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A review by easyqueenie
Rise Up! Broadway and American Society from Angels in America to Hamilton by Chris Jones
4.0
Love it or hate it (and Sophie’s firmly in the former camp), there’s no denying the cultural impact of Hamilton. The musical did the unthinkable, taking Broadway by storm with everyone from critics to suburban housewives to presidents raving about its centuries-old story made new again through a diverse cast and modern music. But, despite initial appearances, Hamilton didn’t come out of the blue entirely. For decades, Broadway has been laying the foundations with other shows that brought politics, current events, and deep cultural issues to the stage.
Rise Up! by Chris Jones is the story of those shows. Chapter by chapter it looks at a wide array of Broadway productions that came with an important message. These are often difficult subjects; the book looks at the HIV crisis through Angels in America and Rent, 9/11 through Metamorphoses and Come From Away, and current politics through Boulevard of Broken Dreams. A chapter focused on The Lion King explores how racial diversity broke through into the mainstream, while Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark looks at what happens when Broadway goes too far. There’s even a look at how Broadway went meta in shows like Avenue Q and Monty Python’s Spamalot.
You don’t need to have seen the shows discussed here to appreciate this book, but Sophie will admit that it helps. She found herself far more engaged with the chapters that discussed shows she had the privilege to see—never in their original Broadway incarnations, but in their UK performances. It also added several shows to her “must see” list!
Rise Up! is a fabulous book for anyone interested in Broadway theatre and its ability to both reflect and create culture.
Rise Up! by Chris Jones is the story of those shows. Chapter by chapter it looks at a wide array of Broadway productions that came with an important message. These are often difficult subjects; the book looks at the HIV crisis through Angels in America and Rent, 9/11 through Metamorphoses and Come From Away, and current politics through Boulevard of Broken Dreams. A chapter focused on The Lion King explores how racial diversity broke through into the mainstream, while Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark looks at what happens when Broadway goes too far. There’s even a look at how Broadway went meta in shows like Avenue Q and Monty Python’s Spamalot.
You don’t need to have seen the shows discussed here to appreciate this book, but Sophie will admit that it helps. She found herself far more engaged with the chapters that discussed shows she had the privilege to see—never in their original Broadway incarnations, but in their UK performances. It also added several shows to her “must see” list!
Rise Up! is a fabulous book for anyone interested in Broadway theatre and its ability to both reflect and create culture.