My Hamilton and Theirs

THE HAUNTING OF LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
Nuyorican Poets Cafe  October 3 - 27, 2019



My play, “The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda,” challenges some of  the arguments proposed by “Hamilton, The Revolution," by Lin-Manuel  Miranda.  Historians had objected to the portrayal of Hamilton as an abolitionist, even Annette Gordon-Reed, who has sig-ned on to the Hamilton project as a consultant. But except for Lyn Montanaro, writing in the HuffPost, their criticisms were published in obscure sources. Using some of their research, and my own, I wrote the first draft of my play, which I called “The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda.” This  led to four sold out readings held at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

The readings cost me $5000. I hadn't had an idea of how I would finance a full production. One of those who participated in the reading offered us $20,000 from his foundation and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe put up $5000. But even with the $25,000 contribution, I was still short. In order to attend rehearsals, I booked a hotel for the 3 of us, my partner Carla Blank, who has directed plays in China and the Middle East, and who had signed on as assistant director, and my daughter,Tennessee, a photographer, who  documented the show. It would have cost over $5000 for a  two week stay in New York. Miraculously, a
famous writer and her son  offered us their beautiful apartment in Soho.

We had more room available than that we’d find in a hotel. We took Lyft to rehearsals or sometimes walked up Broadway to Houston and then  to alphabet city. It was Director, Rome Neal’s contacts and resourcefulness that enabled us to mount the full production. He was able to get a costume designer and a set designer to work below their wage grade. For all of us, this show was a labor of love.  Rome, scrounged around for rehearsal space. The Scientology Center in East Harlem and the
Theater of the New City provided us with rehearsal space.


(Photo. Ishmael Reed receives the AUDELCO Pioneer Award for the Theater, 2017. 
The main criticism of my theatrical rebuttal to “Hamilton: the Revolution” was that I hadn’t seen the play. My
script was based upon a reading of Mr. Miranda’s book. That criticism ceased after I saw "Hamilton" in San Francisco,  after which, I was even able to make stronger criticism than that which appeared in my script. For example, the Schuyler sisters have a line about, "All Men Are Equal and Women in the Sequel.” Eliza helped her mother manage the slaves at the Schuyler home in Albany. Examining the bones of the Schuyler slaves, a bio-archaeological  team found evidence of malnutrition, poor dental health, musculoskeletal  deterioration and evidence of back breaking work. Moreover there is evidence that General
Schuyler and other Dutch families approved of the execution of three black teenagers in Albany (1794), after coerced  confessions admitting that they were arsonists. Then Gov. DeWitt Clinton tried to save the teenagers. Not only had I satisfied the request from my critics, but on May 25 I visited the tombs of Alexander Hamilton, his son Phillip, his spouse Eliza, and Angelica Schuyler Church, his sister-in-law. As a result of the musical, Hamilton’s tomb has become an object of hushed reverence. As I posed in front of the tomb, a man with a foreign accent asked me not to stand in front of the tomb. I ignored his request. I started to say, why should I respect the tomb of a slave trafficker. Visitors had left coins in front of Hamilton’s tomb. I didn’t leave one. I figured that Hamilton had already cashed in on blacks enough when he participated in the slave trade. In "Hamilton," Angelica Schuyler Church is depicted as a progressive, yet she owned a slave named Tom, who appears in my play. Alexander Hamilton negotiated the return of Tom to Angelica. When his grandson writes that Hamilton not only owned slaves but purchased them for others, this observation was based on Hamilton's expense accounts. 

I found that out when I challenged some of the ideas upon which the musical is based. I was denounced by dozens of “Hamilfans,” which is the name that those devoted to the musical are calling themselves. My motives were questioned by comments printed in The New York Times and Broadway Central. HBO’s “Vice News,” which had gotten wind of the controversy, began filming me, the cast, and interviewed those who had seen my play. 

( Slaves, Native-Americans, an Indentured Servant, and Harriet Tubman listen to Lin-Manuel Miranda, played by Jesse Bueno as he recounts what he has learned from them).

In “The Haunting of Lin Manuel Miranda,” the ghosts of slaves who’d been sold by Hamilton, educate Miranda about the dark side of the  founding father whom he’d portrayed as an anti-slavery hero. As a result of Annette Gordon-Reed's advice, the marketers have abandoned the idea of Hamilton as an abolitionist. He’s now said to have been  “opposed” to slavery.  Since  Hamilton ranked slaves with cows and horses, farm equipment to be bought and sold, I compared this representation of Hamilton to Colgate announcing that it was opposed to toothpaste, or Henry Ford announcing that he was opposed to cars. One high point of the June production run (which played to standing room only crowds on most night) was when Diana Ross’s nine year old grandson rose during the Q. and A.    and thanked us for teaching him American history.

As a result of the play, Powerhouse Books, which is distributed by Random House, has asked to publish my script. The contract is being revised by my agent.

For an October production, which the Nuyorican Poets Cafe has booked to run for four weekends, we’re in need of $ 20,000 to add to the funds that we’ve already raised.

( Photo: Ishmael Reed interviewed by HBO's "Vice News."

INCENTIVES
Donate $200 and get your name listed in the October Playbill

REVIEWS

New York Times - 1/13/19
Did ‘Hamilton’ Get the Story Wrong? One Playwright Thinks So

New York Times- Review 6/20/19
‘The Haunting’ Has a Big Problem With ‘Hamilton’ 

The New Yorker - 1/9/19
In “The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda,” Ishmael Reed Revives an   Old Debate

The Nation - 6/3/19                                                                                                                    Ishmael Reed Tries to Undo the Damage ‘Hamilton’ Has Wrought 

The Herald Journal - 2/9/19                                                                                              Historians: ‘Hamilton’ riddled with errors 

The Washington Times - 2/7/19                                                                                      Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' under fire for ignoring Founding        Father's 'complicity in slavery '

Counterpunch -  By Ishmael Reed 4/12/19
CounterPunch on Stage: The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda