Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo
Director: Thomas Kail
Run Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Information: Hamilton is currently streaming on Disney +.
Rating: ★★★★
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s electrifying origin story of a burgeoning new America is more vital than ever.
In the middle of Hamilton’s first act, before General George Washington sends Alexander Hamilton to the frontlines of the American Revolution, he gives his young protégé these words of wisdom: ‘history has its eyes on you’. However, while watching Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster musical on Disney + amid two unprecedented historical events – a pandemic that has shut down most of the world and a societal reckoning of systemic and institutionalized racism –, it feels as if Washington is not speaking to Hamilton, but rather directly to us, the audience. History has its eyes on us.
When I watched a touring production of Hamilton back in February, that wasn’t the message I took away from it. Then, Miranda’s boundary-bending musical – which not just embodies, but pulses with the values of an Obama-era America in vivacious hip-hop verses and a multiethnic cast – felt like a beacon of hope amid tidal waves of fear and division. How the world has changed in merely five months! Now, as optimism has been all but sucked out of this planet and life has turned upside down, Hamilton has taken on new meaning: a cautionary message and an urgent societal call to arms.
Moments in the musical now seem more resonant than ever, such as when Hamilton and his group of revolutionary rebels sing, ‘when our children tell our story / they’ll tell the story of tonight’, or when Hamilton tells his newborn son Philip through an aching lullaby, ‘you will come of age with our young nation / we'll bleed and fight for you / we'll make it right for you’.
It’s not difficult to find the parallels between the movements of change sweeping across our world today and those depicted within the musical. And now, thanks to Disney + and the producers of Hamilton, millions of audiences will be able to see it for themselves, without having to mortgage their homes or empty their bank accounts.
It’s a wonder how director Thomas Kail managed to capture the essence of the production for the camera. It’s one thing to film a static stage play; it’s another thing to record Andy Blankenbuehler’s kinetic choreography – filled with captivating lifts, twirls, and leaps –, Howell Binkley’s evocative lighting, and David Korins’s towering wood and brick scenic design. Yet, he succeeds. Mostly.
Of course, nothing will come close to experiencing the sheer energy that reverberates from the stage of a live performance of Hamilton. But seeing the film allows us to appreciate the intricacies of Kail’s direction. He, along with Blankenbuehler, sculpt and bend time. Together, they construct stunning sequences where years fly by in seconds (“Helpless”, which details how Hamilton meets his wife Eliza Schuyler), or where time rewinds at breakneck speeds (“Satisfied”, Angelica Schuyler’s powerful lament of her unrequited love for Hamilton), or even when time stops altogether (Hamilton’s soliloquy as he sees death approaching him in the form of a fatal bullet, personified in the form of a series of haunting tableaus by the ensemble).
The intimacy of the cameras also help elevate multiple performances. Renée Elise Goldsberry is a powerhouse as Angelica, Hamilton’s sister-in-law who belts out the female empowerment song “The Schuyler Sisters” in addition to the rap-filled “Satisfied”. Phillipa Soo, with her angelic voice, provides an understated and heart-rending performance as Eliza Schuyler, Hamilton’s wife. And Daveed Diggs’s comedic turns in the dual roles of Marquis de Lafayette, the fast talking French military officer, and Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton’s political nemesis, are scene stealers. Anthony Ramos, Jasmine Cephas Jones, and Okieriete Onaodowan also have their moments to shine in their respective dual roles, and Jonathan Groff gives a hoot of a performance as King George III, who observes all the events from the other side of the pond.
The cameras don’t enhance everyone’s performance, however. As Hamilton’s frenemy Aaron Burr, Leslie Odom Jr. (who won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, beating out Miranda) has a silky smooth voice and formidably captures the spirit of Burr, the sly and envious mentor to Hamilton who always feels left behind – the ultimate outsider. But his buoyant performance, filled with fierce kicks and erratic movements, just doesn’t translate onto the camera; the excessive close-ups and changes of camera angles detract from his performance. The same goes for Christopher Jackson’s steady-handed George Washington. He tends to over-act ever so slightly (probably unnoticeable if you saw him live on stage), but the tight camera frames only exacerbate the problem.
The real loser in this stage-to-screen translation, however, is the 11 person ensemble – perhaps the hardest working group of actors on Broadway, filling in all the gaps in this story of a burgeoning new America by playing everything from citizens and politicians to inanimate objects such as bullets, boats, and books. Though Kail tries his best to use wide angle shots in order to capture the ensemble as much as possible, some of their work is unfortunately lost in translation. I guess that’s the trade-off when you try to tame the beast that is Hamilton in order to fit it onto a two dimensional screen.
As the titular character Alexander Hamilton – a military commander during the American Revolutionary War and the nation’s first treasury secretary – Miranda is the finest actor in the entire company. Even if his singing skills don’t match his rapping or acting abilities, it doesn’t matter. For when he hangs his head low with a hopeful gaze staring into the distance, Miranda becomes Hamilton, the ‘young, scrappy, and hungry’ immigrant and ‘founding father without a father’.
The similarities between the two men don’t stop there. Like Hamilton, Miranda, who dreamed up and composed the entire musical, is a gifted writer. He packs more detail and nuance into this two and a half hour musical – without it ever feeling bloated or excessive – than most authors can include in a 250 page biography. Each character's flaws and weaknesses – Hamilton’s hunger, Burr’s jealousy, Eliza’s naivety, Jefferson’s vanity, Angelica’s optimism– are dutifully examined through his comlex lyrical lines and rhyming couplets.
Equally astounding is Miranda’s eclectic score. With this musical palette, he’s proved to be a modern master of the Wagnerian leitmotif, whereby each character is given a certain musical theme. In Hamilton, the leitmotif is ingeniously used to serve as metaphors for different themes and personalities: Hamilton and Angelica’s rap songs represent the sounds of the revolution and a society that is hungry for change; Eliza’s desire to live quietly, far from the spotlight, is mirrored through her listful classical-style ballads; Burr’s mercurial personality is reflected through the use of jazz.
If there is anything in this musical to poke holes in, perhaps it is its structure. At times, the transitions between Hamilton’s personal stories and political ventures don’t form a cohesive narrative. The first act focuses heavily on his military experience, leading the American soldiers against the British army, while the far more layered and effective second act delves deeply into his personal misdeeds and his relationship with his wife and son.
But these minor quibbles are only apparent after multiple viewings of the show. And it doesn’t change the fact that Hamilton remains one of Broadway’s modern masterpieces. That this show – and its message of action and perseverance – is available for the world to see amid these strange times is truly an event worth celebrating.