Hamilton

{I wrote this after I saw the Off-Broadway production of Hamilton in previews at the Public Theater. The rest, as they say, is history.}

Aaron Burr Jr, whose father was the President of The College of New Jersey now known as Princeton University, is buried along with his father in Princeton Cemetery. A few blocks down from the cemetery, the street it faces changes its name from Wiggins to Hamilton Avenue. The street is only called Wiggins for a few blocks by the cemetery. It is as if Hamilton is forever shadowing Burr. Hamilton lost his life, Burr his reputation because of a duel over honor and jealousy. On Friday, February 13, 2013 I went to see Hamilton at the Newman Theater at the Public. Billed as a hip hop musical about the life of the victim of the famous duel, Alexander Hamilton. I expected a paean to Alexander Hamilton and I was prepared to be unimpressed with the gimmick of rapping Founding Fathers. I was wrong on both counts. The story is as much about Burr’s humanity and strengths as Hamilton’s. And though the Founding Fathers in fact do rap in this production, it is infused with so much passion and artistry that it works beautifully.

The play starts with a song of the synopsis of Alexander Hamilton’s early years in the West Indies. He is an illegitimate son of a planter, his mother dies when he is ten, and he goes to live with a cousin who three years later kills himself. He works for a trader as an apprentice bookkeeper and is so smart and ambitious; the locals raise money for him to go to Manhattan to be educated. Hamilton the play is also about the promise of New York City and the immigrant experience of being able to remake yourself in a new land. Hamilton the man goes to King’s College and sings about not wasting his shot at making good. Many of the songs have the word “shot” in various definitions. Hamilton has a shot at success, people take shots at others reputations, Hamilton and his friends drink shots together in celebration, George Washington takes a liking to Hamilton and gives him a shot at being his right hand man. The word runs through the entire play.

Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Hamilton, he also wrote the book and the songs. He based it on the biography by Ron Chernow. I have read the Chernow book. For all its history, the book is a great read filled with the synchronicity which is so much a part of every life. Burr and Hamilton were very much in the same circles and crossed paths many time. Miranda gets the spirit of the book right. He fills the stage with facts and history without being pedantic or trite. Characters such as George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, and Thomas Jefferson become three-dimensional characters who do and say historic things but with a hip hop verve. The energy of the American Revolution is captured with a staccato beat and becomes real. Young men straining at the bit to get into the action are realized by an urban and modern sensibility.

The whole production is like a giant whirligig moving in precision. The set by David Korins looks like a two story wharf made of rough-hewn wood. It has a balcony that overhangs the sides and back of the stage. It is hung with ropes and pulleys and has gangplanks and stairs the actors use to go up and down the wraparound balcony. The stage has a turntable within a turntable that keeps the scene changes fluid and lets the non-stop action fit on the small stage. The choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler is both imaginative and an integral part of the storytelling. The direction by Thomas Kail fills the stage as if it is a Revolution Era market day. The play is constantly moving and everything is sung, there is very little dialogue. Kail’s direction makes even the seemingly boring act of writing of the Federalist Papers full of action and exciting to watch . This all works brilliantly with the story of Hamilton, the man who worked and wrote “Non-Stop”, the finale song of Act One.

Lin-Manuel Miranda not only wrote the book, music and lyrics, he also plays Hamilton from his youth to his death at 49. Miranda is enormously talented but I felt his acting was not as strong as the other actors. He seemed too old to play the younger Hamilton surrounded by the younger cast members. In Act Two, as Hamilton faces scandal and tragedy, Miranda portrayed the older Hamilton with much more depth. The cast was young and spirited. They give a reckless dimensionality to young Revolutionary figures that is often missing from historical productions. Most of the actors do double duty, playing different characters in Act One and Act Two. One standout Daveed Diggs is Lafayette in Act One and Thomas Jefferson in Act Two. He is extremely charismatic yet very different in both roles. Seeing a black man play slaveholding Jefferson made me gleeful to think what the actual Thomas Jefferson would think. Jasmine Cephas Jones plays the youngest Schuyler sister, awkward Peggy, and was unrecognizable to me as the seductive Maria Reynolds in Act Two until I checked the Playbill to see who played the two parts. The versatility of all the actors is remarkable in this production which spans over 30 years in time. One exception to the double duty role playing is Brian d’Arcy James as a scene-stealing George III who sings the hilarious “You’ll Be Back” to his wayward colony as if to a wayward lover. Another exception is Leslie Odom as Aaron Burr. Shadowing Hamilton throughout his life, Burr is also the narrator of the action. He is a smooth, privileged operator in contrast to Hamilton’s brashness. Burr is not inclined to the strong opinions of Hamilton. He would rather not make his feeling known and instead coast along with however the wind will blow. That is until Act Two, when Hamilton and Jefferson are negotiating the whole structure of what the fledgling country’s government will become. In what is a Dr. Faustus moment, Burr realizes he is not included in the “Room Where It Happens” and his ambition is ignited to dangerous result. Odom’s thrilling to watch as Burr starts to realize he is not a part of the power structure and will do anything to be in that room. His performance in this one song in particular was thrilling and in general was captivating. I found myself looking for him in every scene. The beauty of the production though is Burr is not a one-dimensional villain. He is many times a friend to Hamilton, he is a loving father, and a voice of reason when passions run too high. His ambition, jealousy, and sense of wounded honor lead to the famous duel.

While Hamilton has been called groundbreaking due to its multicultural casting and use of hip hop music, it is so much more that that, it is great theater.