Spring Break Highlights: Hamilton

While the world doesn’t really need another raving review of Hamilton…here is another raving review of Hamilton.

This past week I was fortunate enough to snag a seat to see Hamilton at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Going into the performance, all that I knew of this play was that everyone seemed to love it. Being my skeptical-self, I was prepared to walk out of the show thinking, “It was good, but not that good.” Boy, was I wrong.

The second that the play begins with the opening song, “Alexander Hamilton,” I could not keep my eyes off of the stage, or my foot from tapping along to the beat.  Every single song is irresistibly catchy from the first to last note.

Hamilton is Broadway meets Amway, in the sense that it has the storyline of a Broadway production, but the energy of the music makes it basically a concert. I vote for their next tour to be in general admission venues, so that we can all fist pump along to the cabinet battles.

On another note, each end of the emotional-spectrum is touched throughout the performance. From Alexander Hamilton’s sympathy-provoking backstory, to his outrageous rivalry with Aaron Burr, and the hilarious portrayal of King George as a bitter-ex of the United States, you’ll feel it all in this production.

The stagecraft was minimal, but anything beyond the plain wooden backdrop wasn’t necessary. The choreography and songs make up for any lack of ambience.

Beyond the technicalities, Hamilton is also a somewhat politically (or perhaps socially) charged piece. The multicultural cast acts as a sort of “screw you” to the original founding fathers. These men were undeniably, not only extremely white, but also extremely racist, and that is just another reason that this play triumphs.

Hamilton is a beautifully progressive representation of the infancy of America in both its casting and R&B based soundtrack and I can’t see another Broadway production meeting its booming success anytime soon.