Ever since I moved to New York in mid-2015, I had a goal: to watch Hamilton, the musical that even Obama had gone to see on Broadway. Since then, the musical only grew: it’s sold out until January 2017, won all possible awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 2016, and the cast even performed at the White House. This week, to cap off the season, it was nominated for 16 Tony Awards – a record. Not to mention, of course, the large number of positive reviews describing it as a “masterpiece” or “the best thing I’ve ever seen.”

Finally, I was able to see it last week and the question that crossed my mind in the minutes before it started was: is it really all that?

At the end of almost three hours of the musical, I realized that it is really very good, but it’s not the best thing I’ve ever seen… Before explaining why, it is necessary to briefly tell the story: it’s a biographical musical of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States based on the book “Alexander Hamilton” (2004), written by historian Ron Chernow.

The actor and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda liked the book so much that he decided to adapt it for the stage in an unusual way: a sung-through musical almost 3 hours long in hip-hop rhythm. Another detail: the cast is composed of minorities, so we see the Americans of the Eighteenth Century represented by African-American and Hispanic (which is good!). Surprisingly, however, no one cared about it, since the cast is so good that it makes no difference if the actors are similar or not to those depicted.

The story begins in 1776, with Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) joining those who wanted to fight against the United Kingdom for independence and it ends in 1800 with his death. The focus is, therefore, his contribution to the formation of the country: in the battlefield against Britain, later defending the Constitution, or as Secretary of the Treasury, responsible for creating the first bank in the US.

As expected, it is a musical closely linked to the US’ culture and history (no wonder the words “An American Musical” are after the title). Therefore, only will fully appreciate the musical those who meet certain requirements, in my opinion: (i) minimally know History, not only US’ but also Europe’s, (ii) have good understanding of English since (iii) the songs they are mostly sung in rap or hip-hop, i.e., at high speed, and (iv) like sung-through musicals (such as Les Misérables, for example), or be open-minded to all of these things.

Having said all that, we have a great musical, from the choreography to the cast, all excellent. Unfortunately, I could not see Jonathan Groff as King George III, but Rory O’Malley is sensational as the monarch. Indeed, he was my favorite character of the show, even getting less than 10 minutes on stage.

We also have Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom, Jr.), Hamilton’s “frienemy”, George Washington (Christopher Jackson), Thomas Jefferson (Daveed Diggs), James Madison (Okieriete Onaodowan), Eliza Schuyler Hamilton (Phillipa Soo), Hamilton’s wife, and Angelica Schuyler Church (Renee Elise Goldsberry), Eliza’s sister.

It is, indeed, unique and different. It certainly stands out among the other musical on Broadway just to use a very particular musical rhythm to tell an equally unusual and unexpected story.

In short, if you are in NY and can get tickets at a decent price, it’s worth watching this musical! Especially if you’re open to its aforementioned characteristics.

Related posts:

Crítica da Broadway: Hamilton Review: Moana (2016) Broadway Review: Dear Evan Hansen Broadway review: An American in Paris

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