Who Tells Your Story

Jill and I watched the streaming version of Hamilton Friday night. As a sometimes director in community theater, I was enthralled by the stagecraft involved. I've never seen a turntable used more effectively, not even in Les Miserables (where it's largely a device to move scenery).

To me, the most moving part of the show is, fittingly, the ending, as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton sings of her devotion to keeping her husband's memory and legacy alive, noting the important thing is "who tells your story".

The next afternoon, we watched the film version of 1776, a more "traditional" musical (though not thought so at the time of its original production), covering much of the same part of history with a more "traditional" focus. But, once more, the real question is "who tells your story". In 1776, the story is told through the eyes of John Adams, a complicated man who, like Hamilton in many ways, was an outsider, difficult to get along with, but adored by his wife.

One of my favorite moments in the script is when Adams complains to Ben Franklin that he will not be remembered by history, but Franklin will be. "Franklin struck his staff on the ground and up sprung George Washington, fully grown and on his horse. Franklin then electrified Washington with his miraculous lightning rod and the three of them--Franklin, Washington, and the horse--won the revolution." Franklin's response? "I like it."

So, who do you want to tell your story?