Because John Laurens needs more love

Oh I love this pic!

Also is it just me or did Rebecca Onion indirectly compare our interpretations of certain historical figures as queer to Jefferson’s sexual relationship with (i.e. rape of) Sally Hemings

And rape victims

What a wonderful world

just a heads up–i’m going to make this blog my main art blog–i’ll start posting other art, such as original art and les mis art on here as well, since it’s gotten too tedious for me to log in and out of my accounts. claquesous will be my aesthetic blog for now–so look forward to more art! i’ll continue posting hamilton and history here, but there’ll be some other stuff every once in a while, as well, just to let you know!

Yes good.

The world turned upside down. :')

“Here’s the thing about artists—their job is to fall in love for a living.” –Lin-Manuel Miranda (x)

Damn. Yes, good.

Like, I’m poor and I definitely will not be able to afford to watch Hamilton in NYC anytime soon, and I get it, but I’m also an artist and I wanna be paid for the things I create, you know? Bootlegs are always a tough issue tbh

Stop with the bootlegging. That’s not hurting execs, who have control, and is hurting artists, who don’t! Seriously I would be furious if someone did that with one of my shows. The executives make these decisions not the artists. The artists in this case have beant over backwards to give as much access as execs will likely allow. They are still working to broaden that access. Supporting theft of their work because you don’t like the way insulated execs do things is rude, disrespectful, and insulting. Eventually we will probably all get to see it in some form just wait for it.

Bootlegging doesn’t actually hurt the artists, though? The people who watch bootlegs are generally huge fans of Broadway/the show itself who would pay the money to see the show on Broadway if they could, but they can’t. No one’s thinking “I’m going to go watch a bootleg INSTEAD of seeing the show.” People who watch bootlegs are choosing between watching the bootleg and not seeing the show at all. Also, bootlegs often create fans of theatre, who then spend money on the show. Way back in May, I watched a bootleg of Deaf West Spring Awakening in LA, and it actually wasn’t a terrible bootleg. Did I then think, “well, I’ve seen the show; now I don’t need to pay money to see it later?” No. Because of that bootleg, I became a huge fan of Spring Awakening, and then, when the show came to Broadway, paid money to go see it twice. Which would not have happened without the bootleg. And if I lived farther away from New York than I do, and had been unable to see the show, it still wouldn’t have hurt the show or the artists producing it, as I wouldn’t have seen the show either way.

I’m not sure I can explain to you why having somebody else record/copy/whatever something you have worked that hard on without your knowledge or permission and then passing it around such that you have no control over it is upsetting if you don’t already get it. Especially if what’s being passed around is poor quality. Let me reiterate. If somebody did that to one of my shows, I would be livid. I would find them and extract both the master copy and an apology. And my shows are under $5 admission because I do care deeply about accessible theater. It’s not about money, it’s not even about credit, it’s about something you bust your ass to create and pour a part of your soul into getting bastardized and taken from you and spread around, and with theatrical performances it’s usually not even conveying the things you want it to anymore because it’s shitty quality. I’m really glad to hear about your love of Spring Awakening, but as an artist (and I can’t believe I’m calling myself one here lmao) please don’t do that.

So get the script from the library or purchase a copy and read it once it’s released? Sorry but as a straight-play person I’m having trouble sympathizing when you can at least hear part of it. Theater is by definition a “you have to be there” thing and yes that’s sad but if the problem turns out to be ticket prices, and since we are talking about big fucking musicals here, well, hey, there’s a movie of Newsies. There’s a movie version of Les Mis. watch the films. Funhome is a book, which you can read! Difference with the cast recording is that, while like photocall, it isn’t as comprehensive, the artists looked at it and said “this is what I want people to experience.” Watch the clips that are released, watch the Tony performances. Or maybe if all the people watching bootlegs started really lobbying the companies who control rights, prices on rights, etc, maybe then the prices would go down, shows could be performed in more places, and theater could go back to its roots of being a common art. And why can’t you participate in communities if you don’t have total and complete full access to the thing? Like… people post notes on the staging, post lines sometimes, and, once the show’s been out, the script is readable (as long as you don’t perform it which ugh). And I’m especially not buying the bootleg justifications on this show because of how many clips are available, how many performances by the cast are available, how comprehensive the soundtrack is, and because the artist has asked that people don’t do this. I will admit that I wouldn’t give a shit about bootlegs of rogers and hammerstein trash, because they’re dead, so they probably don’t care anymore, or at least don’t get a vote. And if Alison Bechdel was like “yeah, go ahead, if that’s how you can see it” then I also wouldn’t care. But in this case the artist has specifically asked, and especially considering how he’s doing his best to make it as accessible as possible, we should respect that.

This is a simple choice of A) respect the artist's wishes and don't pirate their shit when they're going out of their way to give you such a huge amount of free content to begin with, or B) do what you want, because you think your fulfillment matters more than their feelings about it. Lin has clearly stated his desires. If you care about and respect him, then enjoy all the amazing work he's put out there already for us and don't pirate the experience that he wants to keep live-only for now. If not, well, no one can really stop you, but please at least have the decency to keep it on the DL and don't expect to not get called out for it.

cutie cutie cute