Go full Hamilton is a newly coined expression referring to the lyrics in a Broadway musical Hamilton “Cause I’m the definition of young, scrappy, and hungry!” meaning I’m all in and ready to do it! 🦸‍♀️ Let’s learn about pronunciation rules in English while reading about the famous performance.

Rules of reading with examples

The Hamilton phenomenon text

Hamilton is one of the most successful musicals ever to run on Broadway. Since it opened in 2015, it has won eleven Tony awards, one Grammy and even the Pulitzer Prize for Drama🎭. The theatre is sold out every single night and it is loved by everyone, including famous figures such as Barack Obama.

The show takes place at the time of the American Revolution and tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant orphan who became one of the Founding Fathers of the USA🇺🇲. His face now even appears on the $10 bill. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the acclaimed musical In The Heights and the songs🎶 for Disney’s most recent princess blockbuster Moana, created the show after he read a biography of Alexander Hamilton written by Rob Chernow. He was inspired by Hamilton’s story and immediately started to create songs👩‍🎤 based on it.

You might expect a musical with historical characters such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and King George III🤴 to be very boring and serious, but Miranda has taken an innovative approach.💡 All the actors in the cast are people of colour, and the music is in a variety of styles, 🎸particularly featuring rap and hip-hop🕺 elements. The result has been called a cultural phenomenon.

The text from British Council The Hamilton phenomenon.

Additional videos to describe performances

What was the best concert you ever been to?

• What music video or a concert has made an impression on you?
• What was the last performance you watched? Did you enjoy it?
• What theatrical performances are worth watching?
• Do you attend events in your town or do you go somewhere else?
• Do you know any concert rituals or superstitions?
• What’s the difference between watching a performance live and watching it on TV?
• How can technology change the future of performances?
• Is traditional music popular? Where is it usually played?
• What kind of music do you enjoy?

What kind of music do you like?

A worth watching performance vocabulary

The theater is sold out

The show takes place at the time of..

The show tells the story of..

Miranda has taken an innovative approach

The music is in a variety of styles

a cultural phenomenon

There was like a really really good vibe.

They have such a good diversity

It is a group that is really giving something on the stage.

Describe a worth watching theatrical performance IELTS cue card

You should say:

• what the play/performance was about
• where it took place
• how the acting and the quality of the production was

And explain why it was worth watching

Describe a show or performance that you enjoyed watching

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To learn more about pronunciation rules another post about Language and Music would be helpful 🙂

You can also read pronunciation rules and the text from this Go full Hamilton post and Language and Music post on a virtual white board.