A few weeks ago, PBS aired a documentary entitled Hamilton's America that chronicled the writing, production, and success of Hamilton, through the eyes of a variety of individuals including Lin-Manuel Miranda himself, various members of the cast, and a number of other significant public figures- including President Obama himself.
What I find really interesting about this documentary is the fact that they started filming it a number of months before it first debuted off-Broadway at the Public Theatre. Yes, Miranda and his work was well-known at that point within the Broadway community after his success with In the Heights, but there is no way that PBS knew how insanely popular Hamilton would go on to become. So what inspired them to actually go through with making this documentary, instead of shifting their focus elsewhere to something that was a more guaranteed hit?
I think the largest factor by far was the buzz around the show even before it had finished being written. A variety of performers and musicians had talked to Miranda about his project, and they all had a very similar response- skeptical at first, but eventually very impressed and huge fans. Miranda first performed one of the songs, the opening number, at a poetry night being held at the White House, and while many initially thought it was a joke, everyone- including the President and First Lady- recognized Lin's incredible ability and songwriting prowess.
Another factor- and one that is more than a little connected to the last one- is Miranda's established ability. As I mentioned, Miranda was already fairly well-known within the Broadway community after his first show, the aforementioned In the Heights, won four Emmys, so any buzz around a new project from him was bound to be huge. There's also his work with the rap improv group Freestyle Love Supreme and on various TV shows, so the guy was an established talent.
But the last factor, and I think probably the biggest one, is luck. "Hip-hop American history musical" was bound to be very original and probably pretty good, especially coming from the creative team it had, but they really had no way of knowing it was going to be such a smash hit. So hey, congrats to PBS for getting as lucky as they did.
(By the way, if you haven't seen it you should watch it ASAP. It's on PBS' Facebook page and website for free, it's pretty great.)
Wow, that is so interesting that they starting the documentary filming before the musical even premiered! I did not know that! I don't just think that it is luck though, no I definitely think that the production team and the writers and PBS knew that this was going to be super successful, how could they think any different!
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