Indisputably, the musical sensation of the 2010s was Hamilton. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop retelling of the life of the American founding father seemingly came out of nowhere and hit at just the right time to become the biggest and most instantaneously iconic Broadway phenomenon since The Phantom of the Opera. Since its’ premiere in 2015 it has been talked about, dissected, and loved so much that it’s easy to forget that most people, even most theatre fans, haven’t actually seen it. Running almost exclusively on Broadway and with exorbitantly high ticket prices, most of us have had to be content with just hearing how great it is, without experiencing it for ourselves. Sure, the soundtrack has been available for a while, but that’s only a part of it, and as someone who is a fan of theatre, and especially great musicals, it’s been a bit of a bummer to go so long without seeing it. Especially now that I have.
If there’s one thing to say for Disney+ amid all its’ issues with aspect ratios and censorship and a bewildering refusal to expand its’ scope, it’s that it has facilitated at long last the democraticization of Hamilton. Thanks to that platform and the Disney Company’s carefully cultivated love affair with Miranda himself, Hamilton is for the first time available for a wide audience to see, and in a form that legitimately does justice to the production.
This filmed version is edited together from three performances in June 2016 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Manhattan with the original stage cast. Some shots are also clearly taken from dress rehearsals without an audience so as to better facilitate Steadicam, dolly, and even the occasional crane shots. As with the original production, it was directed by Thomas Kail, who despite the difference in mediums, knows how to translate the show to cinematic language. Indeed by employing cuts and close-ups and dynamic pans, it gives the show an intimacy it could never convey live. We’re watching Hamilton, Jefferson, Aaron Burr and others from the vantage point of the stage, and it’s that much more effective.
As for the show itself, well there’s a reason Hamilton took the world by storm. It really is just as good as everyone who’s been lucky enough to see it says. Just as unique and thrilling and mesmerizing and weirdly bold. Its’ retelling of the career of Alexander Hamilton with a distinctly colourblind cast, a self-aware political sensibility to the script, and a cacophony of modern musical influences renders it a style unto itself; a framing of history through the voice of the twenty-first century that celebrates it without succumbing to blind patriotism. The jingoist tendencies that often plague Americans’ interpretations of the Revolutionary War are absent, perhaps due to the recontextualization brought about by the shows’ portraits of the individuals leading that war. With so many non-white people occupying these roles, not only is the underdog status of the United States restored, but the ideals they’re fighting for are bestowed with a new and distinctly 2010s relevancy. Even ignoring the music, Hamilton could not have worked at any other point in history.
But who would want to ignore the music? While the production values are really impressive and the acting superb from the whole ensemble (it’s no wonder actors like Daveed Diggs and Anthony Ramos and especially Leslie Odom Jr. and Miranda himself broke out because of this show), the music is the key to Hamiltons’ success. From the opening notes, it’s viscerally pulsating and catching in a way that few other musicals are; the energy and immensity of the songs and sheer hook after hook are captivating to listen to. We see the performers making good use of that -the elaborate choreography is so creative and enthralling, and every performer is perfectly suited for their part in voice, emotion,and physicality. Miranda is obviously a consummate performer here in an incredibly demanding role, but the renaissance prowess of Odom can’t be ignored, as well as Philippa Soo and Renée Elise Goldsberry -who kills in some of the shows’ most extraordinary moments.
The purpose and passion behind the songs really elevate them too, Miranda’s greatest skill being his songwriting. Each major piece is characterized both by its strong textual foundation, its emotional themes and storytelling, but also its mastery of rhythm and the musical techniques that best cultivate excitement and/or pathos. From the introductory track “Alexander Hamilton”, the show-stopping “My Shot” (perhaps the most popular song), the bombastic “Story of Tonight”, the emotionally intense “Satisfied” and “Burn”, the fierce “Wait for It” and resentful “Room Where It Happens”, and the exceptionally moving finale “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” -all of them serve their purpose exactly and with aplomb. The more comedic songs are no less great, like the pair of rap battles between Hamilton and Jefferson (or really anything that utilizes Diggs’ enormously fun portrait of the third President); and honestly one of my favourites was “You’ll Be Back” and its brief reprisals by Jonathan Groff as a pompous, disdainful (and frequently spitting) King George III.
All of this has probably been said before and better by smarter people. I’m late to the game. What is important is that Hamilton, a relatively recent yet genuinely revolutionary Broadway musical that presents an image of American history as it ought to have been (and the mythology it still inhabits to those who would remain ignorant of its realities) looking forward to an American identity that it could become, can at last be seen by those outside the exclusive club that the theatre routinely is. The music and message and all around spectacle that is Hamilton deserves that greater audience, who may connect with it on a deeper level than those who could liberally spend hundreds of dollars to see it on Broadway -and especially in this time, when the shows’ unabashed optimism is sorely needed. This is the closest Hamilton should ever get to a movie adaptation (I can’t fathom it working removed from its’ stage), and so it makes sense that Disney would spend 75 million dollars to distribute it. And in so doing and making it publicly available on Disney+, they have at long last given their streaming service some original content that is not only wholly worthwhile but compulsory for musical fans and lovers of great art.
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