Hamilton
Year: 2020
Rating: PG-13
Length: 160 minutes / 2.67 hours
I’ll admit I’m late to the game on this musical. Luckily, Disney+ helped give me the option of seeing this modern masterpiece. Granted, I know it’s not the same experience as seeing it in the theatre (aside from the modifications to allow it on Disney+), but I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it nonetheless. While Hamilton (2020) is not the first musical about the early United States I’ve heard, it certainly taught me way more about this time period than I had previously thought possible.
A word to the wise: be prepared for almost three hours of fast-talking politicians. Subtitles might help, but it’s awe-inspiring to hear these rhymes fly through the air at a frenetic pace. I was a little exhausted after I finished watching this since I felt it crammed a six-hour history lecture into less than half the time. It helped that the artistic license Lin-Manuel Miranda had with the material made for some catchy songs and entertaining characters (my personal favorites were King George (Jonathan Groff) and Thomas Jefferson (Daveed Diggs)). Not every song was memorable—which is to be expected—but maybe it might have solved this issue if it was structured closer to a traditional musical instead of an opera.
While most people find the acting and songs to be the best part of this musical, I was more impressed by the set design and lighting. For a minimalist production, the crew maximized the use of the rotating stage to create a space that felt larger than it was. Having performed in amateur theater before, I can attest to the immense challenges of such an endeavor—despite how simple they might seem at first glance. Overall, though, Hamilton is the whole musical package conveniently available through modern streaming.
A dense musical that deserves its place in the pop culture zeitgeist, I give Hamilton 4.0 stars out of 5.
