Hamilton: A Musical Masterpiece

So, I saw Hamilton in the West End… I avoided the Hamil-hype for a long time because I knew that I’d get obsessed as soon as I sat and listened to it all. That is, until 2017 when I watched a full animatic of the show’s soundtrack and gave in to the phenomena that is ‘Hamilton’.

Okay, time for a short history lesson. The music of Hamilton first hit public recognition after the White House Poetry Jam in 2009, in which Lin-Manuel Miranda presented the song ‘Alexander Hamilton’ which he stated was from a hip-hop album he was creating, based on the life of America’s first Treasury Secretary. In 2012, 12 of the songs that Lin-Manuel had written for the album were performed as part of the Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. 3 years after this, Hamilton would open Off-Broadway at The Public Theater before making its way to the Richard Rogers Theater On-Broadway not long after.

It’s important to tell you about the cast first, since, in the West End version, there could be two shows in a row where the casts are totally different. We had a few understudies, swings etc. in the main roles. Our Angelica is normally a member of the ensemble, our Jefferson would normally be playing James Reynolds and we also got to see Aaron Lee Lambert’s first ever portrayal of George Washington. The standouts, for both myself and the person who accompanied me to watch this show, were Giles Terera as antagonist Aaron Burr and Waylon Jacobs as the ever-flamboyant Thomas Jefferson.

The reason we loved these two so much is because they were able to give so much more than what the soundtrack gives you. Giles has some incredible subtlety in his voice that contrasts quite heavily to Leslie Odom Jr’s original interpretation, you could see the characterisation behind every line spoken and every lyric sung. Jacobs, for lack of a better term, was hilarious. From his first entrance, he was riling up the audience and getting them to cheer for him. His lines during the cabinet battles were delivered with a snarky humour that forces you to love his character. I’m also going to address Lambert’s portrayal of Washington. He gives a large amount of gruff to the vocal portion of the role. His voice has a rough-around-the-edges quality that a man of war would have by this point in his life. However, when it is called for, his voice can sound tender and sincere. When we saw on the train ride home that it was his first time playing the General, we couldn’t believe how well he had done.

The final actor I am going to individually address (Bear in mind, everyone did a fantastic job) is Michael Jibson, who played the role of King George. This is a character I’ve loved since I first listened to Hamilton, since his introductory song is the first song from ‘Hamilton’ I listened to. Needless to say, my expectations were high, and Jibson delivered. From his first entrance, he oozes elegance as the mad King. He also gives you things you can’t get from the soundtrack. For example, during ‘You’ll Be Back’, King George sings the line “Forever and ever and ever”. In the soundtrack, the last note of that line is held for a decent amount of time. When we saw it live, Jibson held it for as long as humanly possible and it had me in stitches. During ‘What Comes Next?’ (The song George sings after the British surrender to the Americans at Yorktown), on the line “I’ve got a small query for you”, Jibson used his staff to gesture across the stalls, up to the grand circle, moving across again, and then finally gesturing to those in the royal circle. This was all contained within the word “you”. A lot of thought had clearly gone into how he would make this character his own, bringing a more realistic madness that could be seen at very specific moments in the show.

The choreography for this show is something you cannot believe when it unfolds before your eyes, and I’m not just referring to typical dance. Obviously, the numbers like ‘My Shot’ and ‘Washington on Your Side’, that use the ensemble for dance purposes, are executed flawlessly and everyone moves with exact precision. However, in parts of the show that don’t necessarily involve dance, but, let’s say, require the moving of props and scenery on or off of the stage without breaking the flow of the piece, the ensemble is used fantastically throughout every second of this production. When the revolving stage comes into use during the piece, this precision becomes even more apparent.

Now, there was one more element that made this the ultimate ‘Hamilton’ experience. We got a Burr’s Corner moment. For those who don’t know what that means, these moments refer to any point that a member of the cast messes up a line (look up the hashtag on Twitter, you’ll find a lot of funny accounts from cast members). Ours came from Waylon Jacobs during ‘Cabinet Battle #2’. Instead of saying “I know that Alexander Hamilton is here, and he would rather not have this debate. I’ll remind you that he is not Secretary of State!”, Jacobs said “I know that Alexander Hamilton is here, and he is not Secretary of State, I’ll remind you that he is not Secretary of State!”. This left several members of the audience in hysterics (Myself included) and it made the experience that much more amazing.

Obviously, the music was on point. So many people refer to this musical as “That musical that has rap music in it” but ‘Hamilton’ is so much more than that. It has deep and emotional songs like “It’s Quiet Uptown” and “That Would Be Enough”, more upbeat songs that still fit into the musical theatre category like “The Story of Tonight (Reprise)” and the aforementioned “You’ll Be Back”. This is the true mastery of the score of ‘Hamilton’. Granted, it heavily introduced hip-hop and rap to the musical theatre scene in a very major way, but it’s an amalgamation of so many different genres of music that fit together perfectly.

When you see the show, it’s easy to see why people love this musical so much. Everything about it is amazing. There are, obviously, so many elements that I could talk about but then I’d be spoiling those elements for those who want to see the show. Tickets can be on the expensive side but many of the seats available can be bought at very reasonable prices. Anyway, it’s worth it considering the show you get in return. In the meantime, if you haven’t listened to this musical all the way through yet, go and find the soundtrack on Spotify, Apple Music etc. (To be honest, I’m sure you can find it just about anywhere by this point).

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you all soon,

Jack