HAMILTON’S AMERICA
If you could not get, or afford, tickets to Broadway’s hottest show, PBS is offering a bit of the experience tonight as it begins its Arts Fall Festival at 9 pm EST with the documentary Hamilton’s America.
But fair warning, it is not a full airing of the Lin-Manuel Miranda production by any means, although it includes footage beyond what is on YouTube.
Instead, as The Atlantic writes, “it’s a crash course on why Hamilton matters at all [and] concerns itself more with American history and present-day politics than it does with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway smash.”
USA Today adds that it “tells the chronological story of the founding father’s life, relying on historians and political heavyweights …The musical (and its creation) is the lens through which the audience sees Hamilton’s story.”
PBS says the documentary includes “footage of the New York production with its original cast, trips to historic locations, such as Mt. Vernon and Valley Forge with Miranda and other cast members, and a surprising range of interviews with prominent personalities, experts, politicians, and musicians.”
Several previews have been released:
As we have reported, the various books related to the musical continue to see strong sales and circulation:
Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter (Hachette/Grand Central; Hachette Audio and Blackstone Audio),
Ron Chernow’s biography, Alexander Hamilton (PRH/Penguin, 2004), the book that inspired Miranda
Gore Vidal’s novel Burr (PRH/Vintage)
Our earlier post offers more clips of the show’s making and reception.