By: Keval Bollavaram
For my Remix and Adaptation Project, I intend to perform a statistical analysis between Hamiltonand other musicals from the past few decades. Specifically, I will be using MATLAB to compare the lengths of major plot points, script time for protagonists versus antagonists, and lengths of major events. In addition, I will be cross referencing the relevance of major characters to major events within each play.
Keeping to the theme of the class, I will be analyzing musicals from the same time period as Hamilton. By doing this, I believe that I can quantify why Hamilton has been labeled as a transformative musical relative to previous popular musicals of the same genre. In addition to Hamilton, the musicals that I intend on analyzing include 1776,Valley Forge, and A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine.
In each of these musicals, I will start by comparing script time for main characters. Some of these characters will include ubiquitous founding fathers figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. Afterwards, I will compare the relative importance of the main protagonists in each musical. Furthermore, I will cross reference the importance of specific characters with important historical events. For example, I will calculate the number of times George Washington is mentioned in each play in regards to the Revolutionary War. I will calculate fifteen to twenty cross references of this type.
After collecting all the data, I will use Microsoft Excel to create several graphical representations of my work. Moreover, I will provide my written analysis of the data collected and describe any statistically significant differences between Hamiltonand each of the other musicals.
In regards to WOVEN skills, I believe this project will help me overcome my weakness in writing by combining my writing skills with my strength in digital skills. Additionally, the goal of my project is to quantify what makes Hamilton a revolutionary play compared to similar plays. Because I have taken multiple programming classes in the past and have worked with MATLAB for prior research projects, I have the skillset to complete this project. Lastly, through the conclusions that I will draw and the graphical representations of my work, I believe my work will uniquely adapt Hamilton the musical.
