The 11-time Tony Award-winning and historic rap musical “Hamilton” has made its return to the Chicagoland theaters after a three-year hiatus.
History has it’s eyes on you
Alexander Hamilton was a once-forgotten founding father of the United States of America. He was an orphaned immigrant from the British Islands who made his way to America in 1772 in search of a better life. He attended King’s College, now known as Columbia College, in New York City before he joined the American Revolutionary War. Hamilton made a lasting impression as a soldier. This led to General George Washington inviting him to become his lieutenant colonel. During the war in 1780, Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler, whom he later had eight children with.
After the war, Hamilton dedicated his life to politics. He wrote the Federalist Papers, which helped draft the Constitution. Additionally, Washington made Hamilton his first Secretary of Treasury during his presidency and he was the founder and chief creator of the American financial system. Hamilton formally left the cabinet after Washington’s presidential reign ended; however, he still remained a prominent political figure. Hamilton died in 1854 after losing a duel against his former friend and business partner, Aaron Burr.
Who tells your story?
After reading Ron Chernow’s biography on Hamilton, American songwriter and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda made the decision to use his story as inspiration for his next musical. Over a seven-year period (2008-2015), Miranda composed, wrote the lyrics to and created the concept and characters encapsulated in Hamilton. “Hamilton” went on to make its Broadway debut on August 6, 2015, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Miranda took on the titular character, while Leslie Odom Jr. stared as the villain, Aaron Burr. Other notable characters include Christopher Jackson as George Washington, Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton, Daveed Diggs took on the roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette, Renee Elise Goldsberry portrayed Angelica Schuyler and, finally, Johnathan Groff played the infamous King George III. Every member of the original cast had left the show by the end of 2016.
The cast of “Hamilton” in Chicago welcomes brand new and a few returning cast members to the stage. Despite being known for his work behind the screen, Pierre Jean Gonzales makes his Hamilton debut as the titular character. Formally an understudy for multiple characters on the show’s Broadway leg, Deon’te Goodman takes his first starring role as Burr. Marcus Choi returns to the stage for the first time since 2020 to portray Washington. Eliza Hamilton is played by Nikisha Williams, while former backup singer for Beyonce and Hamilton alum since 2019, Lencia Kebede, plays her sister Angelica. Jared Howelton is now on his fifth tour of “Hamilton”; however, this is his first time taking on the roles of Lafayette and Jefferson since he began this eight-year journey. Finally, Neil Haskell, another standby actor from the original cast, makes his main character debut as King George III.
Non-stop
The soundtrack consists of 46 songs, explicitly aligning one song for each year that Hamilton lived and one for after his death. As an opera, there are no speaking parts in this show, and the songs tie into each other to make one cohesive and never-ending musical performance. The music does all the talking for the characters, which makes for extremely wordy and long songs. However, they are so well-written and catchy that one has a difficult time getting bored while listening to the soundtrack. Most operas are in the classic Broadway show tunes style, but Miranda put a spin on his soundtrack that makes it fun to learn about history.
Each song in Hamilton fits into the rap, hip/hop or R&B musical genre, which is a stylistic choice scarcely found in musical theatre. There is an occasional ballad here and there, but the majority are high-energy and fast-paced songs. The most popular of which include “My Shot,” “Satisfied,” “Burn,” “Yorktown” and “You’ll Be Back.”
Some of the less recognizable songs that are worth a listen are “Say No to This,” “The Cabinet Battle #1 and #2,” “One Last Time” and “Wait for It.” The song “Guns and Ships” currently holds the record for the fastest song in Broadway history, with 6.3 words per second. The obscure yet masterful lyricism and composure led “Hamilton” to win Best Original Score at the Tony’s, along with a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Furthermore, fans and critics everywhere consider the soundtrack to be one of the best in musical theater history.
The room where it happens
The show is currently taking place at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in The Chicago Theatre District. Originally named The Oriental Theatre due to its Far East-inspired architecture, the building opened to the public in 1926. The theatre decor includes large mosaics, Buddhas and elephant sculptures and follows a red and gold color scheme aside from the natural stone sculptures. There are three floors to the building: the main floor, the lower balcony and the top balcony, each with respective lobbies. It became a part of Broadway In Chicago in 2000 and has been housing musicals ever since. It was renamed the James M. Nederlander Theatre in 2019 to honor the late founder of Broadway In Chicago.
The set design for “Hamilton” is minimalistic, unlike most Broadway shows out there. There is a brick backdrop that stays throughout the show and a wooden scaffolding around the back perimeter of the stage. Due to the amount of songs in the musical, there is no time for a scenic change. Furthermore, the only aspects of the set that move are the two staircases and the double turntables on the floor. It’s meant to resemble the framework of the country that the characters built. It looks like a construction site, because the United States was not complete at the time of these events. However, the set has a small alteration between the acts to show the evolution of America. The brick wall in the back has an extra eight feet added to it. Emmy winner and Tony nominee David Korins is responsible for designing and building the “Hamilton” set.
A winter’s ball
Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler is responsible for one of the 11 Tony Awards “Hamilton” won. His masterful craft physicalizes the words of the musical and analyzes the characters in a way that audiences may overlook. For instance, in every scene that revolves around Burr, the staging is linear. This is to express his lack of success and the roadblocks he faces. In contrast, Hamilton’s staging is circular to show his constant evolution and drive to be the best. Looking at the dance numbers in the show, Blankenbuehler chose a more contemporary style for them. There are a few hip-hop aspects to the dances to match the song’s energy, but the main focus is movement. The set doesn’t change at all, so it is the ensemble’s responsibility to change the scene through their movement. They often have chairs to literally set the scene before or during the dance numbers begin.
The most notable aspect of the choreography in “Hamilton” is “The Bullet.” Made famous by Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose, “The Bullet” represents death in the show. Anyone who dies appears next to this character in the scene before their death. In Philip Hamilton’s case, he actually flirts with death before he dies in a duel. The character not only foreshadows a death, but they physicalize the bullet that kills them. When a gun fires, “The Bullet” grabs the bullet and brings it to the person it was meant for. This isn’t just to have a literal representation of death. “The Bullet” is creating a calm before the storm. Whenever they grab a bullet, the scene continues in slow motion to allow the dying character to have their final thoughts. The audience is finally able to understand each character just before they die.
Satisfied
The entirety of this musical is astonishing. From the music to the choreography and everything in between, it is clear why “Hamilton” is a favorite in the theatre world. That being said, a few aspects stand out more than others.
Firstly, Gonzales gives Hamilton emotion. Miranda’s portrayal of the main character was equivalent to that of a wet blanket. He didn’t have a reaction to anything that happened around him. However, Gonzales changes the narrative and makes a point to express what Hamilton is going through. Instead of plainly reciting the words on a script, he emotes through his monologues. It is a breath of fresh air and makes the character more realistic and relatable.
Haskell as King George III is the definition of perfect casting. Any role that was originally Groff’s is a tough act to follow, but Haskell makes it his own in the best way. He hones in on the fact that his character is bipolar and uses this in his portrayal. It is perfect. With a character that only has nine minutes of stage time, he conveys so much in so little time. His scenes were some of the best of the night.
Say no to this
Despite how enjoyable this show is, there are some drawbacks to the Chicago revival. For instance, Howelton’s Lafayette is a tad lackluster. The character is eccentric and loud, and Howelton could have done so much more. He is still a fun character, but is missing that extra pizzazz. Also, his French accent is not the best and was hard to understand. Howelton needs to work on his enunciation. Another aspect that is not the best is Tyler Fauntleroy’s portrayal of a young Philip Hamilton. There is a scene where Philip shows his dad a poem he wrote for his ninth birthday, and Fauntleroy acts like he a four-year-old. He jumps up and down, shaking his arms around and talking like a baby. As a fan of the musical, it was just off-putting and disappointing. A nine-year-old doesn’t act like that.
What comes next?
The Chicago revival of Hamilton is playing at the James M. Nederlander Theatre until January 28, 2024. Tickets can be found here for any theatre or history fans out there.
Fans can also watch the original cast perform at the Richard Rogers Theatre on Disney+.
