Hamilton, the hip hop musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, made an impressive showing at this year's Tony Awards. By winning 11 Tonys, including one for Best Musical, Hamilton fell just short of the record of 12, which currently belongs to The Producers. In addition to winning the highly vaunted Best Musical Tony, Hamilton also took home prizes for Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Direction, and Best Choreography. Leslie Odom Jr. (Best Lead Actor), Daveed Diggs (Best Featured Actor), and Renee Ellse Goldsberry (Best Featured Actress) also took home Tony awards for their performances in Hamilton.
The groundbreaking musical, which chronicles the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, made its Off-Broadway debut in February of 2015, and it premiered on Broadway in August of 2015. It quickly generated a great deal of critical and audience acclaim, and by dint of its expert storytelling and incorporation of hip hop, a genre not often associated with Broadway, it became a veritable pop culture phenomenon.
Additionally, it looks like hip hop may have functioned as an unlikely savior for the Tony Awards telecast, as this years ceremony garnered the highest ratings for the Tony Awards in 15 years. In fact, compared to last year's relatively poor performance, this year's ceremony saw a 35 % hike in ratings.
By Ryan Donberg for RAPstation.com
