“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a w****/ and a scotsman dropped in the middle of forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished/ In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?” This is the question that takes two hours to answer in Hamilton: An American Musical. The narrator, Aaron Burr takes us through his frenemies life; up until his ultimate death in a duel. The musical is phenomenally written with various different motifs and hidden foreshadowing. Oskar Eustis, director New York’s Public Theater, says that the writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda is doing what “Shakespeare did with his history plays”. The rap and hip-hop music has captured millions. This makes it truly unique, diverging it from the typical broadway show.

It is common knowledge for Americans that Alexander Hamilton was one of our founding fathers. However, Eliza and Alexander’s lives are so complex, as if it was meant to be told for entertainment. The Hamilton’s life start when they meet during the revolution. The revolution is the central plot in Act I, while Act II gets more personal -- act II is a hurricane. In Act II, there are political disputes, Hamilton has an affair, he accidently indirectly kills his son, and dies all in the span of  the rollercoaster that only goes down that is Act II.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alexander Hamilton in the original cast and the playwright, beautifully tells the story. He keeps it historically accurate, save for a few minor changes for dramatic effect or to advance the plot. Some dates and order of events don’t match up perfectly, much to the annoyance of some. But, considering this story is meant for entertainment, these points are virtually invalid.  Miranda says he got the motivation for writing the play by picking up a biography of Hamilton’s life and deciding it would be a great musical. Critics often praise his rapping ability and scorn at his singing ability. It’s important to remember Miranda is not a professionally trained singer or actor. This results in ‘Hurricane’ and a few other lines that are actually sung by the character Hamilton to be rather poorly sung (by Broadway standards). This is what you’ll hear in the cast album, but not if you were to see it live, since Miranda is no longer playing Hamilton.

Despite poor singing talent, Lin-Manuel Miranda deserves the praise for the show. He wrote 46 songs for the show, while the average Broadway show has 20. The ‘show stoppers’ being ‘Wait For it’ and ‘Room Where it Happened’. ‘Wait For it’ is Aaron Burr’s song explaining his backstory and motivations. It’s a beautifully written song about life in general. The most profound line being “life doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints”. In the cast album is it sung by Leslie Odom Jr, who is spectacular as Aaron Burr. He won a Tony for this role. The other show stopper is ‘Room Where it Happened’, a song displaying the frustrations of Aaron Burr for being left out of political discussions while Hamilton rises to the top. It’s catchy, upbeat, and foreshadows future events. His desire for wanting to be “in the room where it happens” ends up being his motivation in act II. The lighting and choreography in this song is spectacular.

Want to see Hamilton? You’ll have to wait in line. Hamilton tickets are, on average, $800. There is a lottery with a $10 dollar entry fee. It’s titled ‘ham4ham’ because you’ll give a Hamilton to possibly see Hamilton. You can see the show in Chicago, New York, or soon to be, London. While it might be hard to see the show live, the cast album is available to listen to. If you’re not a person who can sit down and listen to something, but instead need a visual, many fans have created story-board style animations of the songs on YouTube. Hamilton is a show for everyone, no matter if they enjoy musicals or not.

“I have the honor to be your obedient servant”,
J. B.