Riedel?) said, that there is "Hamilton fatigue" among voters.

Riedel has been bitter about Hamilton from the start to be fair, he's tried his best to make things look bad for the show at various points.