Hamilton: a revolution on stage?

Abstract

Hamilton opened at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre in March 2021 to sell-out theatres and the rave reviews to which creator Lin Manuel Miranda is accustomed. Miranda’s New York team was closely involved from afar in casting and establishing the Australian production and at the time of writing, the Lyric is the only theatre in the world staging the musical as the pandemic closes theatres worldwide. Lauded as ground-breaking and radical, Hamilton has leapt off the stage and become a cultural phenomenon. Such is its popularity, much of the audience arrives at the theatre with the lyrics memorised, having listened to the cast recording, watched ‘Ham4Ham’ snippets on YouTube or streamed the original Broadway production on Disneyþ. For those unfamiliar with Hamilton, I provide a spoiler-free synopsis here, followed by a reflection on what is and is not radical about the show. Alexander Hamilton was born in the 1750s on the Caribbean island of Nevis, then part of the British Empire. The show traces his arrival in pre-revolutionary New York as an ambitious young man (‘a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman’), his service in the American Revolution (‘I’m not throwing away my shot’) and his political career in the new republic (‘welcome to the present, we’re running a real nation’). Miranda depicts Hamilton’s intense relationships with family, friends and rivals plus a hint of scandal. All 2 hours and 45minutes of Hamilton are sung in a blend of hip hop, R&B, rap and traditional Broadway-style numbers. The worddense nature of hip hop and rap allow Miranda to narrate often-complicated episodes with ease – including an exhilarating rap cabinet debate. The exemplary sound design for the production allows the audience to comprehend all (or at least, most) of the 27,000þ words. Miranda was inspired by Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton. Chernow has high-level billing as a consultant on the show so one assumes Hamilton aligns with his account of the man. Miranda presents Hamilton as an ‘immigrant’ of boundless energy with immense determination to capitalise on opportunities and an impetuous streak. Chernow and Miranda’s Hamilton personifies the American Dream. In their telling, hard work alone begets success and immigrants work hardest of all. The repetition of the ‘immigrant’ theme is anachronistic. In moving from Nevis to New York, Hamilton was simply moving around the British world, as much an immigrant as every other white person. Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette’s shared line, ‘immigrants, we get the job done’ is a perennial audience favourite and says as much about America in 2015 as in 1776. The set, staging and choreography at the Lyric are identical to the Broadway production, as is the casting strategy. Hamilton has always featured non-white actors portraying the