Hamilton premiered on Disney+ yesterday, just in time to become the must-watch Fourth of July movie in 2020. The movie musical, boasting a star-studded…
Hamilton premiered on Disney+ yesterday, just in time to become the must-watch Fourth of July movie in 2020. The movie musical, boasting a star-studded cast and a wildly infectious score, is one of the few pieces of pop culture that makes it its mission to educate audiences about the people behind the American Revolution. However, Hamilton isn’t the original Founding Fathers Broadway musical. Oh no, that honor goes to 1776, a show about the petty political rivalries and horny wives who threatened to undo the creation of the Declaration of Independence itself.
When Hamilton premiered on Broadway in 2015, it became an immediate hit. Lin-Manuela Miranda’s masterwork about the people whose hopes, dreams, and aspirations shaped early America took the world by storm. That was in huge part to the revolutionary casting of mostly BPOC actors in the roles of the lily-white founders, but it was mostly thanks to how accessible the show made early U. S. History. 1776 was arguably the original show to pull this off. While the more traditional Broadway musical might not feel as progressive as Hamilton does today, it still shocked audiences with its frank, human portraits of the Founding Fathers. While 1776 isn’t nearly as popular as Hamilton is today, Hamilton itself recognizes its legacy as Hamilton name-checks a key part of the musical in its second act.
So what’s the deal with the musical 1776 and where can you stream the 1776 movie on July 4,2020?
The musical 1776 debuted on Broadway in 1969 and became a hit show, earning the Tony Award for Best Musical.
