What is there to say about Hamilton that hasn’t already been said? The hip-hop musical (although it might more accurately be deemed an opera) is a pop-culture phenomenon, breaking barriers and setting records at a breakneck pace that leaves few other examples with which to compare it.
Composer, writer, and star Lin-Manuel Miranda’s magnum opus Hamilton greatly influenced the MacArthur Foundation’s decision to bestow one of their “genius grants” upon Miranda. The Hamilton cast album, recorded with the aid of the Roots, debuted as a no. 1 cast album, no. 3 rap album, and no. 9 top current album. The musical has been ruling the Broadway box office, taking in as much as $1.8 million some weeks, and for the first time, the Grammys had a live broadcast from New York City during the ceremony, as the Hamilton cast performed the opening number, “Alexander Hamilton” (later that night, Hamilton also won a Grammy). The musical has transcended the somewhat closed Broadway community to become a cultural marvel, as its stars frequent the late show circuit and hardly a week goes by without a high-profile article showering critical praise on the show or noting the charitable efforts of Miranda.
All of this success initially seemed improbable; the musical, which chronicles the life of Alexander Hamilton as he rose through the military, established the U.S.’s financial system, and fought with the other Founding Fathers, fuses the distant past of the American Revolution with the vibrant music of modern America. Jefferson and Hamilton rap battle over states’ rights. There’s a tribute to Destiny’s Child. It gets wild.
However, the hip-hop influences enable the music to fully convey the fervor of the revolution and the excitement of the new nation, through explosive sound effects (and obscenities). Moreover, hip hop is conducted much more quickly than musicals usually are. This allows Hamilton, which clocks in at around 20,000 words, to proceed in two and a half hours. If the musical were performed at the speed of other Broadway musicals, it could take as long as eight hours.
Contemporary music helps tie the past to the present, but progressive casting decisions have also allowed Hamilton to stand out from the crowd and capture the frenetic energy that America has always had, as a nation formed primarily out of immigrants. The only major character played by a white person is King George III; the rest of the main cast is extremely ethnically varied. As the question of diversity becomes more pressing in the entertainment industry, it is thrilling to see a production that so highly values representation, and that can partially thank such diversity for its success.
Although the album comes close to replicating the magic of the show, nothing can quite match a live performance at the Richard Rogers Theater, not least because one never knows who else might be in the theater. I, along with Kanye West, Kim K., and Paul Giamatti, was lucky enough to see the February 12 performance and has described it to anyone who would listen as “the best three hours of my life.” Hamilton’s cast has an incredible rapport and familiarity with the music, which allows them to ad-lib during the tightly plotted first act and have some fun during the dark second act. Ultimately, while the foundations laid by Miranda’s writing, the excellent choreography, and the thrilling lighting design have contributed greatly to the show’s success, it is Hamilton’s cast, with its stunning, emotionally vibrant, immensely current performances, that have guaranteed the musical’s legacy.