Theater History and Mysteries
The deepest dives you can find anywhere into the history and backstory of the great musical productions. Dense content...for people who aren't. And, I’ll never miss an opportunity to pursue any mystery, bizarre coincidence, improbable event, or supernatural suggestion along the way because, in the words of Dirk Gentley, it is all connected.
You can contact me directly at theaterhistorypodcast@gmail.com
Released every other Tuesday.
Music by Jon Bruschke and Andrew Howat, arranged, performed, and recorded by Andrew Howat.
Check out the interview on Musical Theater Radio, episode 404: https://www.musicaltheatreradio.com/podcast
Theater History and Mysteries
The women of Hamilton. (Hamilton 9 of 12, episode 46)
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Philippa Soo plays the role of Eliza in the Broadway mega-hit Hamilton. And I gotta say, the more you read about Phillipa Soo the more that you like her. She’s talented, she’s been in a bunch of stuff, she adopted a dog on her birthday, got to throw out a first pitch at Yankee stadium.
All accounts, she’s a fierce performer on the stage and a compassionate human off of it. One very cool connection is this: She formed the Eliza Project, named after her character in Hamilton, and the purpose of that is to support the Grahman Windham organization. They have 19 centers that engage in community enrichment; the point is to transform communities as a way of preventing all the problems before they need treatment. Provide services to children, youth, and families facing “some of life’s most difficult obstacles.”
The organization can trace its history 220 years back in it original incantation as the Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York, an orphanage in Greenwich Village. THe founders were Isabella Graham, Joanna Behune, Sara Hoffman and…Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.
Clearly, Phillipa Soo finds a connection with the character she plays, and part of that connection is clearly gender. Both are women in Hamilton.
Today, we’ll review the women in Hamilton and learn more about who they are in the show, how they are in history, and get to the inevitable question of whether their portrayal in the show is a net step forward, or a net step back.