Hamilton
Hamilton! The Tony Award Winning Broadway Show, The Phenomenon.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s magnum opus, Hamilton has swept its audiences around the world off their feet for multiple reasons. Whether, for its innovative contemporary score, its historic story of an unsung American hero or for its pathbreaking endeavour towards diversity and inclusion on the stage, the show delivers at every level. Let’s just say this is a show I have been waiting to watch since its conception! So finally, I got to be in “the room where it happened” at the Lyric (pun not intended) theatre in Sydney, Australia!
So let me preface by saying I am a non-American, with a basic understanding of the American Revolutionary War and a rap repertoire that extends as far as Eminem…I made a point not to listen to the score beforehand or watch the Disney + version of the show and went in with fresh eyes and bated breath. So let me tell you why I was completely “satisfied”.
The show tells the condensed true tale of American revolutionary Alexander Hamilton, a Caribbean native from lesser means who through passion and determination rose to prominence in George Washington’s battalion against the British during the Revolutionary War in the late 18th century. The story chronicles Hamilton’s strengths, hunger for independence and fatal indiscretions and gives recognition to a founding father most of us didn’t know about till this musical!
The entirety of the show is set against a brick backdrop with a few war accessories to paint the time period. This simplistic set design, muted clothing and one ingenious double revolving stage make up all the special effects and “razzmatazz” of the show. This show is solely about its story, its actors and its score and it makes no apologies for it.
While Miranda himself essayed the titular character on Broadway, Australia’s own Jason Arrow filled Miranda’s shoes very nicely. However, the standout performance for me was Lydon Watts as Aaron Burr. Leslie Odom Jr. the OG Aaron Burr of Broadway has been decorated with honours for his outstanding performance, but you know “Watt(s)” truly does the character justice. Watts adds layers of emotion into his performance and makes the character his own (he’s also very easy on the eyes…just saying). The rest of characters while slightly one note, are embedded in every scene to create a dynamic interface with one another and the audience. What I found exceptional is the doubling up of roles like Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette and Jefferson, and Elandra Eramiha who goes from innocent Peggy Schuyler to the seductive Maria Reynolds in the second act! They are all supported by some fantastic lighting by the late Howell Binkley and pulsating choreography by Andy Blakenbuehler that keeps the physical energy of the show on par with the hiphop beats.
Unlike every other musical I have seen; Hamilton is never dialogue and then song. The entire show is rapped which is a phenomenon on its own. This is a three-hour production where every scene, every plot and every detail is rapped. I’ll admit for the rap-illiterate person that I am it was sometimes slightly hard to follow, compounded by not being familiar with the story and in my case the accent as well. However, once I got into the groove of it, the storytelling took on its own personality. In hindsight though it would have been good to listen to the songs and read up on the story beforehand to keep up.
But the songs, oh my god. This is the kind of music you cannot get out of your head. Each song, given the nature of the genre, was sung with soul. The arrangements were also so complex that at times it was hard to believe this was being performed live and not mixed in a studio. The singing standouts for me was definitely Eliza and Angelica Schuyler performed by Chloe Zuel and Akina Edmonds respectively. The performance of Satisfied is one you can only experience live and was definitely the highlight point of the show. Some of my favourite songs were Non-Stop and Wait for It both headlined by Lydon Watts. I think what was also really special to me were the lyrics written by Miranda. As someone who has always been partial to melody the lyrics truly spoke to me and in some cases were transcendent from a revolutionary war tale to the world we live in today.
While I can continue praising the show till the end of time, I did have a few minor issues. Most notably for me were the female characters. While I applaud all the female characters for their stellar performances particularly their musical talents there still was not much for them do. Somehow, all of them end up playing Hamilton’s love interest and not much more. I can sympathise that it’s hard-to-find meatier roles for women in a story in this context, but with the Hamilton production breaking so many boundaries, I would have loved to see more of that with the female roles. Also, the story takes gracious liberties with softening the harder to swallow truths of the life of Alexander Hamilton and steers clear of discussing slavery at that time in history.
On a final note, the true brilliance of Hamilton is it’s given a refresh to the otherwise dying theatre culture. An industry that unfortunately for too long has favoured whiteness finally has a show to include new talent and expand its viewership. With a diverse cast and in Australia particularly, a majorly indigenous cast, Hamilton has broken down barriers of an otherwise White history and given today’s diverse youth a story they can feel connected to. The crux of Hamilton celebrates “Americana” (albeit with a selected retelling of events) it personifies the American Dream of coming from nothing and building towards your own independence. Finally, the incorporation of genres like rap/rnb/hiphop has given a contemporary dimension to “showtunes”; music for everyone and not just for patrons of musical theatre like myself.
As my brother said “these are not the usual showtunes that I’ll only watch in a musical, these are songs I’ll be listening to in my car.”
All in all, Australia’s production of Hamilton directed by Thomas Kail is a “revolutionary” (last pun) musical that has re-conceptualised a historic event and adapted it in a way that reaches out to a wider community and a more diverse generation. Held by a strong script and powerful actors-this show like its story is here to tell you to never overlook talent!
After its lockdown hiatus, Hamilton is back at the Sydney Lyric Theatre-take it from me, don’t throw away your shot (I’m done now) and miss out on this!