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Hamilton, the hip-hop musical phenomenon that's taken Broadway by storm, got a chance to do more than symbolize its modern politics earlier this month. If you've been having trouble convincing friends that the show is drawing parallels between historical revolutions and equality movements happening now like Black Lives Matter, this is a performance you won't want to miss.
Each year, the theatre nonprofit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BCEFA) puts on a two-day competition called Gypsy of the Year. The event allows the casts of current musicals on the Great White Way to show off their skills performing in a context outside of their show. The Hamilton cast went way, way off book with a performance of the musical's popular number "Wait For It," remixed by Kurt Crowley and choreographed by Stephanie Klemons.
Klemons took the show's modern-day political symbolism and made it literal, beginning with posing the cast in images of struggle and resistance, including the now-famous "Hands up don't shoot" pose popularized after the shooting of Michael Brown last year in Ferguson, Missouri. The result is a haunting a cappella performance, which the Hamilton cast dedicated "To all we have lost."
In the show, "Wait For It" is a significant number because it ironically represents historical figure Aaron Burr as a symbol of respectability politics—an ideology of working within an unjust social system rather than rebelling, or refusing to wait for it. In this modern context, the new choreography underscores the hopelessness of marginalized voices who have been waiting far too long for equality.
As compelling as this performance is, it didn't take home the top honor of the weekend. Two Hamilton stars did help take home the prize, however: Hamilton's composer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda joined fellow cast member Chris Jackson, along with Kinky Boots star and Whose Line Is It Anyway? improv king Wayne Brady. The three of them freestyled a hilarious, genius, and totally improvised rap using the required words "chicken, sarsaparilla, succubus, tsunami, scaffolding, and condom."Naturally, they walked away with the award for best onstage presentation.
According to BCEFA, the nonprofit provides "annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations in all 50 states," and also serves as "the major supporter of the social service programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative, and the Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic."
BCEFA has had a strong year thanks to the efforts of these and other shows; the 28-year-old organization announced at the event that thanks to the fundraising efforts of shows in the theatre district and on tour, this season of live theatre had raised $4.7 million for AIDS-related health services.
Not bad for a day at the theatre.
Screengrab via BCEFA/YouTube
