Up to this point, most people know what Hamilton the musical is about. And most people who are interested in the musical would have seen it, especially if you already have Disney+.
I was curious about Hamilton since its debut and made wave on Broadway. I couldn’t quite figure how it could work with rap songs on the history of the founding of America. But yet after I saw the Tony Awards show, it felt that how come it worked? Maybe just for the numbers I saw that night, as they would have put out the best numbers. Then came Jonathan Groff’s You’ll be Back burning the viral video scene and I was truly intrigued.
As such when tickets were on sale, I was first in line with my friend. Not to mention, as soon as I got Disney+, I watched Hamilton on stream to get myself familiar with it.
Yet nothing prepared you for the live experience as an audience member in the theatre.
The Australian cast was nothing but highly energetic and impactful. You know what numbers are coming, you know the story back to front, yet they managed to engaged you throughout the whole performance with that extremely high level of energy and commitment. Now that’s something you really have to experience first-hand to feel it.
The leading cast with Jason Arrow, Lyndon Watts, Chloé Zuel, Akina Edmonds, Matu Ngaropo, Victory Ndukwe etc. brought those characters to life, and certain numbers that they delivered were just nothing but impressive. From the light hearted and fun Schuyler Sisters to that heart wrenching Burn, the range this cast displayed in their solo and ensemble numbers were just pieces of solid gold following each other. Among them one of my most anticipated numbers were Akina Edmonds’ Satisfied, as I always wanted to see how they could do that live on stage, and the end result, was just jaw dropping – with that precise mirroring of the steps and movements from the previous numbers to the natural flow of narrative through a rewind of memory. Everything seemed to be flawlessly and meticulously planned.
For the ensemble, they demonstrated how versatile they are and how they truly became part of the American history as the story moved forward. The live scene and stage changes as the plot moves on (again, Satisfied is a must see number live on stage) together with all the different roles they inhabited according to the needs of the story, they delivered a highly choreographed ensemble that was switched on completely throughout the almost 3 hour run of the show. They may be wearing plain coloured costumed throughout most of the show, but they were definitely not invisible, and I think that is the ingenious part of the staging of this show. It is about a few characters but also about the flow of American history. That zoom in and zoom out effect without the need of actually zooming in and out using lenses is what is so unique about this musical.
As for the songs, I don’t think I would need to elaborate on it anymore as most people will know them by heart right now. Although despite being professionally trained during my high school years, rapping is never, and most probably will never be, my forté, I could still follow the rhythm without being able to sing a long, and for the non-rapping numbers that I like, I was able to sing-a-long in my head as I watched the cast performing on stage. I am sure everyone has their favorites but some of mine were the opening number that sets the scene, then I have My Shot, The Schuyler Sisters, You’ll be Back, Helpless, Satisfied, Burn, It’s Quiet Uptown etc. As you can see, it is a lot. And to be honest you don’t always have a musical production that have memorable songs that spread evenly over the whole run, especially in the second half, when audience attention could easily falter with any missteps.
The other thing that I really appreciate with Hamilton, the original or the Australian cast, is the diversity in casting. Being a Chinese Australian actor in the Australian industry for so long, I was really glad and happy that a major musical telling an American founding history could have such a diverse cast on stage, playing different important roles. The imagination they allowed for this musical to live and breath on the stage was truly inspiring and something I really hope that would set off further diversity casting fires in the coming years.
America has come a long way, so has Hamilton the musical, but for the time being, I prefer to bury myself in the fantastical musical world of Hamilton.
