Hamilton

Play (Musical) Recording, 2016 (Streamed 2019)

Premise - A Broadway "sung-through" musical on the life of our most underrated founding father, Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton fought in the Revolutionary War, was the first Secretary of the Treasury, and in many ways was George Washington's right-hand man, despite being a poor immigrant "creole" disrespected by many other well-known founding fathers. Told with a majority POC cast and performed with Black music such as jazz, hip-hop, and rap.

Review - Like many others, I watched this on Disney Plus during the latest Fourth of July weekend. Unlike many, though, I had zero exposure to Hamilton prior. This is one of the most popular Broadway shows in history, and I had actively avoided it. I had never seen it live, tried to torrent a bootleg, or listened to the soundtrack. If I were to ever experience it - I wanted it to be the genuine thing, start to finish, and that's what I got. It's made me an even stronger advocate of making theater accessible through widely distributed recordings.

Having never watched it, however, it had high expectations to live up to! Hamilton is the Broadway show of our generation, not only for its high quality but its innovative, modernized music and lyrics. It's so beloved, I was frightened I may not enjoy it. Generally, I am entertained, but not enthralled, by musical theater. As far as showtunes go, I love those for which I have nostalgia (such as Disney),

but otherwise it isn't something I would listen to. I wasn't skeptical - my guess was I would like it. But if I didn't, oh no, I'd have to lie because I can't be the person who doesn't like Hamilton!

As expected, however, there was just so much to enjoy. It's a funny play - similarly to how I feel about "Starkid," modernizing and adding crude language to anything historical or traditional is just inherently funny. Black musical genres are nearly never utilized in this context - they are thought of as "lesser" or even "dirty" genres of music. But they are SO central to American music! Hip hop, jazz, rap... absolutely some of the best music genres of all time. Because rap and hip hop are so lyrically saturated, these genres also offer very unique narrative opportunity. A LOT of story and character development can be crunched into very short, fastly-sung lines. On top of that, you have the fun of word play, rhyming, and other poetic devices that aren't as prevalent in other genres. There is little to no dialogue in this play - only song - and the lyrics ARE the story. Lin Manuel-Miranda, who wrote Hamilton, must therefore be a master of words to put this together. And he did it.

This is known as Lin Manual-Miranda's show as it should be, given how it is his creation. However, I did notice that he was the weakest performer and singer of the whole cast, and yet as the director, naturally he cast himself as the star. Manuel-Miranda plays Alexander Hamilton himself, and yet his vocal performance to me was far out-shined by his supporting cast.

That cast is made up of all people of color (with the exception of Johnathan Groff, who plays King George of Britain - THE SNOOTIEST, FUNNIEST CHARACTER). It is such an empowering way of retelling American history. Black people were never afforded the opportunity to be Founding Fathers, of course - they were not even their own people. So for "historical accuracy" films would never cast people of color in these highly sought-out historical roles. One of the many injustices against Black people that can never be fully restored. This is a meaningful step, however - as we now afford Black people center stage in roles once thought of as being restricted to white people. Black people (and other people of color) are telling the history of America this time, and when have they had the chance to do that? Because it's theater, and there's always an awareness that an audience member is watching a fictional show (in contrast to something very absorptive, like film), it's very easy to just throw out any disbelief out the window and go "Oh, yup, that's George Washington!" and just embrace it. My personal favorite was the actor who played Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. Seeing Thomas Jefferson portrayed as a villain by such an enthusiastic Black man was revitalizing - I'd love to think of Jefferson rolling over in his grave.

The musical retells American history not only in genre but in content. By focusing on Alexander Hamilton, there is already a focus on the "other." Hamilton was an immigrant, an outside. He detested slavery. He was also effectively exiled from politics due to his own adultery (his fault, but still, makes him an outsider). The musical also calls out slavery on multiple occasions (RAP BATTLES!), particularly Thomas Jefferson as a slave-owner. Interestingly, however, George Washington's slave-ownership is not acknowledged and he is seen as a much more neutral character.

An area that was not discussed at all was Native history which, like Black history, IS American history. So that is an oversight. I don't know if Alexander Hamilton had much to do with anything regarding Natives, however. The areas of America he resided in were already colonized by Britain in years prior, I'd presume.

There is so much about American history I do not know. Whether or not the information provided in this play was supposed to be foundational, I don't even know. I learned so many names I was unfamiliar with. I found myself quickly perusing Wikipedia several times while watching to get a quick overview of who the characters were. The same must be true for the majority of Americans. I'm wondering if this is now taught in schools as an educational medium for learning about the Revolutionary period. Those rap battles alone are chalked full of the political debates of the time. The play also does a good job of... hmm... is it breaking the fourth wall? I'll just say they were sometimes "being meta" about what is NOT known in history. When Eliza takes herself out of the narrative, we lose her story. When she elects to put herself back in, then we have something to say. Same can be said about historical interactions for which we have no witness.

My last comments on content regards Eliza, the heroine of the play. We are supposed to hail her, regard her, appreciate her contribution to society as well as thank her for sharing Hamilton's story. The last song revolves around Eliza, post-Hamilton's death, as she lives another 50 years. This beautiful ending where we shine a light on the unsung woman had an even more beautiful song - and yet - it was tainted in my eyes. It's a very specific complaint, but the thing she is proudest of in her song is how she opened up New York's first private orphanage, which everyone respects her for and sings around her "the orphanage" and... it ruined it for me a bit. I tried to remember how well-intentioned this must have been, and perhaps that maybe at the time it was better than nothing, but my brain immediately flooded with rhetoric about why private orphanages cause far more harm than the help they are intended for. Institutionalize and profit off poor children's pain, why don't you, stick them in a building to all congregate together, and be hailed as a philanthropist - there is a historical pattern of this. Luckily orphanages are now banned in the United States and very much illegal. With such a complicated history, it was such an odd thing to celebrate at the end of the play and took me out of the moment.

Overall, these were still showtunes. For me that means I'll enjoy watching performances, but it's not exactly my cup of tea for listening to casually. And it was still a stage production, which I personally will always be biased against in comparison to films. I will say though, that after an Independence Day feeling increasingly anti-patriotic in the wake of current events, this musical was able to reinstate some patriotism within me - a different kind, one that recognizes mistakes of the past but appreciates our foundation slightly more than before. A patriotism that is more optimistic about the future (91/100).

Quote -

Love doesn’t discriminate

between the sinners
and the saints,
it takes and it takes and it takes
and we keep loving anyway

What to watch for - All the musical numbers are just so in-sync, it's so satisfying to watch the tight choreography. My favorites, however, were the two rap battles between Jefferson/Hamilton which had less choreography and were just SO great lyrically.

If you liked this play, I'd recommend Les Miserables!

Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Streamed on Disney Plus