Hamilton: An American Musical

Performance Date: October 25, 2017

Performance Venue: Pantages Theatre, Hollywood CA

Book, Music, & Lyrics by Lin Manuel Miranda

Chris and Chuck at the Pantages

After the 2016 Tony Awards (The Year In Which No Other Musical Had A Chance Because Hamilton), I wrote a brief message about Hamilton and my thoughts about its popularity and the recognition it was receiving. In short, while I enjoyed the material that I had heard, I took issue with a presenter during the awards describing the show as (with some slight paraphrasing) “one of the greatest works of art ever made in the world, ever”. At the time of the broadcast, the show had been open on Broadway for a mere 10 months, and I questioned the honest validity of the statement; great art is certainly recognized in its own lifetime, but to qualify it with “ever”...doesn’t some time need to pass to allow the art consumer to digest, reflect, and observe the impact of the piece, before we can make that bold of a statement? And I’m not talking days, weeks, or months. I’m talking years. Decades.

After seeing the show for myself last night, my opinion on that matter remains largely unchanged, although I do feel more inclined to the possibility that Hamilton could, one day, be legitimately labeled as one of the best, ever.

Daveed Diggs, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos, and Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

I want to make sure I say here, now, that this in no way means I didn’t like the show. I did. I loved the show. I felt exhilarated when I left the theatre, hungrily wanting to see the show again. Last night’s performance was a thrilling example of so many elements coming together and creating a whole that soars above the grand sum of its parts.

So, where to start?

I suppose, it’s prudent to start with Mr. Miranda, himself. Prior to being introduced to Hamilton, my only exposure to his work was In The Heights, which I’ve never seen, other than a few clips, and listening to the Cast Recording. Heights wasn’t always my cup of tea, but there were certainly moments that caught my ear and made me take notice (I think back to the first time I heard “Breathe”, in which I literally stopped reading to look up and stare at my radio for the entirety of the number).

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

If In The Heights was the appetizer, then Hamilton plays the role of main entree, which almost feels fitting. Heights put Miranda on the map, and Hamilton has launched him into super-stardom. While I’m certain this will not be his last foray onto the Broadway stage (not by a long-shot, I’m sure), I cannot honestly fathom anything of his ever quite reaching the heights that Hamilton has, although I wish him the best of luck in that endeavor. Hamilton will, in all likelihood, come to be known as his Magnum Opus, and that is certainly nothing to sneer at.

Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Jasmine Cephas Jones in the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

As far as the material itself, musical tastes vary from person to person; luckily, Hamilton has such an eclectic mix that I challenge anyone to listen to the score and not find at least ONE number that they can admit they liked, even a little. The inverse is true, as well, of course (“My Shot” fills this role for me; lyrically, thematically, and structurally important, it just doesn’t DO anything for me. The evening would be lessened without it, to be sure, but having heard and absorbed its message at least once, I’m okay with the occasional skip when replaying the soundtrack).

Hamilton’s through-line of a plot is the birth and first few steps of the United States, told through Hamilton’s personal and professional relationships. I will admit, while the personal aspects of Hamilton’s life were certainly interesting, it was the portions about the birth of the nation that fascinated me. In the Act One finale, “Non-Stop” there are two passages of note:

BURR: The constitution’s a mess...
HAMILTON: ...So it needs amendments...
BURR: It’s full of contradictions...
HAMILTON: ...So is independence!

And, just a few moments later:

HAMILTON: Burr, we studied and we fought and we killed
For the notion of a nation we now get to build!

Those two statements are so powerful when peeled down to the layer of: this is what our democracy is based on. We, The American People, were given a gift: WE earned the right to our nation, WE get to create it, WE get to decide its future. Even without the obvious juxtaposition with the current state of the nation, it’s an incredibly meaningful reminder that we, all of us, are directly responsible for what happens to us.

Christopher Jackson and the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton

This multi-layered approach to the material is shared by nearly every aspect of the production. By my count, all but 6 actors play multiple roles. When not performing a certain role, the actors are dressed in beige “storyteller” outfits, but even those are exquisite. The lighting design was astounding, and as a techie-in-spirit, there were a few times I found myself wondering, “God, how long did it take them to tech that moment?”. I’m still not 100% sold on the actual set design itself (minus the turntable, which was brilliantly utilized), but honestly, once you start observing the set more than you observe the action within, your material has bigger problems (Newsies would be a great example of this problem: the set was so amazing to watch, but put a gun to my head, and I still wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about the plot beyond that it involves a newspaper strike).

And finally, as far as last night’s actual show. Other than the usual one to two songs needed to adjust your ears to THESE performers, and not the Cast Recording’s, I thought the Cast was spectacular. We had understudies (or perhaps standbys) for both Hamilton and Burr, but I never felt like I wasn’t getting any worse a performance than had I had the actual original Cast there (a brief segue to some armchair directing: Having King George pop up again during “The Reynolds Pamphlet”, and in such an in-your-face way, was jarring and distracting. I get the reason why, but a change in blocking could have achieved the same desired effect). In fact, the worst part of the evening wasn’t even on stage at all; I had the pleasure of sitting next to a hyper-Hamilton-fangirl (dubbed a “Fan-ilton” by Chuck, to my immediate disgust), who so clearly knew the show forwards, backwards, and inside-out, that she made it her apparent mission to make sure everyone around her knew that she knew more about the show than we ever would, bless our little souls for trying, though. The capper were the incessant wordless cheers she would send to the stage ALL THROUGHOUT THE EVENING. GIRL, WE’RE IN THE BALCONY, GO TO THE STAGE DOOR AFTERWARD LIKE A NORMAL FANILTON AND HAVE YOUR MELTDOWN THERE.

Just...breathe.

To wrap up: as I’ve said, it’s impossible to know, at this moment, where Hamilton’s rank in the list of greatest works of art ever created will land. But as far as at THIS time, at THIS place, Hamilton is a bona-fide great work of art; an invigorating, intense, and timely musical that easily manages to bridge the 200+ year gap between its subject and its viewers.

FINAL GRADE: A+