May 23rd, 2026 Saturday Sunny
I finally listened through the musical “Hamilton”.
This has been a hit since its first performance a decade ago. I have heard much talk of it, and entered a drawing to win free tickets to the show when it came to town – with no luck 😛
You might wonder why I did not just pay to watch it in the theater?
Because I am not sure how much I would like it to justify spending enough money for a nice dinner on it. This does not mean the show itself is not high-quality, only that subjectively, I may not enjoy it as much as some other Broadway musicals.
Nevertheless, I have been curious about the story and the music. When a friend recently mentioned her seeing Hamilton, where almost the entire plot was contained in the lyrics of songs, I decided to borrow its soundtrack from the library and find out what it is all about.
So here I am.
As a biographical production, I am amazed that it has captured the history and important life events of this American founding father very well, in less than three hours. Moreover, the composer has taken advantage of a variety of modern styles to appeal to today’s audiences, despite being truthful to the setting of the 1700s. The pace was tight, yet I was able to follow most of it without even reading the booklets accompanying the CDs. Most surprisingly, tears started rolling down my face during the song where Hamilton was mourning the loss of his son, regretting the mistakes he had made, and seeking forgiveness from his wife, even though I did not fully understand everything that happened, and I was only imagining the scene in my head.
So would I call this a classic? What exactly is “classic”?
I had this discussion with my dad after attending the stage of “Les Miserables”. I definitely rate that as one of the best shows, a must-see once in my lifetime.
“But it is so old!” my dad commented, clearly surprised at my taste.
“It is classic!” I refuted. Then I pondered, what made it classic, not just “old”?
In my opinion, being classic means carrying values beyond a specific period. It is the artwork that withstands the tides of ages and still touches the heart of those beholding it. It depicts something relatable to people living in completely different eras, and it conveys lessons universally true to the human nature.
In “Les Miserables”, the sufferings of various characters, while set in nineteenth-century France, are (sadly) still occurring in the societies nowadays, albeit in slightly modified forms. Fantine’s ruin of reputation, Eponine’s unrequited love, Marius’ melancholy reminiscence of friends and comrades of his youth – these experiences are repeated again and again, because they are part of life, regardless of advancement of technology.
That is why compositions like that hold their charms for so many years.
Will Hamilton become a classic? Only time will tell.