THIS IS BASED ON THE HAMILTON MUSICAL NOT THE ACUTAL PERSON NOT A HISTORICAL REASEARCH PAPER PLEASE READ
In casting this show, more than with most Broadway musicals, you have a dilemma both
ethical and artistic: should race, or how should race, factor into your casting decisions? Asked
another way, how should you best be faithful to Lin-Manuel Mirandas vision for Hamilton?
Should you try to replicate the racial identities of the original cast? Should you intentionally
play around with different identities? Or should you cast purely by talent and let the racial
identity chips fall where they may?
Begin with some discussion of what you think Mirandas vision was. What was his
purpose in casting almost exclusively people of color to play historical figures who were, to my
knowledge, all White? (And by my eye, King George and Samuel Seabury are the only two
figures portrayed by White actors; whats up with that?) What happens when IRL White slaveowning Thomas Jefferson is played on stage by African American actor, Daveed Diggs? Think
cause / effect here: what was Miranda trying to do and what was the result? And when
Hamilton begins being re-produced by high schools and community theatres, as Broadway
musicals are, how should those productions remain faithful to Mirandas vision?
Once youve answered that basic question, which will be your thesis, play out the
possibilities of your casting principles in the body paragraphs and show the imagined examples.
For example, what if your plan results in King George being portrayed by a Black or Latinx
actor? Does that shift our perception of the king? Or what if the best actor for George
Washington is White? Is there room for White actors in Hamilton?
Consider not only the roles to be cast but how particular moments might play
differently. For example, much has been made of Jeffersons Sally, be a dear line. Critics
have fussed: Is the joke at Sallys expense or at Jeffersons? Would it play differently or the
same if the actors portraying Jefferson and Sally were not both African American? Are there
other such moments that bear inspection?
Youve already done some reading about Hamilton, race, and the shows representation
of American history. That may give you some ideas about how to think about your hypothetical
casting situation, but Im not requiring any sources beyond Hamilton. Just be sure that any
sources are introduced, cited, and included on your bibliography.
That reading, whether you cite it or not, can also serve as a model for writing about race
and ethnicity. Some people think Americans talk too much about race, and some that we talk
too little about it, but wed probably all agree that its not the most comfortable topic. Theres
an anxiety about slipping from race to racism. Even basic language is uncertain. Do you write
Black or African American? Hispanic or Latinx? Is it useful to say Asian or should one specify
Chinese, Vietnamese? Whats the difference between Chinese and Chinese-American? In
writing about race and ethnicity, use the language youre comfortable with and that you see
modeled in the pieces you read about Hamilton.
And trust our academic motives: the aim is not to be racist but to engage ideas about
race, specifically, racial representation in a stage production. The community theatre is
hypothetical, and any stage show is an exercise in make-believe, so while race is a loaded topic,
youre writing about it in a fairly safe setting.
Keep in mind that as a final exam essay, this needs to showcase everything weve been
working on this semester: a thesis, well organized paragraphs that develop an argument,
graceful sentences, and sound thinking. Think of it as your audition for Eng 1302.
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