Hamilton

This recording of the original Broadway production of the Hamilton stage musical isn’t quite the same as being in the room where it happens, but it’s certainly the next best thing.

Premise:  The story of Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda), an intelligent but impetuous orphan immigrant from the Caribbean who arrived in New York in 1776, grew to become a key figure in the American War of Independence, and was eventually one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Review:

It’s not an understatement to say that the Hamilton stage musical, which premiered Off-Broadway in 2015, has become a cultural phenomenon.  It broke Broadway box-office records, received universal critical acclaim, won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and received a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations (and won 11 awards, including Best Musical) – and that’s not even mentioning the cultural impact that the musical (which cast non-white actors as famous American historical figures, and melded hip-hop, rap and R&B musical styles with traditional musical show-tunes) has had across the globe.

As such, I’m not here to review the musical itself – there are already countless reviews out there of the stage production, and the overwhelming consensus is that Hamilton is a must-see masterpiece.  Instead, my review is focused purely on the 2020 “film” release, which is essentially an edited version of live recordings taken from the original Broadway production in 2016.  I have seen plenty of lacklustre recordings of great live stage shows before, which simply alternate between long-shots and zoomed in close-ups, and which fail to capture any of the energy or magic that you’d experience if you were actually there in the theatre.  Thankfully, this recording of the stage production is one of, if not the best live recording of a stage musical that I have seen.

“…the movement of the camera, actors & stage gives the film an engaging kinetic energy…”

The film is made up from recordings from three separate performances from June 2016, plus some additional shots that were captured at the time without an audience present.  That said, the editing is so completely seamless, you will genuinely believe that you are watching one uninterrupted recorded performance.  But there’s so much more to the film than just its seamless editing – director Thomas Kail (who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Hamilton) keeps the camera constantly moving, using a combination of Steadicam, crane and dolly shots, so that the image is never just a static frame of stationary actors delivering lines.  The movement of the camera, working in unison with the movement of the actors (who barely stay still themselves) and the movement of the rotating stage itself, gives the film an engaging kinetic energy that is so often missing from “live recording.

Obviously, as great as this recording is, it never quite manages to capture the same electricity that you’d feel if you were watching the performance live.  But that said, there are other elements that offer benefits you’d never get from watching the stage production from the “cheap seats” – for example, in the powerful, intimate moments the camera can get right up close to the actors, so that you can see the pain and resentment behind Aaron Burr’s (Leslie Odom Jr) eyes, or you can see the foaming spittle on the ranting lips of King George III (Jonathan Groff).

“…feels like you’re seeing one of the best stage musicals of our lifetime being performed by one of the best casts…”

Which brings me to the next benefit of the watching the film over seeing the musical on stage, and that’s that you’re unlikely to ever be able to see the original Broadway cast perform together on stage again.  Lin-Manuel Miranda not only wrote all of the music and lyrics for Hamilton (which is an amazing accomplishment, as the lyrics are some of the most intelligent you’re likely to hear, and Lin-Manuel Miranda is an incredible wordsmith), but he also stars as Alexander Hamilton – so future historians may liken this to seeing Shakespeare in Shakespeare.  But beside him, the rest of the original Broadway cast is also fantastic, especially Leslie Odom Jr as friend-turned-rival Aaron Burr, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, and Daveed Diggs in his dual (nearly show-stealing) roles as Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson.  There is a feeling throughout the film that you are seeing one of the best stage musicals of our lifetime being performed by one of the best casts.

Much will and has been written about the cultural and historical significance of the Hamilton stage production; but for the purposes of my review of the film, know this – this recording is so faithful at capturing the energy, creativity and excitement of the production, it sets a new benchmark for live theatre recordings.  If you’ve seen the stage production already, this film will no doubt be a welcome dose of nostalgia – but if (like me) you never got the chance to see the show live on stage, this is one hell of a consolation prize.