Hamilton

Many moons ago, as a gift for my 65^th birthday back in March, Barry bought two tickets for yesterday’s matinee performance of “Hamilton” on Broadway. This wildly popular award-winning show opened in the summer of 2015 and tickets are still very much in demand. Over the past few weeks we listened to the soundtrack album while reading a synopsis of each scene in the play to maximize our enjoyment and appreciation of the show.

To say that this did not disappoint would be a gross understatement! The cast is an amazingly talented group. Although Lin-Manuel Miranda is no longer playing the lead role, the ensemble that has been assembled is simply first rate. Included in the troupe is James Monroe Iglehart, whom we had previously seen and loved (twice) on Broadway as Aladdin in the play of the same name. Here, he plays the roles of both Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson with the enormous charm and presence he brought to that previous Broadway role.

Because we had spent so much time listening to the soundtrack album, I was a bit worried that seeing the actual performance might be anticlimactic. But quite to the contrary, having familiarized ourselves with the details only enhanced our appreciation of the talent and magic of the live performance. There were so many highlights, but among our favorites were Euan Martin as King George, whose recurring appearances are amazingly clever and simply hilarious.

Broadway musicals always seem to end with a rousing, upbeat number during which the cast come out one by one or in small groups and take their bows. But this show had a distinctly different ending. The final number, “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story,” is a mournful tune, and when it ends the entire cast comes out in one line and takes a bow. I think this allowed the appropriate mood to linger after the lights went out, and it was brilliant.

At the end of the day, the lion’s share of the credit must still go to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who, “inspired by the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow,” is credited in the program with “Book, Music, and Lyrics.”

It is clear that I can hardly say enough positive about this show. I have just two pieces of advice:

1.    See it if you have the chance; the full list of all the cities where it is playing or scheduled to play can be found at https://seatgeek.com/tba/articles/hamilton-national-tour-dates-tickets-schedule/

2.    If you do plan to see it, spend some time listening to the CD and, if you haven’t read the book, reading a summary of the play scene by scene. We had read through this one while listening song by song:
http://hamiltonost.com/musical/hamilton-musical-act-1-summary-synopsis/

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Be well, all.

Love,

Rebecca