Review: 'Hamilton'

 by Lorcan Bonser-Wilton

The view from my seat - not bad!

I finally saw Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical masterpiece Hamilton in London’s West End in February 2020, back when we could actually see theatre. Imagine!

I had received tickets for my birthday, and waited months in between receiving the tickets and actually being in the room where it happens! Other than that, I have listened to the original Broadway cast recording for over a year, and seen clips online, so I thought I knew exactly what the show would be like. However, down to the fact that the stagecraft was different to previously seen content, and obviously the voices were different, it was almost a culture shock from all of the previously known Broadway content.

However, this was not a bad thing. I personally preferred some of the different lighting choices and voices to the original. One thing that was not strange to me was David Korins’ tiered, revolving set, with two turntables. Other than their obvious theatrical purpose to move actors around the stage, to me they represented Hamilton’s constantly moving, changing life that never seemed to stop. As I previously mentioned, I loved the creative lighting choices, and as we were sat at the back in the middle, the spotlights were right behind us, adding an interesting, albeit a bit distracting element to the show, however, that was just due to where we were sat. The dancing patterns projected onto the stage and the above balcony added both drama to tense moments (such as during 'Alexander Hamilton') and more detail to outstanding musical numbers (such as The Election of 1800). The final piece of interesting stagecraft that was used with simple props that I thought also represented a lot more than just what they were. A symbolic prop that was often brought on and off, Hamilton’s desk, was always covered in work, reinforcing that he is always working and writing.

Now I’ll finally get on with talking about the main show. My favourite performances of the afternoon were Lafayette/Jefferson (Jason Pennycooke) and King George (Gavin Spokes). I had been very excited to see Jason, as he has won an Olivier for his performance, and he is the only member of the main London 2017 original cast who stayed on this year. I was not disappointed, and he completely deserved that award. Just the way he sang and his body language was hilarious, and had the audience in stitches during both his songs (including 'What’d I Miss?'), and in the Cabinet Battles. I personally love King George, his mannerisms on the cast recording, and his songs, particularly 'You’ll Be Back'. He was brilliant. Apart from his wicked laughs in his songs and great singing ability, he also looked on after his songs, as Hamilton’s life fell to pieces in Act 2, even making a cameo in 'The Reynolds Pamphlet', doing some rather questionable, odd dances!

Other than that, the supporting cast, including Aaron Burr (Simon-Anthony Rhoden) and George Washington (Trevor Dion Nicholas) both had very powerful singing voices for their respective songs. Hamilton (Karl Queensborough) was, again, a great singer, very emotional, and had great chemistry with Eliza (Sharon Rose). I was not the biggest fan of Eliza’s singing style, but I am sure she was an astounding singer to people who actually know anything about it! The other supporting mains, such as Angelica Schuyler (Allyson Ava-Brown), Hercules Mulligan/James Madison (Emile Ruddock) and John Laurens/Phillip Hamilton (Carl Spencer), lent excellent acting skills to a strong cast.

Speaking of the other cast members, the ensemble were outstanding, and constantly on stage, assisting with prop moving and taking many different loose character forms as each song required. The choreography was also astounding, and worked brilliantly with the innovative staging and set. This works particularly well in the two numbers I had high expectations for, 'Yorktown' and 'The Room Where It Happens'. They both smashed my expectations, with standout staging and dancing. It had a very powerful story that had me in tears by the end, and it blasted my sky-high expectations to infinity and beyond! Don’t throw away your shot! Go see it!