Lin-Manuel Miranda's award-winning Musical "Hamilton" was already a hit before the extra footage about how the show was written and the extra songs, but with the newly released "Hamildrops," the fanbase continues to grow. For those of you who don't know what "Hamildrops" is, it is described as "new Hamilton content, dropping every month in 2018," on "Hamildrops" website. It should not be mistaken with the "Hamilton Mixtape," which was released in 2016.
"Hamildrops" includes covers of the songs from the musical or different versions of those songs; songs that didn't make it to the musical and remixes.
Five songs were dropped so far and they are called "Ben Franklin's Song," "Wrote My Way Out," "Found Tonight," "The Hamilton Polka," "First Burn" and "Helpless." One of the songs even collaborated with another musical. "Found Tonight" was performed by Miranda and Ben Platt from the musical "Dear Evan Hansen," and the song was a mix of "Story of Tonight" from "Hamilton" and "You Will Be Found." The last drop was "Helpless" performed by The Regrettes, which was released on Thursday, 31 May.
What's 'Hamilton?'
"Hamilton" is an award-winning Broadway musical about the life of the American Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The musical features 46 songs and it includes many different styles such as hip-hop, pop, and rhythm and blues.
The musical's original cast had non-white actors playing the Founding Fathers and their families.
The musical quickly became a hit, with its tickets becoming impossible to get hold of. However, Lin-Manuel and the producers of the show decided to create a lottery system for every show, giving out a ticket only for $10 (about 7.5 GBP), with the $10 bill bearing the show’s namesake, which was continued in the newer productions of the musical.
The Washington Post reported that this lottery also brought "Ham4Ham" shows, which are small pre-show performances from the cast for the people waiting for the lottery. "Ham4Ham" included covers, actors singing different characters' songs and songs that didn't make the cut.
Who is the genius behind it?
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a 38-year-old American composer, lyricist, playwright, and actor of Puerto Rican background.
He wrote and starred in two award-winning musicals: "Hamilton" and "Into the Heights." He also co-wrote and sang some of Disney's "Moana" songs and will be co-starring with Emily Blunt in the upcoming movie "Mary Poppins Returns." He has won one Pulitzer Prize, three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and three Tony Awards.
