“Hamilton” Dominates the 70th Annual Tony Awards
The 70th Annual Tony Awards were held on June 12th, 2016 to honor achievements in Broadway productions that ran during the 2015-16 season. For the past three years, the Tony Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall, but this year the ceremony returned to the Bacon Theatre on Broadway. CBS aired the event and revealed that this year’s Tony Awards boasted the highest ratings since 2001. The award ceremony had over 8 million viewers on CBS and over 1 million on local networks. The main reason for the huge spike in ratings was the big musical that dominated the show and set records. The musical, Hamilton is about the life of American founding father, Alexander Hamilton, and it controlled every category at the Tony Awards.
Hamilton received a record setting 16 nominations in 13 different categories. Out of the 16 nominations, the production won 11 awards, setting the record by a long shot. The musical previously received a Grammy for The Best Musical Theater Album and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The musical will forever be known for its uniqueness, blending historical content with hip-hop song and dance.
Hamilton is so influential, that it is being used in history classes by teachers around the United States. One middle school teacher stated that, “Hamilton shows the founding fathers were real humans with real feelings and real flaws.” He then went on by saying that the musical is so popular that he frequently hears his students, “Singing these songs the way they might sing the latest release from Drake or Adele.”
Hamilton shows the impact that drama and theater has on our society. There are thousands of acting opportunities that people do not focus on, and sometimes the theater world goes overlooked. Theatrical productions are sometimes just as popular as a big named movie or TV Show. If you have the talent and ability to dance, sing, and act, make sure to include musicals and plays when you look for auditions.
