The Synergy Project Magazine - August 2020

in this filmed musical and the insanely
talented writer of the show, Lin Manuel-
Miranda, plays none other than the
titular character, Alexander Hamilton. If
you are familiar with some of Miranda’s
other work, then you will see some
familiar faces from another one of his
Tony-winning musicals, In The Heights,
including Mandy Gonzalez as Angelica
Schuyler and Christopher Jackson as
George Washington. Another unique
element of the cast was that Miranda
chose to have people of color portray the
historically white founding fathers of the
United States. Miranda states that it’s “a
story of America then played by America
now” (00:36-00:38). The purpose of this
decision is to show how diverse America
is today compared to how it was twohundred
years ago.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shut
down Broadway until January 2021.
This leaves numerous actors, directors,
technicians, musicians and many others
working without employment. If you’re
wondering how many people this leaves
without work, Broadway supported
87,000 jobs from 2018-2019, so the
numbers from 2019-2020 would have
been more or less similar (Seymour). In
2019, more people attended Broadway
shows than games for all ten New York
and New Jersey sports teams combined
(The Demographics of the Broadway
Audience). Broadway greatly contributes
to New York’s economy, however, once
stimulus checks end in early August, the
government will be doing nothing to help
financially support actors and others who
work in this industry. Yes, it’s unfortunate
for theatre fans to miss out on the shows
they want to see, but it is much worse
when the creators you care so much about
are suffering. Many actors have held
dance, acting, or voice lessons over Zoom
for some income. There is also an amazing
foundation called The Actors Fund. Their
mission is to raise money for actors in
need with housing, healthcare, and other
necessities; this fund has been incredibly
helpful, especially during this time. If you
love the performing arts, I encourage you
to go donate to The Actors Fund to keep
the people running some of your favorite
shows on their feet.
Hamilton’s release is very exciting
for Broadway fans who were looking
forward to going to a theatre in person
this summer but now cannot. Theatrical
performances are usually consumed live
but there have been other instances where
people everywhere have had access to them
from the comfort of their own homes.
Some examples that have been televised
are Hairspray (2016), Falsettos (2017),
and Rent (2019). Unlike Hamilton, these
shows were aired on live television as one
night specials by different broadcasting
channels. With musicals like Newsies and
Hamilton on a prestiged streaming service
such as this, musical theatre fanatics
can finally watch the shows whenever
and as many times as they’d like. Many
of us theatre lovers are hoping that the
Hamilton release can pave the way for
professional recordings of other Broadway
shows being released to the public,
hopefully, very soon.
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