Hamilton
By Gregory McLinden
If this is the first time you've heard of Hamilton, then I'm sorry but where have you been? Hamilton is arguably one of the biggest musicals of all time, the critical acclaim, the global fame, productions all around the world, countless awards - need I go on. Due to be released in December 2021, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney came to an agreement to release the filmed performance from 2016 a year and a half earlier than anticipated to give everyone the boost I think it's fair to say we all needed during a global pandemic - they read the room (where it happens), and they read it right. I think anyone who has seen Hamilton on Disney+ (or IRL) will agree with me when I say it lives up to the hype. Everything about this is perfect: the acting, the songs, the production, the choreography, the set design, the score, the cinematography - it truly captures the wonders of Hamilton. Being from the UK I will admit I know very little about American history, it's not something we get taught about in great detail over here, so going in to watching this I had no idea who Alexander Hamilton was other than from the lyric "ten dollar founding father" from the opening number 'Alexander Hamilton'. I have to say I learnt a lot I think most of it without knowing as well because I'll be singing along to the songs without releasing the educational message behind it. Put all this to one side though, Hamilton is incredible, it is a true masterpiece of theatre and now film. The performances by all the cast members are simply exquisite, you will be drawn into the story of all characters. However none more so than Eliza Hamilton but more of this below. I think it's important to also stress this is not a film as such. This is a filmed performance of Hamilton from Broadway, something which has been talked about being released for years but it wasn't until earlier this year that it was announced that Disney had acquired the release rights to the production. Another point worth noting is this is a musical, if you are not a musical fan then I would still encourage you to watch it but there is every chance you may not enjoy it. I went in to watching this having listened to the soundtrack but never seen it on stage, I assumed there would be a sprinkling of songs throughout with also moments of dialogue (think La La Land and The Greatest Showman with their ratio of talking to singing), I was severely mistaken but in a good way, the entire show is a musical, there are no dialogue moments in the entire show, it is all singing. Now for me I was more than happy with that because I love musicals, if you are not a fan of musicals though watching a 2 and a half hour show of non-stop singing - that may not be your cup of tea, I will admit myself that initially I found it quite difficult to follow having to listen closely to every lyric of the song but once you get into the flow of things it becomes second nature.
logline: The real life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.
Source: IMDb
My Favorite Characters:
Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton. Now you would think since Alexander Hamilton is the main character and stellar performance from Lin Manuel Miranda that he would be first on the list but the performance by Phillipa Soo as Eliza is truly incredible, and the fact she didn't win any major awards for her performance is heartbreaking as she arguably gives one of the greatest performances not just of 2020 but in theatre history. If you can watch the second act of Hamilton and not feel every emotion Eliza feels and not shed a tear or alternatively cry your eyes out, then quite frankly your heart is made of stone. You follow Eliza on her journey from meeting Alexander in Act 1 accompanied by the brain worm that is 'Helpless' through many other life events which I won't disclose here at risk of spoilers, but 'Burn' is the other notable song from Eliza in Act 2 which will make you bawl. I recently read a theory about Hamilton and the naming of it, the play revolves around Alexander Hamilton but the title of the play is just Hamilton, the theory is that the play is so much about Eliza's story as well that that's why it's just called Hamilton. This speaks so many truths because the story and play is just as much Eliza's as it is Alexander's. This is all down to the incredible Phillipa Soo, I really can't wait to see what comes next for her and hopefully she will make the break from theatre to film because her talent and voice is destined for the silver screen, and she is destined to play a Disney princess at some point and if she doesn't then quite frankly that's criminal. Whatever comes next for her whether that be more theatre or a break into film (she is due to star in Netflix's animated musical Over The Moon, Disney's The One and Only Ivan, and The Broken Hearts Gallery) because I can truly see her being a hotly contended Oscar nominee years from now.
Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton. This one is kind of obvious, I mean the entire play is about Alexander Hamilton so a mention for Lin was kind of predictable. But Lin gives a stellar performance here. For most of the 2 and a half hour run time Miranda is on stage giving it all. It makes you wonder how he can remember all the lyrics too all the songs, all the cues, all the choreography - then you remember he literally wrote the whole damn play including score and you start to realise how he might have a slight advantage. His performance is truly incredible, his vocal range to is amazing and the ability to go from hip-hop numbers such as 'My Shot' to a more ballad like number such as 'Dear Theodosia' really shows the truly incredible ability of Miranda. Now I must admit and we enter slightly spoilery territory here you probably won't root for him for the entire duration. During Act 1 you most likely will and you'll just want him to lead his own army, but as we go into Act 2 there's a good chance you will think he's a complete f*cking d*ck, but you'll need to watch it to see if you agree with this observation, or read up on his history, either or. Anyway back to the point Lin-Manuel Miranda gives a truly incredible performance and it's easy to see why he won countless awards for his performance in the role, as well as many more for his writing of it including the coveted Pulitzer Prize.
Something I liked: Everything... But if I had to choose just one thing it would have to be the songs. The combined length of the soundtrack is 2 hours and 22 minutes, those additional 8 minutes are not dialogue they're songs that aren't on the soundtrack because they're pretty huge spoilers for the show. You start with the song 'Alexander Hamilton' which much like the start of a Mission Impossible film it basically tells you everything that is about to happen during the play. You will then move into songs that have already become immortalised in theatre history such as My Shot, Story of Tonight, Wait for It, Room Where It Happened, Burn, Quiet Uptown, and the hilarious You'll Be Back. All of which are bound to get stuck in your head after watching it, just a word of warning for you there. The reason that Hamilton stands out amongst the sea of other musicals out there is purely because of the genre of music - it isn't like normally musical songs, in other musicals such as Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress or Phantom of the Opera they all sound like songs from musicals; Hamilton doesn't at least not in the same way. The song Guns and Ships really proves this point, there is a rap song performed by Daveed Diggs which contains one of the quickest raps in Broadway history with 6 words being said every second, and all whilst being performed in a French accent. Love song numbers such as Helpless and to a certain extent Satisfied wouldn't sound out of place on the radio alongside songs currently in the charts, no one would bat an eye lid, as well songs like What'd I Miss and Hurricane. Of course with anything there are also the slow, more poignant songs such as Dear Theodosia which I think will forever remain one of my favourite musical songs of all time, it is a truly beautiful song. The songs go beyond telling a story: Leslie Odom Jr. recently said in an interview that the song 'The Story of Tonight' was such a powerful and poignant song for him as a fan of theatre as he had never seen 4 men of colour on stage on stage performing a song about friendship and brotherhood. These songs mean so much more than telling a story, and that is why Hamilton is as perfect a musical as it is.
Fun Fact: The performance of Hamilton was actually filmed over three days. The first day was a Sunday with cameras in the audience to capture audience reactions, then they continued on both Sunday and Monday without audiences as this allowed them to get close up shots on stage as well as crane shots, then the Tuesday was another day with an audience. At the time of filming Jonathan Groff had left the role of King George III however Rory O'Malley agreed to allow Groff to return so the film could be with the original Broadway cast.
This movie is rated PG-13 in the US and 12 in the UK due to Infrequent strong language
Where to Watch: Disney+