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Overcast Lin-Manual Miranda: A legend in our time
The news on Monday that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” an epic musical about the scandalous life and times of Alexander Hamilton, a founding father of our nation, had won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama was no surprise.
That Miranda’s epic was written in the current vogue of hip-hop — performed by a hugely talented mainly Hispanic and African-American cast to reveal the backstabbing behavior of a bygone era was a further stroke of genius — reminding us that those who delivered the message of those early turmoiled times might look different than the current cast — but that human nature is creed and color blind — and in every era has rarely been a selfless trait. What has doubtless propelled the success is its insistence that times change, but human behavior has a self-serving core, never more apparent than in the current political climate and the timing of the musical’s debut seems almost prophetic in its relevance to the more things change, human nature remains constant, and we live with that truism!
One can only hope our current election will thrust up a worthy leader for our 24/7 exposure to breaking news that is rarely good, especially in politics. And it seems most fitting that “Hamilton” and its munificent creator should also have just announced a profit-sharing plan for the growing troupe of casts who will now share “Hamilton” with the immediate world. Congratulations to Miranda on his “Hamilton” becoming a Pulitzer Prize winner in the selection’s 100th year of awarding excellence in the arts. It couldn’t happen to a nicer, more deserving genius of a playwright, and an equally rare and special giving, sharing human being.
Awards and rewards
A sure nominee for outstanding performance by an actor seems a given for Frank Langella’s heart-wrenching role in “The Father.” Florian Zellar’s exquisitely wrought drama of an aging senior citizen (Langella) whose mental faculties are being tested by the ravages of time will grip your heart with the sad truth that advanced age often brings with it a diminished capacity to deal with situations formerly just way-stops in one’s day —from putting on your watch to increasing bouts with confusions beyond what to wear. Plan now to visit Langella’s devastated world where an elegant gentleman becomes treated like a child in a world where even caring offspring become unwilling to “honor thy parent” at the expense of their own time and life situations. Tickets now at (212) 239-6200 or telecharge.com (The Freidman Theater, 261West 47th St.)
The annual “Brits Off Broadway” has just burst into the spring spotlight bringing its riches to 59E.59 St. One of its most intriguing productions is sure to be “Butterfly!” Ramish Meyyappans’ play is heralded as an “exquisite 60-minute piece of wordless theater” featuring stunning puppetry and music transported from the national Theater of Scotland. The run is from April 23 to May 14. Tickets at (212) 279-4200. Magic comes in many forms and “Butterfly” sounds like it will surely make all your senses troll the sky!
Heads up! These are the last weeks (through May 1) to visit with CSC’s exquisite “Nathan the Wise,” written in 1779, and never seen by its author, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. In an intolerant mainly Roman Catholic Germany, this tale of a time that, rare for Christianity, put the faith on a par with Judaism. With venerable F. Murray Abraham as Nathan and wonderful Stark Sands as a German Jew-hunting crusader — until he finds himself possibly falling in love with her. A must visit. Tickets available at broadway.com or the CSC box office at 136 East 13th St.
