Review: Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London
How does one begin to describe Hamilton? A masterpiece? A cultural phenomenon? A redefining moment in musical theatre? It’s all of these things and so much more. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (also known for In the Heights), and based on the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Hamilton burst onto the theatre scene to near-universal acclaim in 2015.
This week, I enjoyed my second visit to “the room where it happens” in the West End.
The stage of Hamilton pre-show. Photo: mine.
What’s it about?
(Please note: review will contain plot spoilers.)
After a difficult start in life on the island of Nevis, the orphaned 19-year-old Alexander Hamilton arrives in New York City. Poor yet brilliant and astute, he enrols at Kings College and joins with John Laurens, Marquis de Lafeyette, and Hercules Mulligan to support the American War of Independence.
Encompassing Hamilton’s career as George Washington’s aide-de-camp and later the first Secretary of the Treasury, his marriage to Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler, his flirtatious and possibly romantic friendship with her sister Angelica, his years-long political rivalries with Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson, America’s first political sex scandal, and much more, Hamilton charts the extraordinary rise and fall of perhaps America’s least well-known founding father.
Any content notes?
There are gunshots at several points throughout the show, including three duels (shots are fired in all three, with someone injured in the first duel and someone killed in each of the other two.) These can be quite loud and can make you jump if you’re not expecting them.
There are battle scenes as part of the revolutionary war story, but they are not graphic and are mostly told through stylised movement, narration, and some sound effects.
There is a very brief reference to suicide in the first song, and a character makes a gesture implying hanging himself.
Parents losing a child, and the ensuing grief, is a major theme in Act 2 and is pretty upsetting to watch.
The song “Say No To This” includes some sexual references. There’s no nudity, but the staging and tones of voice used in the second half of this song are somewhat sexually suggestive. There are a couple of other very brief, non-explicit sexual references throughout the show.
Bad language is pretty moderate. “F*ck” is said twice and implied another couple of times (once bleeped out, once as a “fuuuuuu…” that tails off.) “Sh*t” is used a few times, as well as a few milder curse words peppered throughout.
Flashing and strobe-style lights are used in a few scenes.
Hamilton: My Review
“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore / Go on and on / Grow into more of a phenomenon?” asks Aaron Burr, our narrator of sorts, midway through Act 1. This extraordinary musical, like the man whose life it chronicles, has shot to stratospheric heights and just continues to grow.
Its success can be attributed to so many factors. The diverse casting, with people of colour in almost all of the leading roles, reflects "America then, as told by America now” (Miranda, 2015.) Marrying rap and hip-hop with more traditional musical theatre styles creates an entirely new sound unlike anything that has hit the stage before. It’s emotional, it’s political, it’s an epic story about a fascinating (and enigmatic, and divisive) man… and on top of all that, it’s just spectacularly entertaining.
Reuben Joseph as Alexander Hamilton with Waylon Jacobs (Lafayette/Jefferson), Jake Halsey-Jones (Laurens/Philip Hamilton) and Emile Ruddock (Mulligan/James Madison). Official production photo © Danny Kaan.
Hamilton is already wonderful when you just listen to the soundtrack. Miranda’s lyrics are rich with puns, double meanings, internal rhymes, and other wordplay to the point that you could probably listen 100 times and still pick up something new each time. (By the way: Hamilton has recently been translated into German and this NY Times article about the process is fascinating.) But to see it on stage is another experience entirely.
The performance, which runs for just under three hours including the interval, is almost relentlessly physical, with so many things going on at any given moment that it can be hard to know where to look. The choreography is spectacular, the company seamlessly slick and in-tune with one another. Two of my favourite full-company moments included the “rewind” sequence in the song “Satisfied”, in which everything spins backwards to take us back in Angelica’s memory to the moment she first met Alexander, and the paper-flinging chaos of “The Reynolds Pamphlet” as a motionless Alexander realises just how badly he’s screwed up this time.
Currently heading up the cast as Alexander Hamilton is Scottish actor Reuben Joseph. Joseph imbues Hamilton with a kind of nervous, relentless energy that is utterly compelling. On the night we attended, the role of Eliza Hamilton (usually played by Shan Ako) was covered by Maya Britto. Britto has a wonderful voice and brought just the right balance of vulnerability and badassery to A. Ham’s long-suffering yet endlessly loving wife.
(By the way: if you’d like to learn more about the real Eliza, check out episode 20 of my podcast, Women Vs Everything, where we tell her story.)
Reuben Joseph and the company of Hamilton. Official production photo © Danny Kaan.
Though every single member of the main cast was flawless. Simon-Anthony Rhoden is perfection as Aaron Burr, Hamilton’s long-time frenemy and ultimate demise. His “Wait For It”, a glimpse into the reserved and circumspect Burr’s true feelings, was one of the show’s finest moments. Joel Montague was nothing short of hysterical as King George III, part power-mad leader of a brutal empire and part petulant child. And Allyson Ava Brown is the perfect Angelica, who may have been Hamilton’s soulmate yet ultimately puts her love for her sister first.
The structure of Hamilton is simple: Act 1 charts Hamilton’s unlikely but unstoppable rise to power, and Act 2 follows the fall that follows when this Icarus has “flown too close to the sun”. This means that many of the most upbeat and energetic numbers, from the iconic “My Shot” to the self-explanatory “Non Stop”, appear in the show’s first half. Though more downbeat, Act 2 is no less gripping, and features some of the show’s finest songs including the heartbroken Eliza’s “Burn” and George Washington’s farewell song, “One Last Time” (performed with astonishing power and emotion by Trevor Dion Nicholas.)
Trevor Dion Nicholas as George Washington with some of the company of Hamilton. Official production photo © Johan Persson.
I don’t think Hamilton has a bad song in it. Even the more forgettable numbers (“Farmer Refuted,” anyone?) have some memorable lines. Many of the melodies are insanely catchy and might just be stuck in your head for days.
Hamilton is revolutionary. It smashes every expectation (yes, that was a lyrical reference.) It puts multiculturalism at its heart, it celebrates the achievements of immigrants (they get the job done!), and it challenges us to consider the ways in which history changes depending upon who is telling it.
If you’re still wondering whether Hamilton is worth its hype, it is. If you’re still wondering whether to see it, please just go yesterday. A show like this does not come around very often and it’s one of the most brilliant things I have ever seen on stage.
Where to get tickets
Hamilton in London is currently booking up to March 2023. Get your tickets from the official website or from reputable London theatre vendors.