Rob McClure's Moving Hamilton Story

[cityoftenants]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 2:23pm

Read Rob's story of sharing Hamilton with a stranger here: http://cityoftenants.com/city-of-tenants/broadways-rob-mcclure/

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 2:32pm

This is really beautiful. Thank you, Rob. 

[mpkie]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 2:38pm

Oh I love it!... still haven't heard the cast album yet :)

[TNick926]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 2:39pm

This. Is. SO. Great!!

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 2:41pm

Theatre has that power and it is alway great when you turn someone on to something theatrical they knew nothing about. Great story.

I will ask as it has been mentioned.....The show has gotten kids into learning about history and this man makes the statement about learning more than he knew. It has been mentioned that HAMILTON is not completely historically(?) accurate. What are the inaccuracies and are they major changes? I only ask because of the impact this show has had on kids. I assume some will go read up on Hamilton but some may just listen to the cast recording and not know the changes made. Just curious.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 3:11pm

There are 2 categories of complaints about accuracy. The first is about what is included, and I think these are of no consequence: the essential American history (what you'd learn in school if you were even taught this much) is accurate; what is not accurate are liberties taken in the interwoven personal stories (e.g., Angelica was married at the time she introduced Hamilton and Eliza, there were more kids, etc.)The second is what was left out: all of our founding fathers had huge pluses and also huge minuses. For example (and there are many others) very little is made of the consequences of some of Hamilton's economic structuring and policies (he is also the founding father of the 1%) and while much is made of Jefferson's agrarian/states' rights/slaveholding views, little is said about his responsibility (in some cases single-handedly) for the rights we take for granted. I think the play overwhelmingly contributes to education, not just directly but in the way we hope every bit of what is taught will function-to open doors to further exploration.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 3:29pm

damn. that story was short sweet and to the point. and so correct.

[sarahb22]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 3:50pm

Very nice story!  That's one of the cool things about the show, it speaks in our current vernacular.  It's accessible to people who usually feel shut out of the narrative.

[MinervaMoon]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 5:04pm

That's such a wonderful story. I remember finishing the album for the first time and feeling more rebellious and patriotic than I ever had. You almost feel as though if you had been there, you would have helped them "rise up". But I had no outlet for these pent up revolutionary feelings and ended up having the most vociferous bowl of cereal of my life.

[mpkie]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 6:21pm

HogansHero said: "much is made of Jefferson's agrarian/states' rights/slaveholding views, little is said about his responsibility (in some cases single-handedly) for the rights we take for granted. I think the play overwhelmingly contributes to education, not just directly but in the way we hope every bit of what is taught will function-to open doors to further exploration."

It's funny how it's skewed against a well known figure like Thomas Jefferson. At least it quite apparently comes across that way as someone who hasn't seen the show yet and have only heard little snippets. That's why I think the story actually pairs well with the one told in 1776. Although it would probably be hard to get the same kids who are taken by Hamilton as their first foray into theater to want to watch something so classic (old!) in such a standard musical format.

[MinervaMoon]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 6:49pm

mpkie said: "It's funny how it's skewed against a well known figure like Thomas Jefferson. At least it quite apparently comes across that way as someone who hasn't seen the show yet and have only heard little snippets."

I don't think it's possible to get a completely accurate picture if you've only heard little snippets. Thomas Jefferson is an antagonist to Hamilton, but also written as extremely charismatic and exuberant, and I don't think anyone comes away thinking, "How about that awful guy, Thomas Jefferson?" His ties to slavery are challenged directly only once, so I wouldn't say "much is made" of them. They are overtly parodied at the top of Act 2 where he descends a staircase amidst his household workers scrubbing the floor, and sings about being glad to be free (from Britain) while perched atop his stairs, but because the ensemble is of mixed ethnicities, the association can be lessened in significance amidst the spectacle of the song.

[sarahb22]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 7:06pm

MinervaMoon said: "Thomas Jefferson is an antagonist to Hamilton, but also written as extremely charismatic and exuberant, and I don't think anyone comes away thinking, "How about that awful guy, Thomas Jefferson?"

I did a search for Tumblr posts on Jefferson's birthday, and I was shocked by the number of obviously Hamilton-inspired posts that basically said, "Today is Jefferson's birthday but he's a total d*ck so F**K YOU THOMAS JEFFERSON I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL."    My hope is that when these kids grow up (I think they're mostly young girls besotted with LMM's Hamilton) they do some research and discover that Jefferson isn't the jerk he's portrayed as in the show.  He was actually a brilliant guy.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 7:34pm

Cute story, but it seems oddly simplistic, like its PR for the show. 

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 7:39pm

Do I smell cynicism?

[MinervaMoon]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 7:39pm

sarahb22 said: "I did a search for Tumblr posts on Jefferson's birthday, and I was shocked by the number of obviously Hamilton-inspired posts that basically said, "Today is Jefferson's birthday but he's a total d*ck so F**K YOU THOMAS JEFFERSON I HOPE YOU ROT IN HELL."    My hope is that when these kids grow up (I think they're mostly young girls besotted with LMM's Hamilton) they do some research and discover that Jefferson isn't the jerk he's portrayed as in the show.  He was actually a brilliant guy."

So I see a lot of this kind of discussion and would argue that there's a much different cause-and-effect relationship than the one you outlined. We all know Jefferson was a slaveholder, but people who get as angry as this didn't form this opinion based on his being a "jerk" in the show, but from reading more up on the real Jefferson. People tend to love his character, but these guys acknowledge that the real Jefferson was actually more unsavory than depicted. It isn't giving them credit to claim that they're angry just because he antagonized Lin as Hamilton; they're angry because he owned slaves, and because the power differential with Sally Hemings means that their relations probably couldn't have been consensual. Sally was also with him in France, where she could have been free if she petitioned, but agreed to return to Monticello and slavery on the condition that he make good on his promise to free her(/their) children when they turned 21 -- which he didn't. None of this is brought up in Hamilton; in fact, the small exchange between Jefferson and Sally is superficially amicable.

So maybe their disgust with him disregards his other accomplishments, but I wouldn't say it's unfounded. He was a brilliant guy but that's not a reason to praise him on sight. It's good that these young people, as you say, don't feel like these figures are beyond reproach, which I think is one of the seeds planted by the show. (While we're thinking about it, Columbus was pretty awful too, and he has a whole holiday.)

[sarahb22]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 9:15pm

Nah, I'm pretty sure their disgust comes from what they've seen in 'Hamilton'. I saw the posts and the general gist was, "He was mean to Alexander so F*CK HIM I HATE HIM."   Like I said, I hope when they grow up they do some independent reading and get the whole story.  'Hamilton' leaves a lot of important stuff out, such as the fact that Washington, Mulligan, and the Schuylers all owned slaves.  I mean, why do the fangirls hate Jefferson despite his accomplishments simply because he owned slaves, but Washington gets a pass?

Updated On: 6/13/16 at 09:15 PM

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 9:15pm

Well, I'm tearing up at a Chinese restaurant I often frequent. Short and sweet...a damn good story. The Cab Where It Happened. Thanks, Rob...I want to believe it.

[sarahb22]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 9:19pm

mpkie said: "It's funny how it's skewed against a well known figure like Thomas Jefferson. At least it quite apparently comes across that way as someone who hasn't seen the show yet and have only heard little snippets. That's why I think the story actually pairs well with the one told in 1776. Although it would probably be hard to get the same kids who are taken by Hamilton as their first foray into theater to want to watch something so classic (old!) in such a standard musical format."

Just tell 'em Gwyneth Paltrow's mom is in it.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 9:46pm

WHY would Robe McClure be interested in creating more attention for Hamilton??

 

I wonder if some of the ire towards is Jefferson is more about how different we find out these men are compared to the squeaky clean images we are fed as elementary children.

[sarahb22]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 10:09pm

Good question. The answer is, maybe, although the anger of the fangirls seems to stem mostly from how he treats Hamilton.  Speaking for myself, I don't remember being angry when I found out that Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, et al were more complex than the cardboard cutouts we had stuck on the wall of my elementary school.  I just remember thinking, well, life's more complicated than we were told!

When it comes to things like Christopher Columbus, though, you want to talk about a whitewash!  That dude was completely rotten, with very few redeeming qualities.  I wouldn't be surprised if Columbus Day was named something else in the next few years, just because of all the stuff people are discussing that make him less than honorable.  And he didn't even discover America!  Talk about a fraud :-P

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 10:28pm

Bettyboy72 said: "Cute story, but it seems oddly simplistic, like its PR for the show."

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 6/13/16 at 10:35pm

Jefferson might be a person of his time, but regardless, I find his justification of race and racism nauseating. http://historytools.davidjvoelker.com/sources/Jefferson-Race.pdf

[nicnyc]

Posted: 6/14/16 at 2:39am

Awesome - thanks for posting.  Hamilton's legacy is going to extend well beyond theatre and hip hop.