Decider’s Ultimate Online Guide To Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’

Ask any New Yorker and they’ll tell you that Hamilton is the hottest ticket in town. The literally revolutionary new musical is a passionate ode to the life of one of America’s Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton. MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Lin-Manuel Miranda came up with the idea while thumbing through Ron Chernow’s massive tome about Hamilton’s life, and now the show has taken on a life of its own. You don’t have to be in Manhattan (or have a coveted ticket) to get down with the show, though. All you need is a working internet connection.

Here is Decider’s ultimate online guide to Hamilton. There’s everything from how you can listen to the show for free, get plugged in with the fan culture, stream more about the Founding Fathers, and where you can catch the show’s stars off-stage.

STAGE ONE: So You Want To See Hamilton – But Can’t.

While it’s incredibly difficult to land tickets to see Hamilton on the Great White Way – tickets are sold out for months in advance, being resold for exorbitant amounts, or available to lucky lottery winners who camp out in the hours before the show — you can still experience the show wherever you are. The musical is entirely sung, and the cast album is now available to listen to (and purchase) online. That basically means you can listen to the cast recording and get the gist of the musical*.

[Stream Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) on Spotify]
[Stream or Buy Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) on iTunes]

Are you having trouble telling all the stellar voices apart? Can’t catch all the historical references? Want to know which Schuyler sister sings which “work” on their eponymous song? Well, then you’re in luck! The official site for the Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) has an interactive liner notes section with annotations for key lines. Read it as you listen by clicking here.

Do you need some sort of visual idea of what the characters, costume, and production design looks like? Well, there is a sizzle reel of the show that was shot during its earlier production at the Public Theater. Some things changed between the Public Theater run and the Broadway opening — namely that Brian d’Arcy James had to step down as King George III to do Something Rotten, and was replaced by Jonathan Groff — but it’s a pretty good peek at how the show looks staged.

Also, the official Hamilton YouTube page is full of behind-the-scenes stuff, satirical sketches, and recordings of what they call #Ham4Ham (which we’ll get to next).

STAGE TWO: Now You Love Hamilton. How Do You Get OBSESSED?

Part of the appeal of Hamilton is how populist its spirit is — and we’re not just talking about how the Rockefeller Foundation is paying to send 20,000 New York City high school students to the show! In addition to being able to stream it for free, the cast and creators are incredibly involved with the ever-growing fandom. Besides interacting with fans on Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media sites, the team behind Hamilton has gone out of its way to treat the huddled masses yearning to win tickets through the daily #Ham4Ham lottery.

The show’s stars, friends, and members of the Broadway elite routinely pop out of the stage door to entertain the crowd with covers of songs, clever sketches, or lip-synched performances. Playbill put out a list of their favorite ones in August, but the one getting the most buzz is one of the most recent ones. While the impromptu show’s usual MC, Miranda, was convalescing with the flu, the past, present, and future King George (Brian d’Arcy James, Jonathan Groff, and Andrew Rannells**) regaled the crowd with their take on “The Schuyler Sisters.”

That’s what the cast and crew of Hamilton are doing for the fans, but what are the fans doing for the cast and crew of Hamilton? Search #Hamilton on Twitter or Tumblr, and you’re likely to find an avalanche of fan art, original memes, jokes, and other such creative types of tribute. The best curator of these love letters to the show? Miranda himself. Check out his twitter or tumblr for the creme de la creme of Hamilton tributes.

[Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tumblr]
[Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Twitter]

Furthermore, if you’re wondering about press, clips, interviews, etc, this is a really great handy dandy list of links that a fan compiled — also available on Mr. Miranda’s Tumblr.

STAGE THREE: You Are Now So “Helpless” With Love For Alexander Hamilton That You MUST Know More About Him & The American Revolution.

The first thing that all Hamilton junkies turn to when they want all the deets on the Founding Father of Page Six*** is the musical’s source material. As we mentioned up top, Ron Chernow’s biography was the inspiration behind the piece, and you can order it by clicking here on Amazon.com.

Of course, if that’s not enough — and you want to watch something on streaming — here are five essential films and shows that bring the spirit of the Revolutionary War to life.

1776

Before Hamilton was a thing, 1776 brought the Revolutionary War to musical life. The show focuses on the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and casts John Adams, Ben Franklin, and a horny Thomas Jefferson as the trio tasked with getting America to burst free of England. Alexander Hamilton doesn’t appear as a character, but Hamilton riffs on the famous opening number — “Sit Down, John!” — in the second act. [Where to Stream 1776]

Turn: Washington’s Spies (Shown Above)

AMC’s slow burning series about the Culper Ring is a must-see if you’re pissed that we never got to see more of Hercules Mulligan’s contributions as a spy. Mulligan hasn’t popped up on the show yet — nor has Hamilton – but we have an inkling that the popularity of Hamilton might inspire the show’s writers to add them in for Season Three. George Washington, Lafayette, and Charles “I’m a general, Wee!” Lee do appear on the series. [Watch Season 1 of Turn: Washington’s Spies on Netflix]

Sons of Liberty

Earlier this year, the History Channel gave us a “sexy” look at the Founding Fathers called Sons of Liberty. Hamilton is excised from the drama, which focuses more on the efforts of the early Boston uprisings, Samuel Adams, and Ben Franklin than the fight in New York. [Where to Stream Sons of Liberty]

John Adams

David McCullough’s smash-hit biography John Adams inspired this critically-acclaimed HBO miniseries that, YES!, features Alexander Hamilton! Rufus Sewell plays our favorite “bastard orphan, son of a whore” in Parts V & VI. The whole miniseries gives a really good summation of why everyone in Hamilton hates on Adams in “The Adams Administration” and “I Know Him.” [Where to Stream John Adams]

The Madness of King George

Finally, we can’t forget King George. Hamilton gives us a rather campy take on the monarch with Brit-pop songs that suggest that King George doesn’t quite grasp the reality of what’s happening the colonies. The Madness of King George picks up with the monarch after the Revolutionary War as he’s trying to keep his Empire together while battling a baffling mental illness. [Where to Stream The Madness of King George]

STAGE FOUR: You Will Never Be “Satisfied” Until You See More of the Hamilton Cast.

While Looking‘s Jonathan Groff might be the biggest household name in the Hamilton, practically everyone in the cast has appeared on TV, film, or the Broadway stage before. Here’s where to stream the ensemble’s greatest hits. [Watch Looking on HBO Now]

Leslie Odom, Jr. plays Aaron Burr in Hamilton, but before that was best known for his work on Smash. Funnily enough, Phillipa Soo (Eliza Schuyler) had a brief run on the show at the end of the second season, and Lin-Manuel Miranda cameoed on the program, too. You can catch all three of them in a season two episode called “The Transfer.” [Watch Smash on Prime Video]

Before she was Angelica Schuyler, Renée Elise Goldsberry was stirring things up as ASA Geneva Pine on The Good Wife. [Watch The Good Wife on Prime Video]

Finally, if you can’t get enough of Hamilton‘s score, you have to check out Miranda’s first Tony Award-winning musical, In The Heights. The original production starred Miranda and Hamilton‘s Christopher Jackson (George Washington). [Stream In The Heights on Spotify]

*There is only ONE scene omitted from the album, and here is a Tumblr post from Lin-Manuel Miranda explaining why you can only experience it live. **WARNING: SPOILERS (FOR HISTORY)** 

**Rannells is making his debut in the show tonight!

***Alexander Hamilton founded The New York Post (and therefore he’s also the guy responsible for giving you fine readers the website you are on now).

 

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Photos: Getty Images, AMC