Hello there! It's been a while hasn't it? It
seems that I haven't made a blog post for almost a year now oops...
Anyway, I'm now at university in Manchester
studying English, which is rather exciting!
If you know anything about me then you'll know
that musicals are one of my favourite things in the whole world and I've come
to the realisation that the musicals that affect me the most are the ones based
on true stories and real people, i.e. Les Miserables. Two new musicals recently have deeply impacted me.
One tells the story of an immigrant from the Caribbean who founded America's
financial system and the other the story of an author and playwright's
inspiration for Peter Pan - they of course are titled Hamilton and Finding
Neverland. Funnily enough I have never seen either of these musicals as
they have not yet landed on British soil but they are on their way over the
pond!
I'll start of course with the revolutionary Hamilton...
I am not kidding when I say that this musical has changed my life. It has made
me question my existence and has influenced the way I behave. Any time I'm in a
crisis or having a mental breakdown I now stop and think to myself, "What
would Eliza Hamilton do?" The music is absolutely phenomenal and nothing
like any other previous musical soundtrack, it gives me chills.
This show has also made me look at history in a
whole new way. The musical visualisation of a historical story such as
Alexander Hamilton's allows a connection to be made between the audience and
historical figures/characters and people can actually relate to every single
character. They no longer just become names on a page in a history book, they
come alive and become real people with real problems who are extremely
relatable to an audience. I personally can relate to Angelica Schuyler the
most. Angelica puts other people's needs and happiness before her own, which I
myself am guilty of! This is especially evident when she allows her younger
sister Eliza to fall in love with Alexander despite the fact that she had an
extremely strong flirtatious relationship with him, which made her extremely
unsatisfied with her life. One of my favourite parts of the show is actually
the ending in which the title Hamilton actually ends up
referring to Eliza just as much as it does Alexander. Eliza tells the audience
about her legacy and it is made clear by her that she is the one who made sure
her husband was remembered in history and it is down to her that this musical
even exists today. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius and I will love him forever
for making, as Michelle Obama described it, "the best piece of art in any
form."
Anyway moving on...
After I sat sobbing in my uni halls at 2am the
other day having watched the stunning film Finding Neverland -
the story behind J.M Barrie's inspiration for his famous play/novel Peter
Pan, I decided to give Gary Barlow's musical adaptation a listen and
wow did it make me emotional! Barlow's score perfectly captures the extremely
moving story of Barrie's special relationship with Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and
her sons: Peter, Michael, Jack (John) and George. The song that really moves me
the most has to be 'When Your Feet Don't Touch the Ground' which perfectly
explores grief and hopelessness through both an adult's mind and a child's. The
whole concept that Neverland effectively represents a kind of Heaven completely
blew my mind and the music is simply stunning. I cannot wait for the West End
transfer!
Never did I ever think that the story of one of
America's founding fathers or of a struggling Scottish playwright would affect
and move me so deeply.
xx Beth xx
No comments:
Post a Comment