Hamilton Review

Hamilton, performed on Broadway at Richard Rodgers Theatre and on West End at Victoria Palace Theatre, is a true story of American Founding Father: Alexander Hamilton. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (who originally played Alexander Hamilton on Broadway), this musical is a sung and rapped performance based off the 2004 biography 'Alexander Hamilton' by Ron Chernow.

The staging pleasantly surprised me: a wooden platform stood at the back and came round to the sides with the staircases leading down to the stage. A double revolving stage, with one rotating in one direction inside the other which rotated in the opposite direction, both going at different speeds at some points, fills the centre stage to create the illusion of somebody walking. This was used in 'Say No To This' as Maria walks opposing to the direction of the rotation as street lamps move past her, making it seem as though she is walking through a street which I thought was a fantastic way to make the audience engage with their imagination, forming an immersive performance. This was potentially my favourite staging design which was used when Angelica was leaving: Hamilton stood on the inside of the rotating stage as she stood on the outside, the two of them holding hands as she inevitably pulled away from him by the rotation in different directions. It was used again after Phillip's death as Eliza and Hamilton stood over his dead body and the stage circled them around to upstage; this was repeated after Hamilton's death as two ensemble members stood either side of him, miming the rowing of a boat as the outside revolving stage lead him away. The wooden materials used for the staging as a whole gave you a historical and period sensation, engaging you to the point where you feel like you are in that era!

I found the transitions between scenes very smooth and unnoticeable as props were wheeled on as if they were on tracks to set the scene; street lamps were used to show that we were outside, and then moved off stage as we entered a pub for 'My Shot' where tables and chairs are set out. Candles were wheeled onstage for 'Helpless' and 'Satisfied' but what I loved was when Angelica sings "rewind" and the revolving stage starts moving anti-clockwise as the candles are wheeled off stage and then back on again and the ensemble all move fluidly to their positions for the flashback to the Winter's Ball. Washington's office is set up downstage left for 'Meet Me Inside', as is Hamilton's centre stage for 'Take A Break'. Hamilton doesn't have an office set up in 'Non-Stop' but a few ensemble members hold up a wooden plank as Hamilton writes on it, creating the image of a desk.

Lighting was my favourite aspect of the whole show! With Hamilton, there are no limits as to how far lighting can go. My favourite use of lighting was in 'Wait For It' as it seems calm and quiet at first when all we hear is Burr singing but as soon as the beat kicks in and the chorus start backing, the lights flash on in a sudden burst, completely mesmerising me. Not only can lighting be useful for effect but apparently can also be used for comedy purposes; if there's one character I didn't expect to fall in love with, it was King George but something about seeing his character live earned my adoration. In 'What Comes Next', he is stood absorbed by a red spotlight that he somehow owns and on the line "I'm so blue", he pauses and looks up to the lighting crew, stamps his sceptre on the ground and the light quickly changes to a blue spotlight. I'm not too sure what made this so hilarious but it wasn't just me who laughed hysterically. In 'Yorktown', red lighting surrounds the ensemble, who are dancing behind Hamilton as he sings, then as the ensemble all snap forwards so they are beside Hamilton, the lighting snaps to white and then changes to blue as they surround Hamilton who stands centre stage, and then back to red as the battle progresses, constantly changing for the entirety of the song.

I am not lying when I say that the movement used throughout the performance was extraordinary. We'll start with the opening song: 'Alexander Hamilton', where an abundance of chorus movement bustled the stage, representing lines that were occasionally sung, for example, on the line "the cousin committed suicide", an ensemble member stood on a chair and mimes wrapping a rope around his neck. I don't know what made this so effective but even though the ensemble member tripped whilst getting on the chair in the performance I went to see, the speed in which he got on the chair was incredible; he made it in time for such a quick line despite almost missing it! Another example of my favourite movements was in 'Yorktown', as the ensemble danced ferociously, reflecting the battle whilst the main characters sang, the only ones who are stood stationary at their specific points onstage. As the battle ends, ensemble members thrust offstage, then slowly walk back on as the line "the world turned upside down" is repeated and they hold chairs and wooden boxes over their heads slowly in a circular motion. In the performance I saw, one of the dancers bent down close to the ground and in slow motion, moved a chair in a circular motion in front of her.

I have to be honest, I thought I would get confused with the amount of multi-rolling but the subtle changes in costume such as Lafayette letting his hair down when he became Thomas Jefferson allowed for a newly developed character to appear. Characterisation was perfected to the point where I genuinely believed I was in the presence of the Founding Fathers of America. Now, I won't lie. I had watched a few scenes of the original cast on YouTube and doubted that the cast I saw would be as good but I was wrong to even consider doubting the characterisation of the new cast because they were all amazing and I didn't even notice that it was a different cast once I became intrigued and mesmerised by the show. Saying that costume was amazing is an understatement; I have no words to describe how beautiful each character's costume was, each with their individual, unique styles whilst there being hardly any costume changes. The chorus wore white dance costumes that were hardly from the era but in actual fact, conformed perfectly. For Hamilton and Eliza's wedding, Eliza wore her distinctive blue dress but simply added a veil, and for the battle of Yorktown, each character wore a blue coat over their costumes.

Hamilton was truly everything I could have imagined and more; I cannot fathom how incredibly perfect it was. From listening to the soundtrack to seeing it live, I can honestly say you have not experienced the story of the Founding Fathers until you have seen Hamilton live!