Broadway is shut down until 2021 and we’re all navigating our way through the new normal during a global pandemic. Fireworks are exploding endlessly for what feels like a months time. Those fireworks continue shocking sleeping dogs and rattling neighborhoods beyond the 4th of July. Masked and peaceful protestors, calling for revolution and reform, fill the streets with Black Lives Matter signs while social media pages continue to keep the message alive globally.
It’s sort of the perfect moment for Disney+ to release the filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s retelling of Alexander Hamilton’s life and career. No Broadway, Independence Day Weekend and people across the world calling for a revolution.
While I wish I’d had the luxury of experiencing the production when it premiered on Broadway in 2015, I’m totally ok with the second best option. Watching it from the comfort of home on the sofa in pj’s with a bowl of popcorn and a bottle of wine.
The Tony Awarding winning musical premiering on Disney+, which chronicles the complicated life of Hamilton and his rise in American politics, snagged 11 Tony Awards in 2016. Among those awards were Best Musical, Best Choreography and Best Book of Musical. Why do I mention these you may be wondering. The production blends hip-hop, jazz and R&B to breathe life into what the official site describes as “The story of America then, told by America now.”
With a diverse cast of characters, ‘Hamilton’ is a bold and refreshing take on American history. With New York as a central character it feels truly organic to drive the narrative with rap vocals and hip-hop choreography.
The 2h 40m film opens with future political rival Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom Jr.) asking how an orphan from the Caribbean could make such an impact. This leads to us meeting a young Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) as he takes to the streets of New York calling for a revolution.
With laugh out loud moments from King George III (Jonathan Groff) to teary eyed turns from Philip Hamilton (Anthony Ramos) and Eliza Hamilton (Phillipa Soo), the journey is filled with outstanding performances from beginning to end. And though the story does not focus on the darkest side of American History, jabs are made at the politics of slavery and lack of attention given to women and black people. These messages are inserted throughout the production with one in particular from Angelica Schuyler (Renée Elise Goldsberry) who says ” We hold these trues to be self evident, that all men are created equal. And when I meet Thomas Jefferson I’mma compel him to include women in the sequel.”
Miranda based the story on Ron Cherow’s New York Times bestseller about Hamilton and has spoken very openly about taking some dramatic license with respect to the historical inaccuracies often called out by articles. While some focus on the details of the Schuyler sisters and their misquoted number of siblings, others note the lack of black historical figures highlighted throughout the production. And while it is often said that Hamilton did not agree with slavery, he did not seem to call for the abolition of it amongst his peers either.
Hamilton, as retold by Miranda, is story about revolution, politics and the fight to stamp legacy on history as it will be told. A movement we find ourselves living in now!
Hamilton aired on Disney+ July 3, 2020.
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