Hamilton

The Revolution

By: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter

Narrated by: Lin-Manuel Miranda

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.

An awesome experience

Any additional comments?

This book, and the play's soundtrack, is the next best thing to seeing the play. It will have to be for awhile at least - I figure it will be 2020 before the price becomes more reasonable, so I may want to do this again! The book is priceless, providing the backstory for the long development of the play and Miranda's thought processes in how to set the portrayals of scenes. The significance of this play, the significance of a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent deciding that Hamilton's story needed to be told, the significance of African Americans playing the roles of the very men who built this country/owned slaves/did not end slavery - is mind boggling. I did this on audio, which provided another level of intensity to the reading - intense enough to make me weep. Haven't experienced that since first seeing Lord of the Dance. I strongly recommend the experience.
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Missing Referenves...

Even though I rate it 5 out of 5 stars, the fact that one cannot actually reference the PDF being cited through and specifically stated that it came with the audio version is a huge bummer. Also, Lin is NOT the lead or even a main narrator...false advertising sucks; but when you get passed that, it is an excellent read/listen.

Wonderful!

I loved listening to this story, it was beautifully told, and the book itself must be a present for someone like mw who fell in love with the music, then the play. Thank you, Lin.

Mostly not Lin

I was super excited to listen to this book. When I saw that I could listen to Lin tell it - well it convinced me to join audible. Unfortunately Lin-Manuel only reads the last hour and 45 minutes. No doubt still great to hear all the backstory, but the primary reader drones on a bit. This makes parts that should be amazing to hear just, okay. Lin gets 5 stars, she gets 3. Overall still a worthwhile read/listen.

Time to go watch the movie

honestly I've seen the movie a dozen times. listening to this story only made me love it more.