Alexander Hamilton's story, it turns out, is the story of New Yorkers.
The founding father was an immigrant, an orphan and poor — he took a ship from the West Indies to New York City and rose to become our country's first Treasury Secretary (money! finance!) through his own brazen intelligence, ambition and chutzpah...plus a little help from his mentor and friend George Washington.
Hamilton was involved in the country's first sex scandal. He founded our financial system and established a national bank. And he died in a duel.
Writer and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who won a Tony Award for "In the Heights," took Hamilton's biography and turned it into a blazing show, with all the brashness and audacity of the man and his city. The actors all wear knickers or bustles, but the energy is raw and contemporary. Dancers are constantly in the background of scenes, bringing the thrumming feel of the street to monologues. The music and attitude are both hiphop infused; when Thomas Jefferson (a spicy Daveed Diggs) drops the mic, we're reminded he was a celebrity of his day.
One of the most brilliant of Miranda and director Thomas Kail's decisions was the casting of actors of many races, reflecting Miranda's own neighborhood of Washington Heights. This helps turn what could have been a parchment-pale story into a roaring musical reminder that the American Revolution belongs to all of us, of whatever race or nationality.
The show opens with a four-minute rap song that not only catches us up on Hamilton's background, but lays down character traits that will later drive his life.
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NOTHIN
LEFT TO DO
FOR SOMEONE LESS ASTUTE
HE WOULDA BEEN DEAD OR DESTITUTE
WITHOUT A CENT OR RESTITUTION
STARTED WORKIN--CLERKIN FOR
HIS LATE MOTHER'S LANDLORD
TRADIN SUGAR CANE AND RUM
AND ALL THE THINGS HE CAN'T AFFORD
SCAMMIN’ FOR EVERY BOOK HE
CAN GET HIS HANDS ON
PLANNIN’ FOR THE FUTURE SEE
HIM NOW AS HE STANDS ON
THE BOW OF A SHIP HEADED FOR A NEW LAND
IN NEW YORK YOU CAN BE A NEW MAN.
From there, we learn about the rivalry between Hamilton — impetuous, openly passionate — and Aaron Burr, who kept his opinions close until he figured out which way the wind blew. Miranda himself plays the itchy, always-on-the-go Hamilton; Leslie Odom, Jr. makes the often-overlooked Burr into his complex rival, a rival who is continuously frustrated by the easy way Hamilton seems to rise, thanks to Hamilton's powerful friends.
And then there are the women, particularly the moving Phillipa Soo as Hamilton's wife, Eliza. She survives their stormy public story with dignity, and one of her songs, about how history depends on the teller, is the show's beating heart. In the popular understanding, New York is often clipped from the story of the American Revolution — just like the role of women, immigrants and African Americans are often downplayed. But here, the story is told through new eyes, with a new lens. It is a reminder that we are living in the middle of history ourselves; and that we can all create it.
Miranda's performance at the White House, below.