Hip-hop Americana sweeps into town
At this point, the musical “Hamilton” is right up there with the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. It’s art that has been elevated into the American experience, a groundbreaking, box office-busting, hip-hop-styled origin story of our Founding Fathers.
“Hamilton” has won 11 Tony awards (including Best Musical), a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the show is still making the news. This week, the cast gave a private performance to President George H.W. Bush. “I will never forget,” he tweeted. “History never sounded so powerful.”
“Hamilton” tells the life story of immigrant-turned-founding Father Alexander Hamilton. He rose from orphanhood in the West Indies to creating the United States’ treasury May 29-June 24
7:30 p.m. Tuesday-sunday; 2 p.m. Saturday-sunday
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Smith Center 702-749-2000 system. All the stars of the American Revolution are present: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr and King George III. The sweeping storyline also stands out for its color-conscious casting: black and Latino actors play the lead roles. Puerto Rican superstar Lin-manuel Miranda wrote the music, book and lyrics and played the title role in the original cast production.
The New York Times calls it “proof that the American musical is not only surviving but also evolving in ways that should allow it to thrive and transmogrify in years to come.”
In addition to the music and the storytelling, “Hamilton” offers something deeper. “Kids are learning American history in ways they never been able to before,” said Myron Martin, president and CEO of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, where “Hamilton” is playing through June 24. “They’re being engaged in excitement of American history because of what has been done. It really is a cult phenomenon.”
“I went in knowing what I was going to see, and I was still was overwhelmed with the extraordinary beauty of this work,” Martin said, describing the first time he saw the play. “It’s unlike anything I’d seen before. Frankly, I had to go back to see again right away. And I did.”
So it’s no small deal that “Hamilton” is in town. “Once again, Las Vegas is part of the first national tour,” Martin said. “Before the Smith Center, Las Vegas generally didn’t get first national tours; we’d get tours later on in their life.”