Deron Generally
Deron Generally
Hamilton
Disney Plus
Written by Lin Manuel Miranda
Directed by Thomas Kail
Starring Lin Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Chris Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Leslie Odom Jr, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos and Phillipa Soo
Rated PG-13
The real life of one of America’s foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Captured live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.
Disney Plus brings one of the most celebrated musicals in history to audiences that probably never got the chance to see it live on Broadway. Filmed with the original cast, Hamilton gives visual context to the songs you’ve been bopping around to for the last few years and allows you to see the story of Hamilton played out on stage with all the feel of being there in the Richard Rogers Theater.
The staging is awesome in its simplicity. There are no cumbersome sets to get in the way of the story and the way the ensemble stages each scene is as beautifully choreographed as the dance and musical numbers. The story and the music are the focus and rich characters keep your focus as they move from moment to moment. The viewer stages the environment in his or her mind and that is prevalent in small moments like “Your Obedient Servant” where the same table is used for both Hamilton and Burr to draft their letters to each other and the only change is in the chairs they each use.
The rest of the choreography is just as well done. “Satisfied” brilliantly rewinds the choreography and events from the previous number “Helpless” and changes their context and point of view to Angelica Schuyler. It’s pitch perfect in its execution and brought together with the powerful voice of Renee Elise Goldsberry.
The music is pure genius in theme and execution from the cast. From hip hop lyricism to R&B soulfulness, Miranda’s music soars visually and the actors bring emotion to those songs through the direction of Thomas Kail. His direction not only highlights the full visual appeal of the production, but also includes close ups of the actors that allow for the emotion of the songs to be seen. You can see the joy and playfulness of Diggs’ Thomas Jefferson during “What’d I Miss?” and the intensity of Jackson’s “One Last Time”.
The ladies of Hamilton provide some of the most touching and emotional musical moments from Phillipa Soo’s lilting and beautiful “That Would Be Enough” to the power anthem “The Schuyler Sisters”. Leslie Odom Jr’s Aaron Burr has some of the most amazing musical moments as well as the audience sees his inner conflicts play out in powerful numbers like “Wait For It” and “The Room Where It Happens”.
Hamilton lives up to the hype in every way and you can’t help but feel the emotion of the piece in every scene and through every song. Hopefully, this will be the start of more productions like this being filmed for those unable to afford the theater experience.
Hamilton
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