Hamilton is a cultural behemoth.
The Grammy, Olivier, Pulitzer and Tony Prize-winning musical about the life of US founding father Alexander Hamilton, the American Revolution and the development of the US Constitution is entrenched as one of the “great American musicals” less than a decade after its Off-Broadway debut in 2015.
At the opening night of its return to Australia, it’s easy to see why. This is big ticket musical theatre at its most colossal. It’s like a machine. It’s slick as all get-out and runs like clockwork. The all-singing, all-rapping, all-dancing cast are indefatigable, the staging is spectacular, the musicians in the pit are clearly very talented.
This second iteration of Hamilton in Australia comes hot on the heels of the original Australian production, which debuted at the Sydney Lyric in March 2021 and toured Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand through to June this year.
Among those bringing new blood to the show are Vidya Makan as Eliza Hamilton, Googoorewon Knox as George Washington, Gerard-Luke Malgas as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson and Etuate Lutui as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison.
The ensemble consists of mainly new faces.
Many familiar names are returning, however, including a good proportion of the cast. The original Alexander Hamilton (Jason Arrow) reprises the lead role, while Callan Purcell returns as Aaron Burr, Anika Edmonds is once again Angelica Schulyer, Elandrah Eramiha plays Peggy Schulyer/Maria Reynolds and Brent Hill comes back as King George.
Previous ensemble member Tainga Savage steps into a principal role as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.
Not all the returning elements of Hamilton are welcome, however.
Directed by Thomas Kail, it is – as expected – faithful to the original, meaning the mawkish and corny elements of the narrative (and there are many) remain unchanged.
The almost total lack of dialogue is problematic. Most of the “great American musicals”, if not musicals in general, contain considerable passages of dialogue. Hamilton, though, is relentless in its singing, dancing and rapping, robbing the production of the much-needed contrast between loud and quiet, fast and slow, light and shade.
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Such is the adulation attached to Hamilton that, arguably, an “Emperor’s new clothes” effect surrounds the musical, to the point where it is sacrilegious to point out such flaws.
Yet it’s also true that the good outweighs the downsides in Hamilton, which is laudable in many ways.
The leads in the production are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Persons of Colour) – an important mandate in a world where racial minorities have so often been excluded.
The entire cast is professionalism personified, and one marvels at their ability to sing, dance and act at such a high level for a sustained period.
The diverse array of hip-hop, rap and dance music dazzles, with musical director and conductor Michael Azzopardi reining Hamilton’s diverse soundtrack in to a tight, coherent whole, doing Lin-Manuel Miranda’s music and lyrics proud.
While there is nothing surprising here, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Hamilton 2.0 is exactly what one would expect: musical theatre at its apogee.
Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Presented by Michael Cassell Group
Sydney Lyric Theatre, Star City, Pyrmont NSW
Books, Music and Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Director: Thomas Kail
Producers: Jeffrey Sellers, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, The Public Theater
Choreographer: Andy Blankenbuehler
Orchestration: Alex Lacamoire
Author of the book Alexander Hamilton: Ron Chernow
Scenic Design: David Korins
Costume Design: Paul Tazewell
Lighting Design: Howell Binkley
Sound Design: Nevin Steinberg
Hair and Wig Design: Charles G Lapointe
Production Supervisor: J Phillip Bassett
Technical Direction: Clif Bothwell
Resident Director: Dean Drieberg
Musical Director/Conductor: Michael Azzopardi
Principal Cast: Jason Arrow, Anika Edmonds, Elandrah Eramiha, Brent Hill, Googoorewon Knox, Etuate Lutui, Vidya Makan, Gerard-Luke Malgas, Callan Purcell and Tainga Savage
Tickets from $70 to $350
Hamilton plays the Sydney Lyric Theatre until 5 January 2025.
