‘Hamilton’: Reviewing a Flawless Stage Performance
Conclusion
Hamilton tells an exaggerated version of a true story. There is a lot to learn about American history and the events that transpired after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
However, it’s a piece of historical fiction, with fourth wall breaks and anachronisms aplenty.
There is a tendency to romanticize the titular man more than some would like, but it’s not half as egregious as it was with PT Barnum in The Greatest Showman, for example. Miranda portrays Alexander as a flawed, arrogant, intelligent person.
The show leaps from event to event, war to scandal, birth to death. Fitting as much as possible into the runtime wasn’t an easy task. Miranda and company did an excellent job, but the show is brisk, never really lingering in one moment of time for any extended period.
The sheer volume of information being fed to the audience might be overwhelming to someone not completely versed in the cast recording before watching.
With all that said, the magnitude and scale of a production like Hamilton makes for essential viewing. There’s always something to enjoy.
Hamilton was relevant in 2015, it’s relevant now, and it will be relevant for years to come.
In the final line of the show, the cast ask “who lives, who dies, who tells your story”. Watching this production, it’s hard to imagine one’s story being told quite so proficiently as this.
