Hamilton

After years of telling myself I would, on July 4th I finally sat down and watched Hamilton. I remember this show back in its heyday. It was everywhere and although I love history, a musical about a Founding Father did not interest me at all. I knew nothing about Alexander Hamilton except he was on the $10 bill and he died in a dual. And seems prior to Hamilton's release, that's what most of the general public knew about him.

However, Lin-Manual Miranda's groundbreaking production, which premiered in 2015, did something no other musical in history had ever attempted. Uniting classic musical theater with hip-hop. And what better story to experiment with then the story of an immigrant who came to the new world and spent his life creating new ideas and making bold decisions that changed the course of history. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton and Jonathan Groff as King George III

In a nutshell, Hamilton tells a fast and loose interpretation of Alexander Hamilton, an American Founding Father, whose profound gift with words, intellectual ability, debating genius, and patriotic love for his young country made him both a valued ally and despised adversary. Starting in 1776, heading through the Revolutionary War as he rose through the military ranks becoming General Washington's aide-de-camp, marriage to beautiful and loyal Elizabeth "Eliza" Schyler and birth of his son, and the early days of the post-war America where the young country was just learning to walk on its own, Alexander Hamilton was at the forefront. 

More sinner than saint and infinitely more comfortable making enemies than friends, an orphan from the Caribbean island, St. Kitts and Nevis who fought his way out of poverty to becoming one of the most powerful men in America. 

Characters L--R: Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Hercules Mulligan/John Adams, George Wasghinton, Aaron Burr, Peggy Schyler/Maria Reynolds, Angelica Schyler, Eliza Schyler Hamilton, John Laurens/Philip Hamilton

• One thing I didn't realize about Hamilton is that four actors play dual roles. Once a character leaves or dies in Act I they are brought back as another character in Act II. It actually confused me at first because I would be looking at the character and thinking...wait, that's the same actor from Act I!

• As I had said in the intro, I couldn't wrap my mind around the idea of making a musical about a Founding Father, much less a hip-hop musical. 18th century colonial history + hip-hop is like mixing oil and water. However, the use of POC in the lead roles (with the exception of King George) made a lot of sense seeing as rap and hip-hop came from the African American, Caribbean, and Latin community. 

• When I first watched the musical, I had to watch it in subtitles because everything was so fast!

• Starting off with Alexander's life story that led up to New York harbor was a great idea.

• This squad...the first friends that Alexander makes when he gets to America and became his main crew throughout the war. I loved them; they brought so much comic relief to the beginning of the story.

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  L-R: Hercules Mulligan, Lafayette, and John Laurens with Hamilton...on his wedding night. I love Alexander's face! He's so embarrassed by them.

  
  

• The costumes were incredible! So much attention was given to all the wardrobe that informed every character from the color palette to the material. It would have been great if they could have had a wedding dress for Eliza, though.

• Oh...sweet Eliza! I loved her! Both her and Hamilton together. They were a good match, and it seemed that they did love each other very much. As was typical of that time a woman's sole duty was to her husband and Eliza did her absolute best, but at the end of the day she didn't want a great man who was changing the world, she just wanted the man that she loved. 

• Angelica Schyler was certainly a force in her own right. Her struggle for her feelings for Alexander and her deep love for her sister was intense. Angelica's solo song "Satisfied" is probably the most powerful, creative and heart breaking. It left me breathless. Fighting your feelings for a taken man is one thing, but when he becomes family then it's a whole different story.

• Thomas Jefferson in Act II plays a partial role of both comic relief and the villain. Well, not really villain, adversary is a better word. Hamilton's opponent in all things in government. And while Aaron Burr was the man that shot Hamilton, it may have been Jefferson that helped lay the groundwork for his grave.

• Aaron Burr, I found to be quite likeable. In many ways I could relate to him. I know what it's like wanting to get to the top and doing everything right, but there is always going to be someone whose probably faster, smarter and most importantly, better liked that's always going to beat you to it.

• I loved George Washington and Hamilton's friendship that somewhat bled into a father/son relationship. Washington had no biological children of his own and Hamilton grew up without a father. So, in a lot of ways both of those voids were temporarily filled. 

• So, King George (or the obligatory white character) ...

• But seriously King George was the best...or worst? Portraying him as more of a narcissistic airhead instead of a supposed tyrant worked for the vibe of the play. It wasn't until Queen Charlotte was released that most audiences my age actually saw the type of man and king that George was. Not a bully or a tyrant or a petulant brat. But a good, honest, intelligent and kind man who were it not for his mental incapacity may have been able to work with the colonists and not against them.

• I had no idea that there were so may rules when it came to dueling. Maybe it's my feminist outlook but a lot of damage in history could have been avoided if men could just get over their fragile egos. 

• "Talk less, smile more." When Aaron said that to Alexander the first time, my initial thought was "Isn't that what people are always telling women?"

• On Tumblr, I see a lot of edits that used song lyrics such as

• Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

• Death does not discriminate between the sinner and the saint. Instead, it takes and it takes...

But I had no idea that there were lyrics from Hamilton. It's understandable why they're oftentimes used in artwork. Both of them are pillars in a story about life and death, love and loss and the people we influence and influenced us.

Elizabeth "Eliza" Hamilton and Alexander Hamilton 💗

• One of the best things I love about theater is watching everyone in the background. I always pick up on stuff I didn't notice before. 

• Music and lyrics set aside, the dancing is just phenomenal! And the way props were incorporated into the dances was pure artistry especially in numbers like "Hurricane."

• I know the show ended with Hamilton's death, but the way they ended it with the telling of Eliza's story and her contribution to both America's legacy and her husband was beautiful. But then the shocking finale of her reaction to Alexander's death was not what I was expecting. 

• While I don't have a favorite song, I do have a favorite scene. Small as it maybe it is delightfully hysterical. I loved watching the way Hamilton and his crew went to no end to mess around with this poor guy.

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• And finally, I have to admit...I've always had a thing for Lin-Manuel Miranda. I knew about him from the Hamilton hype, but the first film I saw him in was Mary Poppins Returns. He was so sweet as Jack!

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When I watched Hamilton for the first time, I thought it was good, but it probably won't be a favorite. I rewatched it and found, myself thinking that it could be in the top 7. Then I watched it a third time and it's definitely making its way into the top 5. There will probably be more rewatches in the future and I would love to see it live as well! It only took a decade, but I'm happy to say that I have seen Hamilton and have found to be completely artistic, engaging, historical, hysterical and a genre format of its own unique making.