Yes, it’s that good.
Wednesday night I was fortunate enough to procure a ticket for Hamilton. And because everybody immediately asks, no I didn't pay the exorbitant prices demanded on TicketMaster. I paid face value of less than $200. Having said that, my seat on TM was about $3,500. The show is absolutely phenomenal, but no, it's not worth that much. But then again, the market suggests that some people are willing to pay that price, so who am I to determine "worth" as given by a dollar amount. I'm assuming that people just want to see the original Broadway cast before they all go their own separate ways. As a regular theater goer, that certainly was special and I know that some people will be jealous for that reason alone. For me, I just wanted to see the show. But look at the attached pic. That is all kinds of awesome! Ladies and gentleman I present the original Broadway cast of Hamilton and four Tony winners - all on stage at the same time!
I've seen over 100 Broadway musicals (most of them in a theater in California) so I consider myself informed enough to give a layman's review. The shows that stick with me long after they end have a few common characteristics. Firstly, the musical score needs to be memorable. You may not remember the lyrics to a song, but if you're humming the tune to at least one of them on your way out the door - or better yet, the next day and the day after that - then the production was worthy of your time. If you're not singing "Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain" after the show ends, you were probably asleep while it was being performed. Secondly, the show has to have a story worthy of telling AND tell it in a satisfactory way. Most shows attempt to cover some lofty tale of human events, but some simply aren't that interesting. It's probably fairer to say that they are not that interesting long after the show has ended. In reviewing my list of attended shows, I don't remember anything at all about Smokey Joe's Cafe, Sweet Charity, or Caroline or Change - to name a few. Thirdly, the show has to have some level of intensity to remain stuck in my mind. It's easy to give examples, because so many outstanding musicals are riveting in their demonstration of humanity. Les Miserables is my favorite musical of all time. It is in my opinion a perfect show. It has wonderful music/songs from start to finish, tells one of the most challenging and moving stories of human endurance and our capacity to have justice triumph over injustice as was ever written. Other shows like this are Oliver or Fiddler on the Roof. But shows don't have to be "heavy" to be at or near perfect. The Book of Mormon is absolutely hysterical and not really heavy at all (save for the ravaging effect of AIDS in a Uganda village which they somehow made funny), but you can't NOT sing one of the songs as you tap dance out of the theatre. This also applies with shows like Mamma Mia or Mathilda, or Billy Elliot or Wicked, all fabulous.
Which brings me to Hamilton. Quite simply, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before but was immediately familiar. Like it was obvious to tell the story this way. As you are probably aware, it is about the formation of the United States as seen through the events in the life of Alexander Hamilton. It's a live biography of Hamilton and the intersection of his life with other notable historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, and of course, Aaron Burr. And it’s all told in rap. It meets each of my criteria for an outstanding musical. You can't ignore the score, the songs, the story, the characters, the story arc, or the intensity. And as most great shows will have, it's comic relief in King George is genius. The show has it all. It's compelling, it's interesting, the characters are relevant and important, it has war, it has death, it has love and deceit, it has comedy, it has some of the best songs to come out of a musical (ever), it has fabulous dancing and choreography, it has redemption, and on and on. In short, it's perfect.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about watching an (almost) all rap musical for lack of being able to follow the story. My 48 year old ear just doesn't pick up on all of the words spoken. During intermission, I found that I was not alone. The youngish couple sitting next to me acknowledged that they also couldn't pick out all words that were being sung. I responded that I can hear the words, but some of them were spoken so fast that my brain couldn't keep up with it all. Regardless, within a few minutes, I was able to translate the words as if this was Shakespeare. Which is probably a good analogy, because we don't speak in Shakespearean English, but we can follow along with Romeo and Juliet just fine, thankyouverymuch. But rap lends itself to a shortened style of speaking. You have to be efficient to get all that you need to say in a few rhyming stanzas. In the Playbill for Hamilton, there is a brief interview with Daveed Diggs, the Tony Award winning actor/rapper who plays both the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. In his words, "rap is such a useful tool for telling this story. It's very good at condensing information. The fact that rap has a strict meter and stays to a click means that you have to make your thoughts concise. By the end of the show, you've gone on a journey and learned so much about so many characters." Ron Chernow, whose biography of Hamilton provided the inspiration for the musical, similarly noted that the show’s creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda's style enabled him to condense the first 40 pages of his book into a four-minute opening number. The entire play is like that. Decades go by in 2.75 hours, all rich in content and history.
I purposefully stayed away from reading reviews or spoilers about the show, hoping I'd get a ticket (I only found out I got one on the day of the show!) and wanting to have the whole story unfold in front of me without any prejudices or knowledge of the songs or plot. Because of this show's success, that was a Herculean effort. And I won't use this blog to ruin it for you. Because when it comes around, you need to see it. Of course, that may be a challenge for the next few years because even though it's going on the road, the places where it will be performing are requiring patrons to subscribe to the whole season if they want tickets to this one show. I must say, it's probably worth it to buy a season of other musicals to have the opportunity to include Hamilton, but it's a costly choice. Just as costly perhaps as finding resellers to buy a single seat.
I'll close by making an assertion that Miranda has written an American Les Miserable. There are so many comparisons between the shows, it's hard not to see the connection. The score in both are bold and intense. Both have the entire script recited in song. Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton are the new Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert. Even the staging is familiar. When Les Mis had it's first, second, and probably third run (the revival did away with it), it had a rotating platform on the stage so the characters can move about while walking in place or get swung around from downstage to up, stage right to stage left. Hamilton makes good use of this technique. It was used to magnificent effect in the final dueling scene, including a slow motion bullet. It was more like a ballet. So awesome! Les Mis was seen as operatic. To the extent rap could be compared, rap is the new opera. And like Les Mis, the audience is on its feet standing in ovation before the last note of the last song is played.
As I began, yes, it's that good.