Joan Marcus
Having already wowed Broadway with his Tony Award winning musical In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda began work on his next project — the life of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. In what must have been considered a risky project, Miranda spent seven years developing the story, which had been inspired by reading Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton, and composing the music, a mix of hip hop, pop, soul, and traditional show tunes. Miranda’s vision for the project was to tell the story of ‘America then, as told by America now’ and cast the lead roles with people of color. The question was would people flock to see a musical history lesson? People flocked to this bold new production when it opened off-Broadway in 2015, with Miranda taking the role of Alexander Hamilton, and after a sold out engagement the show moved to Broadway, opening on August 6, 2015, garnering uniformly positive reviews and huge box office sales, and then scored a record 16 Tony Award nominations, winning 11 including Best Musical. The show also won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016, and a filmed version of the show with the original Broadway cast was produced and streamed on Disney Plus in 2020. The first national tour was launched in 2017, and a third tour began in 2019 but was cut short by the global pandemic — with the filmed version helping fill the void. Hamilton was due to hit Baltimore in the Summer of 2020, and now it is finally here kicking off the new season at the Hippodrome Theatre.
The first act of the show focuses on Hamilton’s meteoric rise from immigrant (born in what is now St. Kitts and Nevis) to lawyer to General George Washington’s right hand man, making many friends, enemies and frenemies along the way, including Aaron Burr who had the same goals and vision as Hamilton but was constantly pushed to the side by his colleagues boldness and social climbing. Along the way, Hamilton became close to Washington, met the Schuyler sisters and married Eliza (even though her sister Angelica was also interested in him), and teamed up with Lafayette to help take down British forces and win the war for independence. After the victory, both Burr and Hamilton are blessed with children, Burr a daughter and Hamilton a son, but politics begins to creep into their lives and again Hamilton’s favor with now President Washington has afforded him the position of Secretary of the Treasury. Eliza wants her husband to stay in New York instead of going to the new seat of government, and Angelica moves to London. Act II begins with the arrival of Thomas Jefferson from his European travels — he was the U.S. ambassador to France — but he and James Madison, along with Burr, begin to feel that Hamilton is stepping on too many toes in trying to influence Washington’s administration. Hamilton also makes a grave misstep when he begins an affair with a woman whose husband extorts him for money, leading his opponents to believe he’s been embezzling the Treasury. Hamilton is forced to admit his sins to prove any money he paid was his own — he has the receipts — but it tears apart his marriage and dooms his chances of becoming president. Tragedy also follows as his son dies in a senseless duel (foreshadowing), and Hamilton seals his fate when he endorses a man he dislikes (Jefferson) for president instead of his ‘friend’ Burr, the only way left to settle their differences with a duel. Eliza fills in the next fifty years with a gorgeous song that will leave you needing a Kleenex or two.
I had hoped to see Hamilton during its scheduled 2020 run at the Hippodrome, and hoping that it would be rescheduled I cautiously avoided seeing the filmed version of the show so I could experience everything live as it happened. I’m glad I did. Not that the film would take anything away from the show, but just the electricity of being in that room, surrounded by a crowd also engrossed in the story and appreciative of the music, is an experience that cannot be duplicated at home. But now I am more than ready to watch the filmed version. Hamilton does tell the story of the founding of this country, and at this particular time it may be of even greater importance for people to see than it was when it was originally opening on Broadway. Our democracy is in a precarious position, and seeing Hamilton may remind us of what many before us fought for and the importance today of preserving what was won in our independence from Great Britain. Many people are uninterested in American history, which can be dry considering we have less than 300 years of it to consider, but Miranda’s clever use of modern hip hop music and the diverse casting, helps make this ‘ancient’ history feel much more modern and urgent, and it should appeal especially to a younger generation with no interest in the past. Miranda has peppered the show with one musical number after another (dialogue is minimal) from the rousing opening number ‘Alexander Hamilton’ to the stunning ballad ‘Satisfied’, the signature ‘The Room Where It Happens’, and the mournful ‘Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story’, and everything in between, all of them cleverly written to forward the story and appeal to all types of theatre-goers of all ages and all walks of life.
In addition to the book and score, the show’s production design and choreography work together in such an amazing way. The main set is a static room of wood and bricks, two stories high, with a turntable built into the stage which allows the ensemble to remain still while still being in motion. This also allows the cast to continue walking when necessary while staying in place. It’s just a brilliant device, and combined with the epic story telling of a revolution, I could not help but think of Hamilton as the American version of Les Miserables, which also employed a turntable stage to great effect. And being that Les Miz is my favorite musical of all time, that is some high compliment for Hamilton (which may now be a close second).
Joan Marcus
But no matter how great the songs are, no matter how eye-popping the sets, costumes, lighting and choreography is, a show lives or dies on the shoulders of its cast. The company currently taking up residence at the Hippodrome is one of three currently on tour in North America, the ‘Philip Cast’ (the other two playing concurrently are the ‘Angelica’ and ‘Peggy’ casts). ‘Philip’, by the way, was the name of Hamilton’s son. I can’t speak on the other two companies but the ‘Philip’ troupe is simply astonishing. Jared Dixon opens the show as Burr, with he and the cast introducing us to Alexander Hamilton. Dixon’s performance is multi-layered as he is the yin to Hamilton’s yang, the one who remains calm and tries to set his friend on a more level path, but he grows increasingly frustrated by Hamilton’s ascension. Burr isn’t the flashiest role, but Dixon’s presence on stage always makes him riveting. Meanwhile, Pierre Jean Gonzalez is electrifying as Hamilton, channeling his best Lin-Manuel Miranda, but making the role his own, showing us the layers of Hamilton from social climber to military and political strategist, a husband and father filled with love for his family and then remorse for what he’s done, damaging his home and political life. Gonzalez just crackles with energy and is a force to be reckoned with.
Other main cast members also shine as brightly as the two leads. Ta’Rea Campbell is magnificent as Angelica Schuyler, and stops the show with her number ‘Satisfied’ (which is also brilliantly staged as a flashback, showing us moments we had just seen re-enacted again until we get back to the starting point of the song). Angelica is also the voice of reason when it comes to her sister, and has a ‘take no prisoners’ attitude when she discovers Alexander’s dalliance. Campbell is just terrific. From the moment Marcus Choi, as George Washington, sings his first notes I just wanted to hear more of him. While he also gets to rap, his singing voice is amazing as he scales those notes, and his performance is strong and commanding, acting as a father figure to his protege. Desmond Sean Ellington takes on two roles, acting as Hercules Mulligan in Act I and James Madison in Act II. His performances are wonderful, but I really loved his Madison and his interactions with Jefferson as they sort of conspired against Hamilton. And speaking of Jefferson, Warren Egypt Franklin plays that role in Act II, after taking on the role of the Marquis de Lafayette in Act I. He brings a very over-the-top, flamboyant performance to both but maybe even more so to Jefferson as he opens the second act with the cheeky ‘What’d I Miss?’ His mannerisms, facial expressions, mugging to the audience and vocal prowess also keep you riveted to him whenever he’s on stage. His interactions with Ellington are priceless. Neil Haskell steals the show with his portrayal of King George III, making a few brief appearances to comment on the war, the aftermath and Washington’s resignation, assuring us in his witty numbers that he’ll kill everyone … with his love, and that we’ll eventually come crawling back to him. One of the highlights is his reaction to leaning that one can actually give up their power if they chose to do so. Haskell has a grand time with the part, and at one point while remaining seated on stage to watch the action, managed to crack up Dixon during his own number (unfortunately I was seated so far to the left that whatever was happening was obscured by the speakers). Haskell’s presence is always welcome on that stage.
In the role of Eliza is normally Nikisha Williams, however during our performance the role was played by Jisel Soleil Ayon (apparently her debut judging by the reaction of the cast at the curtain call) and she is magnificent. I always admire how someone can step into a role on a moment’s notice, and Ayon did not disappoint. Eliza has several solo numbers starting with ‘Helpless’, but her second act songs ‘Burn’ and ‘Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story’ are outstanding. ‘Burn’ is Eliza’s reaction to her husband’s cheating, burning the love letters she’d kept all these years, Ayon conveying Eliza’s anguish at losing her husband. She is also heart-wrenching in the reprise of ‘Stay Alive’ as she and Alexander reunite to comfort their wounded and dying son, and she brings down the house with that final number, giving us Eliza’s history, her accomplishments, her quest to tell the story of America, ending on a tearful gasp as the lights fade behind her, leaving her the sole person on that stage illuminated by a spotlight, leaving us with tears in our eyes and a massive lump in our throats. I’m sure Ms. Williams is just as effective, but I believe we were very privileged to have experience Ms. Ayon as Eliza.
Joan Marcus
So is Hamilton a show for you? A definite yes! Lin-Manuel Miranda has managed to make history. American history at that, electrifying, modern, urgent. The story of the fight to make American what it is, even as the participants in its founding admit things are a bit of a mess that they need to fix, needs to be seen by audiences today. The old saying is that if we forget our history we’re doomed to repeat it couldn’t be more important in this moment of our history. The performances, the production and the music make the story of Hamilton worth repeating.
Hamilton runs about 2 hours and 45 minutes with one 15 minute intermission. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Please note: there is some strong language.
Hamilton runs through October 30 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. Other cities on the schedule (for all three companies) include Las Vegas, Orlando, Rochester NY, San Diego, Detroit, Cleveland, Honolulu, Tampa, Boston, Toronto, Knoxville, Norfolk, Minneapolis, Richmond, Indianapolis, Albuquerque and more, with more cities to be announced for 2023. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Hamilton – National Tour Montage 2022
Hamilton An American Musical
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
Share this post
