Hamilton: The Revolution

by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter

Overview

A backstage pass to the groundbreaking, hit musical Hamilton, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Eleven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, including the award-winning libretto, behind-the-scenes photos and interviews, and exclusive footnotes from composer-lyricist-star Lin-Manuel Miranda, now streaming on Disney+ with the original cast.

Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's origins for a diverse new generation.

Hamilton: The Revolution gives readers an unprecedented view of both revolutions, from the only two writers able to provide it. Miranda, along with Jeremy McCarter, a cultural critic and theater artist who was involved in the project from its earliest stages — "since before this was even a show," according to Miranda — traces its development from an improbable performance at the White House to its landmark opening night on Broadway six years later. In addition, Miranda has written more than 200 funny, revealing footnotes for his award-winning libretto, the full text of which is published here.

Their account features photos by the renowned Frank Ockenfels and veteran Broadway photographer, Joan Marcus; exclusive looks at notebooks and emails; interviews with Questlove, Stephen Sondheim, leading political commentators, and more than 50 people involved with the production; and multiple appearances by President Obama himself. The book does more than tell the surprising story of how a Broadway musical became a national phenomenon: It demonstrates that America has always been renewed by the brash upstarts and brilliant outsiders, the men and women who don't throw away their shot.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455539741
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	32,122
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.40(h) x 1.60(d)
Lexile:	1080L (what's this?)

About the Author

Lin-Manuel Miranda (Book, Music, and Lyrics/Alexander Hamilton) is the Tony and Grammy award-winning composer-lyricist-star of Broadway's In the Heights — winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Orchestrations, and Best Choreography with Miranda receiving the award for Best Score.

Additionally, he is the co-composer and co-lyricist of Broadway's Tony-nominated Bring It On: The Musical and provided Spanish translations for the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story. Miranda, along with Tom Kitt, won the 2014 Creative Arts Emmy for Best Original Music and Lyrics for their work on the 67th Annual Tony Awards. In 2015, Miranda was named as a Fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He lives with his family in New York City.

Jeremy McCarter wrote cultural criticism for New York magazine and Newsweek before spending five years on the artistic staff of the Public Theater, where he created, directed, and produced the Public Forum series. He served on the jury of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and is writing a book about young American radicals during World War One. He lives in Chicago.

Editorial Reviews

4/19/2016
Until now, those unlucky enough to live too far away from the Great White Way (or who live and work maddeningly close but haven’t yet managed to sell their first-born child in order to afford scalper pricing) have had to content themselves with putting the soundtrack album on repeat. No more! Now, we can also read Hamilton: The Revolution, an exhaustive script book/behind-the-scenes journey that’s almost as good as a front-row seat. (Or that’s what we’re telling ourselves, anyway). Read More

B&N Reads

11/01/2015
Miranda was the composer, lyricist, and star of Broadway's In the Heights, which won four Tony Awards in 2008 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Then came Hamilton, the trailblazing, diverse-cast, hip hop-crazy musical that had a sold-out run at New York's Public Theater before winning the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and transferring to Broadway. Now it's a Tony favorite, with decent ticket availability starting around June 2016. Here, having told the story of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda tells the story of Hamilton. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

12/01/2016
This glorious, oversize testament to the uplifting, gorgeous, diverse, multiple Tony Award—winning musical Hamilton is a must-have for initiated and new listeners alike. —Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL

School Library Journal

Mariska Hargitay takes on the role of warm documentarian in her narration of this behind-the-scenes look at the cultural phenomenon that is HAMILTON. Hargitay is an able guide through the chronology of its run at The Public Theater, the recording of the cast album, and the move to Broadway, as well as details, many quite personal, of the writing, casting, composing, choreography, and more. Listeners will need to follow along in the print book or accompanying PDF when listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s footnotes on the libretto, which make up the last hour of the recording. That said, it’s SO much fun hearing them lift off the page, by turns serious and playful, in his voice. It’s fascinating listening for Broadway aficionados and an essential deep dive for HAMILTON fans. J.M.D. 2017 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2016 - AudioFile