《漢密爾頓》 讓嘻哈與18世紀政治產生關聯

‘‘HAMILTON,’’ the new musical biography of Alexander Hamilton created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, kicks off with a doozy of a question. The houselights rise on Aaron Burr, the third vice president of the United States and, infamously, the killer of Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Burr steps to center stage and reels off several lines of verse:

由林-馬努艾爾·米蘭達(Lin-Manuel Miranda)創作、主演的亞歷山大·漢密爾頓(Alexander Hamilton)傳記音樂劇《漢密爾頓》(Hamilton)，用了一個別出心裁的問題作爲開場白。燈光漸起，出現在舞臺上的是合衆國第三任副總統，因在1804年的決鬥中殺死了漢密爾頓而背上罵名的阿龍·伯爾(Aaron Burr)。伯爾走到舞臺中央，朗聲唱出一段詩文：

The question is a good one. How exactly did Hamilton rise from the deprivations of his childhood in the island backwater of St. Croix to become a storied founding father: an aide-de-camp of Gen. George Washington, the prime mover in the creation of the United States financial system, the first secretary of the Treasury, the author of nearly half of the Federalist Papers, the subject of America’s first political sex scandal, the bane and bugbear of everyone from Burr to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison? But it is the manner in which ‘‘Hamilton’’ poses this question — in the emphatic cadences of rap, with witty rhymes pouring out over a tolling beat — that has been electrifying audiences since January, when the show debuted off Broadway at New York’s Public Theater.

這是個好問題。的確，在與世隔絕的聖克羅伊島長大的窮孩子漢密爾頓，究竟爲什麼會成爲名垂青史的建國先賢、喬治·華盛頓將軍的副官、合衆國金融體系的首要締造者、首任財政部長、《聯邦黨人文集》近一半文章的作者、美國第一宗政治性醜聞的當事人、（從伯爾、托馬斯·傑弗遜到詹姆斯·麥迪遜）所有人的眼中釘肉中刺？不過，一月在外百老匯公共劇院(Public Theater)首演的《漢密爾頓》(Hamilton)之所以令觀衆興奮異常，卻是因爲提出問題的方式——它用了節奏頓挫的說唱，沉緩有致的節拍上，揮灑着詼諧的韻腳。

‘‘Hamilton’’ arrives on Broadway this month, riding a wave of adulation not seen in American theater in decades. It is a rare thing: not just a theatrical landmark, but a show that jolts our thinking about popular culture and casts new light on some of the most storied events in American history. It is an odd creation: a rigorously factual period drama about the political intrigues of the early Republic, starring a cast of mostly black and Latino actors, with a score steeped in hip-hop. It is also a coronation, confirming the 35-year-old Miranda, the acclaimed composer and star of the Tony- and Grammy-winning 2008 show ‘‘In the Heights,’’ as his generation’s preeminent musical theater auteur. ‘‘Hamilton’’ is the product of an unlikely meeting of two minds, across a gulf of centuries. ‘‘When I encountered Alexander Hamilton I was immediately captivated,’’ Miranda says. ‘‘He’s an inspirational figure to me. And an aspirational one.’’

本月，《漢密爾頓》挾幾十年一遇的如潮好評來到百老匯。它是個稀有物種：不但是載入戲劇史冊的大作，還會撼動你對流行文化的觀念，讓你用全新的眼光看待一些美國曆史上最爲人熟知的事件。它是個怪誕的造物：一部力求如實還原的時代劇，講述的是共和國初年的政治爭鬥，演員卻以非裔和拉丁裔爲主，作曲則帶有濃重的嘻哈風格。它還是一場加冕禮，正式確認35歲的米蘭達成爲他這一代最卓越的音樂劇創作人，此前由他擔任作曲和主演的《高地人生》(In the Heights)已然獲得2008年的託尼獎和格萊美獎。兩個遠隔數百年的靈魂，出人意料地在《漢密爾頓》相遇。“亞歷山大·漢密爾頓這個人，從一開始就讓我很着迷，”米蘭達說。“他啓發了我。也鼓舞了我。”

The genesis of ‘‘Hamilton’’ has already entered theatrical lore. While on vacation in Mexico in 2008, Miranda cracked Ron Chernow’s doorstop biography, ‘‘Alexander Hamilton,’’ which was nominated in 2004 for the National Book Critics Circle award and won the George Washington Book Prize. A few dozen pages in, Miranda’s new project began leaping to life. In Hamilton, he saw a figure he recognized: a word-drunk firebrand with untrammeled ambition, raw talent, an outsize ego and a lust for combat, verbal and otherwise. Miranda saw a rapper.

《漢密爾頓》在肇始之初就是一個充滿戲劇性的故事。2008年在墨西哥度假期間，米蘭達開始讀羅恩·徹爾努(Ron Chernow)的傳記鉅著《亞歷山大·漢密爾頓》，這本書在2004年得到美國國家書評獎提名，並獲得喬治·華盛頓圖書獎。幾十頁下來，米蘭達的新作計劃已經浮現。在漢密爾頓身上，他看到了一個自己激賞的人物：一個陶醉於辭藻的煽動家，有不羈的野心、出色的才華，目空一切，嗜好爭鬥——無論是言語上還是別的什麼形式。米蘭達發現了一個說唱樂手。

It is the genius of ‘‘Hamilton’’ to make the link between hip-hop and the world of 18th-century politics seem like the most obvious thing in the world — not a conceit imposed upon the history but the excavation of some essence lurking within it. ‘‘The idea of hip-hop being the music of the Revolution appealed to me immensely,’’ Miranda says. ‘‘It felt right.’’

是《漢密爾頓》的才思，讓嘻哈樂與十八世紀政治的關聯顯得順理成章，這不是強加於歷史的奇思怪想，而是對潛藏於歷史之中的某種精髓的發掘。“嘻哈是革命的音樂這種想法，是我非常認同的，”米蘭達說。“感覺就是這麼回事。”

Miranda’s Hamilton is a ‘‘young, scrappy and hungry’’ upstart, whose bootstrapping rise from the streets of New York resonates with the Horatio Alger trajectories of rappers like Jay Z. Hamilton has a fatalistic streak in the manner of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. (It is not a long leap from Biggie’s ‘‘I’m ready to die!’’ to the words that Miranda puts in Hamilton’s mouth: ‘‘I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory.’’) Most of all, Hamilton is a wit, a motormouth, a graphomaniac — a man who staked his fate on his way with words. ‘‘Hamilton produced over 27 volumes of written work,’’ Miranda says. ‘‘I think it’s appropriate that we would need a musical style that transmits more words per minute than any other genre.’’

米蘭達的漢密爾頓是個“年輕、好鬥、飢渴”的新貴，從紐約街頭開始打拼，全憑自己的本事，跟Jay-Z的霍雷肖·阿爾傑(Horatio Alger)式成功軌跡頗有些相似。漢密爾頓有種接近Tupac和Notorious B.I.G.的宿命傾向。（後者的“I'm ready to die!”[我已經做好了死亡的準備]，和米蘭達寫給漢密爾頓的臺詞：“我對死亡有太多想象，它現在更像是回憶，”似乎相差不遠。）最重要的是，漢密爾頓極爲聰慧，有一張合不上的嘴，一支放不下的筆——他把自己的命運寄託在自己的言語表達上。“漢密爾頓寫下了27卷作品，”米蘭達說。“我覺得，我們需要用一種能在單位時間內傳遞更多詞語的音樂劇風格。”

The score of ‘‘Hamilton’’ is a treat for sharp-eared hip-hop fans, packed with references to songs by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Mobb Deep and others. One song, a précis on the rules of 18th-century combat called ‘‘Duel Commandments,’’ is a cheeky rewrite of the Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘‘Ten Crack Commandments.’’ Cabinet meetings are staged as rap battles, with Hamilton and Jefferson trading volleys of rhymes about issues of debt assumption and federalism.

《漢密爾頓》的曲譜對嘻哈樂行家的耳朵會十分受用，許多曲子參考了Grandmaster Flash、Furious Five和Mobb Deep等樂人的作品。其中一首介紹十八世紀對戰規則的《決鬥戒律》(Duel Commandments)，戲謔地仿製了Notorious B.I.G.的《霹靂十戒》(Ten Crack Commandments)。內閣會議是以說唱對戰的形式進行的，漢密爾頓和傑弗遜用洋洋灑灑的押韻說唱詞句爭論債務承擔和聯邦制之類的問題。

But to call ‘‘Hamilton’’ a ‘‘rap musical’’ is to mischaracterize it. Miranda’s score includes Destiny’s Child-style R&B, choral ballads in a contemporary Broadway vein and, in the case of ‘‘You’ll Be Back,’’ sung by a haughty King George III, chiming ’60s Britpop. All of the songs perform the magic trick of making drama (or, sometimes, comedy) out of heavy-going political and bureaucratic history.

然而說《漢密爾頓》是“說唱音樂劇”卻是不得要領的。米蘭達的譜曲包括了Destiny’s Child風格的節奏布魯斯，當代百老匯合唱敘事曲，趾高氣昂的喬治三世演唱的《你們會回來的》(You’ll Be Back)散發着六十年代Brit-pop氣息。所有的歌曲都是爲了讓嚴肅的政治和官僚歷史產生戲劇（有時是喜劇）的魔力。

Perhaps the biggest testament to the force of ‘‘Hamilton’’ is how easily audiences acclimate to its color-blind casting, accepting a Latino Alexander Hamilton, a black George Washington, a Thomas Jefferson who swaggers like the Time’s Morris Day, sings like Cab Calloway and drawls like a Dirty South trap-rapper. The crucible of American popular theater was the minstrel stage, where white actors blacked up to perform racist caricatures of African-Americans. ‘‘Hamilton’’ flips minstrelsy on its head, offering sympathetic and insightful portrayals of the archetypal white Americans, the founding fathers and mothers, by a cast composed almost entirely of people of color. ‘‘The show reflects what America looks like now,’’ Miranda says.

最能說明《漢密爾頓》魔力的一點也許是，觀衆會迅速適應完全不把膚色當回事的演員陣容，接受了拉丁裔的亞歷山大·漢密爾頓，黑人喬治·華盛頓，托馬斯·傑弗遜走起路來大搖大擺彷彿The Time樂隊的Morris Day，唱歌如Cab Calloway，說話拖着“骯髒南部”說唱樂手的長腔口音。當年的黑臉秀(minstrel show)由白人演員演繹充滿種族歧視色彩的黑人滑稽角色，曾是美國民俗戲劇成形的地方。而《漢密爾頓》將黑白顛倒，對美國白人原型和建國先賢們的形象做出了正面而深刻的描繪，所選用的演員卻幾乎全是有色人種。“這個戲反映的是今日美國的面貌，”米蘭達說。

‘‘Hamilton’’ isn’t just a historical drama — it’s a historiographical one. The show ends with another question: the closing number, ‘‘Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,’’ which reflects on the formation and transmission of historical narratives. The old Broadway adage holds that a musical should send its audience home humming. ‘‘Hamilton’’ does that, but it also sends you out thinking — stewing over questions about the country’s past and future; about the way we sort historical players into winners and losers, heroes and villains, martyrs and murderers; about the gray area where fact grades into myth.

《漢密爾頓》不僅僅是歷史劇——它是一部史學劇。結尾提出了另一個問題：也就是閉幕曲《誰生，誰死，誰來講述你的故事》(Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story)，這是對歷史敘事的形成與傳遞的反思。百老匯流傳着一句老話：一部音樂劇應該讓觀衆在回家路上哼唱。這一點《漢密爾頓》做到了，但它還讓你在路上思考——有關這個國家的過去與未來的種種問題；我們把歷史人物分成贏家與輸家、英雄與奸賊、聖徒與兇手的做法；介乎事實和傳說之間的灰色地帶，這些都讓我們糾結不已。

‘‘We could all be dead tomorrow,’’ Miranda says. ‘‘Who tells our story? Will it be told? We have no way of knowing. In essence, that’s what the show is about. We are telling the story of someone who I don’t think would expect it to be told in this way, if he were alive. But he very much wanted his story told. He was outlived by all his enemies. The next four presidents — Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and John Quincy Adams — all hated Hamilton, and did their best, not even to assassinate his character, but to bury him by omission.’’

“說不定明天我們就全死了，”米蘭達說。“誰來講述我們的故事？有人會講嗎？我們不可能知道。這基本上就是這個戲要說的。我們在講某個人的故事，這個人如果活到今天，恐怕想不到會是這樣一種方式來講。但他非常希望有人講述他的故事。所有敵人都比他活得久。接下來四任總統——傑弗遜、麥迪遜、門羅、約翰·昆西·亞當斯——全都討厭漢密爾頓，爲此他們竭盡所能，甚至都不是去詆譭他的名聲，而是要把他的存在從歷史中隱去。”

‘‘ ‘Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?’ It’s a question for the characters on that stage, and it’s also a question for the audience. It leaves you reckoning with: Wait, who does tell my story? What am I doing with my life? I think that’s why, when I get emails about this show from people in the audience, they usually come at three in the morning. They’re dark-night-of-the-soul emails. Because it’s a question we’re all grappling with. It’s a question that we all pose at the end.’’

“誰生，誰死，誰來講述你的故事？”這是臺上人物的問題，也是觀衆的問題。它促使你去想：不對，那誰來講述我的故事？我該如何面對我的人生？我想這就是爲什麼觀衆來跟我聊這個戲的時候，郵件經常是凌晨三點發來的。那都是來自“心靈的黑夜”（指聖十字若望的名詩《Dark Night of the Soul》。——譯註）的郵件。因爲這是個我們都避不開的問題。到最後我們都得面對。”

Stephen Sondheim ON THE MUSICAL

史蒂芬·桑德海姆(Stephen Sondheim)談音樂劇

WHEN I FIRST HEARD Lin-Manuel’s songs, I immediately thought of ‘‘Rock Island,’’ the opening number of ‘‘The Music Man.’’ It’s one of the most brilliant numbers ever written, and the first time anybody had attempted to make music out of speech in the American theater. It doesn’t have the attitude of rap and nobody thinks of it as rap, but the technique is rap.

第一次聽到林-馬努艾爾的歌，我立刻想到了《音樂人》(The Music Man)開幕曲《石島》(Rock Island)。那是一首無比傑出的曲子，是美國戲劇史上第一次有人嘗試通過言語來做音樂。它沒有說唱的姿態，沒人會認爲它是說唱，但手法是說唱的。

At some point, Lin-Manuel started telling me about ‘‘Hamilton,’’ which, back then, was called ‘‘The Hamilton Mixtape.’’ He sent me lyrics printed out, and recordings of the songs. This raised obvious red flags: I worried that an evening of rap might get monotonous; I thought the rhythm might become relentless.

有一天，林-馬努艾爾開始跟我說起《漢密爾頓》，那時候還叫《漢密爾頓拼盤帶》(The Hamilton Mixtape)。他把打印出來的歌詞發給我，還有歌的錄音。這裏面的風險是很明顯的：我擔心一整晚的說唱太單調了；我以爲這會是一種讓人感覺沒完沒了的節奏。

But the wonderful thing about Lin-Manuel’s use of rap is that he’s got one foot in the past. He knows theater. He respects and understands the value of good rhyming, without which the lines tend to flatten out. Jokes don’t land the way they should. Even emotional lines don’t land the way they should. Rhyme does something to the listener’s perception that is very important, and Lin-Manuel recognizes that, which gives the ‘‘Hamilton’’ score a great deal more heft than it might otherwise have. Most lyrics are by their very nature banal — it’s the way they’re expressed that makes them soar.

但林-馬努艾爾對說唱的運用妙在，他有一隻腳是踩在過去的。他懂戲。他尊重和理解押韻的價值，沒有這個，臺詞就會很平板。笑話出不來效果。連感情戲也會走樣。押韻會對聽衆的感知產生重要影響，林-馬努艾爾清楚這一點，韻律讓《漢密爾頓》的譜曲格外有分量，沒了韻律，分量也就不會這麼足。多數的歌詞本身都是很乏味的，但這種表達的方式大幅提升了它們。

‘‘Hamilton’’ is a breakthrough, but it doesn’t exactly introduce a new era. Nothing introduces an era. What it does is empower people to think differently. There’s always got to be an innovator, somebody who experiments first with new forms. The minute something is a success, everybody imitates it. It’s what happened with ‘‘Oklahoma’’; everybody immediately started to write bad Western musicals. ‘‘Hair’’ also had that effect. But eventually people stop imitating and the form matures. ‘‘Hair’’ allowed young writers to say, ‘‘Hey, let’s use rock as a way of telling a story.’’ Now they’ll say, ‘‘Let’s use rap as a way of telling a story.’’ So we’ll certainly see more rap musicals. The next thing we’ll get is Lincoln set to rap. If you think I’m kidding, talk to me in a year.

《漢密爾頓》是一次突破，但它並沒有完全帶我們走進一個新的時代。那不是一齣劇目能做到的事。它要做的是讓人能有不一樣的想法。總會有一個革新者，一個率先嚐試新形式的人。一旦成功了，所有人都會來模仿。《俄克拉荷馬》(Oklahoma)就是這樣；一夜之間大家都開始寫蹩腳的西部音樂劇。《毛髮》(Hair)也有這個效果。但最終模仿會停止，這種形式會成熟起來。《毛髮》讓年輕的劇作者開始想，“對啊，我們可以用搖滾樂講故事。”現在他們會說，“我們可以用說唱講故事。”肯定會有更多的說唱音樂劇出現。接下來我們要讓林肯說唱起來。信不信由你，咱們明年見。

The Roots ON HIP-HOP

The Roots樂隊談嘻哈

WE WERE INVOLVED WITH ‘‘Fela!’’ and I really didn’t think that another musical could hit me as powerfully as it had. So when people started hyping ‘‘Hamilton,’’ I was like, ‘‘Eh, we’ll see.’’

我們參與過《費拉》(Fela!)的製作，我以爲不會再有哪齣戲給我那麼強烈的感受了。所以聽人開始捧《漢密爾頓》的時候，我心想，“哦，是麼。”

I’ve been brought into two or three other meetings for potential projects, where everyone’s like, ‘‘Let’s be the first hip-hop musical on Broadway!’’ And it just wasn’t happening. I saw the beating that the Tupac musical, ‘‘Holler If Ya Hear Me,’’ took. So when it came to ‘‘Hamilton,’’ I thought, ‘‘I’m just not into rap and spirit fingers. I’ll see it, but it won’t move me.’’ And, Jesus, was I wrong.

我還參加過幾個創作會，就潛在項目展開討論，每個人都說，“咱們要做百老匯第一個嘻哈音樂劇！”可就是做不出來。我眼看着那個Tupac音樂劇《聽見我說你就吼一聲》(Holler If Ya Hear Me)被罵成狗。然後《漢密爾頓》就來了，我心想，“我就是不怎麼喜歡一邊說唱一邊兩手呼扇呼扇的。我會去看，但不會被有什麼感覺。”但這回可真是錯的離譜。

Normally, it’s hard for me to enjoy any sort of concert or show because I’m dissecting it. I’m looking at the production, figuring out which microphones they’re using — that sort of stuff. Ten minutes into ‘‘Hamilton,’’ though, I was just so stunned. It was such a sucker punch. With the exception of, like, a Prince concert, I don’t go to anything to just enjoy myself and let it move me. But ‘‘Hamilton’’ swept me up.

通常我在看音樂會或演出的時候是很難投入其中的，因爲我會去剖析。我會看這個戲的製作，推斷他們在用哪個話筒——諸如此類。但是《漢密爾頓》開場十分鐘下來，我已經傻眼了。被殺了個措手不及。我可是從來不會就這麼完全投入，任由他們來打動我的，除了看Prince的現場。但《漢密爾頓》把我徹底地拉了進去。

Watching the show I realized, ‘‘O.K., Lin-Manuel knows hip-hop. This guy has totally done his homework.’’ I knew that he came up in the backpack-rap era. Most of his references were between ’94 and 2002 — you know, the Rawkus Records hip-hop era. But I still love the fact that this play works even if you don’t get the Mobb Deep references. It’s multilevel.

我邊看邊想，“嗯，林-馬努艾爾懂嘻哈。這傢伙絕對是做過功課的。”我知道他成長於地下說唱時代。他參考的東西大多在94年到2002年之間——就是Rawkus唱片那個嘻哈時代。我非常喜歡這個戲的地方是，就算你不知道他用了Mobb Deep的典故，你還是能看明白。它有很多層次。

I pray Broadway embraces the show. I’ve seen how the politics game can work, the way certain stuff is treated. But with ‘‘Hamilton,’’ you have to see it. It is everything Broadway and New York City in 2015 should be. — AHMIR ‘‘QUESTLOVE’’ THOMPSON

我真心希望這戲能在百老匯火起來。我知道政治遊戲有多大本事，某種東西會受到某種對待。但你一定要去看《漢密爾頓》。2015年百老匯和紐約市的頭等大事。——AHMIR“QUESTLOVE”THOMPSON

WHAT HIT ME INITIALLY was the accessibility. It’s just really easy to follow the dialogue. I imagined that ‘‘Hamilton’’ would be a show where, you know, some dialogue was delivered, and then the performers would break into song. But from the jump, everything was rap, everything was bars. Some of the cast members are rappers, some aren't. But even the ones who aren’t M.C.s rise to the occasion. You can‘t tell, ‘‘Oh, this one feels like an M.C., this one doesn't.‘‘ Everyone's lines are delivered seamlessly. This can be your introduction to hip-hop — on Broadway. And it’s a valid one. It’s a credible one. — TARIQ ‘‘BLACK THOUGHT’’ TROTTER

首先注意到的是它很好懂。這戲的臺詞非常容易理解。我原以爲《漢密爾頓》是那種先來幾句對白，然後演員開始唱。可實際上從一開始就是說唱，全是說唱，一切都是分成小節的。有的演員是說唱樂手，有的不是。但即使不是的那些，也完全勝任。你無法分辨出來，“噢，這個感覺是個MC，那個不是。”所有人的臺詞都完美地連在一起。你可以把它當成百老匯開了一個嘻哈樂入門課。而且可是正經的、靠得住的課程。——TARIQ“BLACK THOUGHT”TROTTER

Ron Chernow ON HISTORY

羅恩·徹爾努(Ron Chernow)談歷史

BACK IN 2009, a mutual friend told me that Lin-Manuel Miranda had read ‘‘Alexander Hamilton’’ and that it had made an impression on him. Lin-Manuel was still starring in ‘‘In the Heights,’’ of which I was vaguely aware. He invited me to a matinee one Sunday and I was captivated by the show. He also asked me to come backstage and I was no less charmed by him personally.

2009年，一個認識林-馬努艾爾·米蘭達的朋友跟我說，他在讀《亞歷山大·漢密爾頓》，而且評價很高。林-馬努艾爾當時還在演《高地人生》，那戲我只是大概有個瞭解。有個禮拜天他請我去看了個日場，我非常喜歡。他還讓我去了後臺，我對他本人很欣賞。

He told me that while he had been reading the book on vacation in Mexico, hip-hop songs started ‘‘rising off the page’’ — not a typical reaction to one of my biographies. He said he was planning to produce a concept album based on Hamilton’s life and, if all went well, it would be his second musical. When I asked whether hip-hop — of which I was abysmally ignorant — could be the vehicle for telling such a rich, complex story, he answered, ‘‘Ron, I’m going to educate you.’’ And, boy, did he ever. He pointed out that with dense, rapid lyrics, you could pack an enormous amount of information into the songs. He also noted the use of rhyme, including internal rhyme, and all of the clever wordplay that was possible.

他跟我說，他是在墨西哥度假的時候看的這本書，看着看着嘻哈樂就開始“從書本里冒出來了”——很少有人看我的傳記看出這個效果。他說他打算根據漢密爾頓的生平做一個概念專輯，一切順利的話，這會是他的第二部音樂劇。對嘻哈樂我是茫茫然一無所知的，我問他，這種形式能不能撐起這麼一個豐富、複雜的故事，他說，“羅恩，我要給你上一課。”哈，可真是實打實地受教育了。他告訴我，密集、快速的詞彙可以在歌裏注入大量的信息。他還說可以用押韻，包括內韻，此外有許許多多聰明的文字遊戲可以嘗試。

That day on the spot, Lin-Manuel asked me to be his historical consultant. He said, ‘‘I want the historians to take this seriously.’’ Now, usually, historians are considered pests and kept a million miles from productions. It showed great strength and integrity that Lin-Manuel was willing to let me hang around the show and incorporate me into the creative team. I have been continuously involved with ‘‘Hamilton’’ for six years now.

那天，他當場就問我能不能做歷史顧問。他說，“我希望這是一部歷史學家會正眼看待的戲。”要知道，歷史學家通常是討人嫌的，排戲的時候滾越遠越好。林-馬努艾爾卻主動要我參與，讓我成爲主創團隊的一員，這說明了他是個大氣、端正的人。我一直參與《漢密爾頓》的製作，已經有六年了。

Two or three months after our first meeting, Lin-Manuel asked if he could come over to my house and sing something for me. He sat on my living room couch, began to snap his fingers, then sang the opening song of the show — ‘‘How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore, etc.’’ When he finished, he asked me what I thought. And I said, ‘‘I think that’s the most astonishing thing I’ve ever heard in my life.’’ He had accurately condensed the first 40 pages of my book into a four-minute song. And he had forged a unique idiom that blended formal 18th-century speech with 21st-century slang. Filtered through Lin-Manuel’s extraordinary mind, the lyrics sounded natural and spontaneous and all of a piece. Next thing I knew, he sent me an email and said to go on YouTube, that he had performed that first song at the White House and gotten a standing ovation from the Obamas. I thought to myself, ‘‘Wow, I am strapped to a real rocket with this young guy.’’

在第一次見面兩三個月後，林-馬努艾爾問我能不能上我家來，要唱一些給我聽。他坐在我家客廳沙發上，打着響指開始唱開場那首——“一個孤兒/婊子和蘇格蘭佬的私生子……”唱完後他問我想法。我說，‘這輩子沒聽過這麼震撼的東西。’他把我的書的前40頁，準確地濃縮成了一首四分鐘的歌。他還鍛造了一種語言風格，融合了十八世紀的莊重言語和二十一世紀俚語。這些詞在林-馬努艾爾的非凡頭腦裏過了一遍，變得自然、隨性、渾然一體。接下來沒多久，他給了我一封電郵，讓我上YouTube去看他在白宮演唱第一首歌，得到奧巴馬一家的起立鼓掌。我心說，“哇，我跟這傢伙在一起，簡直就是拴在火箭上了。”

For a period of a year or two, Lin-Manuel sent me one or two songs a month. I would hear him at the keyboard, crooning tunes alone. And I thought they were sensationally good — fresh, witty and always moving. I can remember laughing uproariously when he first sent me King George III’s satirical song to the colonists, ‘‘You’ll Be Back.’’ I was thrilled when he sent me ‘‘The Schuyler Sisters’’ and I realized that the family saga I had explored would be translated intact onto the stage.

有那麼一兩年的時間，林-馬努艾爾每個月會發給我一兩首歌。我聽到他彈着鍵盤，一個人哼着歌。在我看來，這些歌都太棒了——新鮮、妙趣橫生，並且始終都是動人的。我記得，他第一次給我聽那首喬治三世唱給殖民地居民的諷刺曲《你們會回來的》時，我都笑瘋了。聽到他發來的《舒依勒姐妹》(Schuyler Sisters)，我意識到我在書裏探索的家庭故事，將會原封不動地搬到舞臺上。

Then he invited me to one of the first rehearsals at a small studio in the Garment District. I remember poking my head into the room and seeing eight actors standing in front of eight music stands, thinking, ‘‘Oh my goodness, they’re all black and Latino! What on earth is Lin-Manuel thinking?’’ I sat down with Thomas Kail, the director, and Jeffrey Seller, the producer, thinking to myself, ‘‘When this is over, I need to sit down and talk to Lin-Manuel alone. We’re talking about the founding fathers of the United States.’’ But after a minute or two I started to listen and forgot the color or ethnicity of these astonishingly talented young performers. Within five minutes, I became a militant on the subject of color-blind casting.

後來他邀請我去看最初的排練，那是在時裝區一個小工作室裏。我記得當時我往房間裏探了一下頭，看見八位演員，站在八個樂譜架前，我心想，“天哪，全是黑人和拉丁裔！林-馬努艾爾是怎麼想的呢？”我跟導演託Thomas Kail、監製Jeffrey Seller坐在一起，心想“等排練結束了我得跟林-馬努艾爾單獨談談。這可是合衆國的創始人啊。”然而，幾分鐘下來，我的心思已經全在那些才華橫溢的年輕人的歌聲上，忘了他們的膚色或民族。不到五分鐘，我就成了一名鼓吹“色盲選角”的激進分子。

The whole concept of ‘‘Hamilton,’’ I realized, was inseparable from casting. The miracle of the play is that it shows us who we were as a nation but also who we are now. This young, multiracial cast has a special feeling for the passion, urgency and idealism of the American Revolution, which maybe shouldn’t surprise us. Our history is the saga of outsiders becoming insiders — of the marginal and dispossessed being welcomed as citizens. Lin-Manuel offers us an Alexander Hamilton who is the quintessential immigrant and outsider who lends his talents and energies to creating the new nation.

我意識到，《漢密爾頓》的整體概念跟選角是不能分開來看的。這部戲的奇蹟在於，它讓我們看到我們作爲一個國家的過去，也看到我們的現在。這個年輕的、多種族的演員陣容，對美國革命的激情、迫切和理想主義有一種特殊的感受，而這可能並不出人意料。我們的歷史是局外人變成局內人的故事——被驅趕的邊緣人被接納爲公民。林-馬努艾爾帶給我們的亞歷山大·漢密爾頓，是一個移民和局外人的典範，他用自己的才華和活力去開創一個全新的國家。

Seeing the story transformed into such vivid, three-dimensional life onstage, I had the strange sensation of eavesdropping on the private meditations of my own characters — the things left unsaid in the historical record. Eliza Hamilton refused to comment publicly on her husband’s notorious sexual escapade with Maria Reynolds, but Lin-Manuel has created magnificent, mournful music for her as she pours out her emotions after the scandal breaks. I was infinitely touched that he closed the show the way I had the book — with a golden, elegiac scene of Eliza as a widow, remembering her husband. Much better than ending with the duel.

看到這個故事變成如此生動、立體的現場舞臺表演，我有了一種奇怪的感覺，我好像在偷窺我自己書裏的人物，看看他們私下裏在想些什麼——那些史料裏沒有的東西。對丈夫和瑪莉亞·雷諾茲(Maria Reynolds)那場臭名昭著的婚外情，艾麗薩·漢密爾頓(Eliza Hamilton)在公開場合絕口不提，但在戲中，林-馬努艾爾爲她寫了華美、悲慟的音樂，讓她盡情吐露丈夫醜聞敗露後的心境。他在最後一場戲用了我在書裏的結局，這讓我無比感動——那是一個金黃色的、哀婉的場景，已成寡婦的艾麗薩回憶着她的丈夫。這比用一場決鬥作結尾好太多。

I recognize the real Alexander Hamilton in ‘‘Hamilton.’’ Sometimes Lin-Manuel shades the character differently than I do in the book, but that’s only natural. I think he has plucked out the dramatic essence of the character — his vaulting ambition, his obsession with his legacy, his driven nature, his roving eye, his brilliant mind, his faulty judgment. He gives us a very interior look at Hamilton with many well-educated guesses at what he was thinking and feeling.

我能在《漢密爾頓》裏看到一個真實的亞歷山大·漢密爾頓。有時候林-馬努艾爾處理人物的辦法跟我的書不太一樣，但那很正常。我認爲他把人物的戲劇精髓抽取了出來——他有氣吞山河的野心，渴望千古留名，他強橫的天性，遊移的眼神，敏慧的才思，糟糕的判斷力。他向我們展示了一個內在的漢密爾頓，並憑藉豐富的知識，對這個人的所思所感做出了不少猜想。

Both Lin-Manuel and I were motivated by a sense that Hamilton was the most overlooked and misunderstood founding father. He had an uncanny knack for making powerful enemies — including Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe — who, in many ways, came to define his legacy. Now Hamilton threatens to become the chic and glamorous founder. From beyond the grave, Hamilton can no longer complain of neglect. He is right up there on the marquee at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Hamilton, never bashful, would have been happy to take a bow.

林-馬努艾爾和我都認爲，漢密爾頓是最被忽視和誤解的一位國父，這種看法驅使着我們。他有個奇怪的毛病，總是跟一些有權有勢的人成爲敵人——這裏面有約翰·昆西·亞當斯、托馬斯·傑弗遜、詹姆斯·麥迪遜、詹姆斯·門羅——這在某種程度上概括了他的傳奇。現在漢密爾頓恐怕要成爲最帥氣、最耀眼的國父了。假使地下有知，他不能再抱怨自己被人遺忘。此時此刻，漢密爾頓正站在理查德·羅傑斯劇院(Richard Rodgers Theatre)大門正上方。這個從不害怕出風頭的人，大概會很樂意向大家鞠躬致意的。