REVIEW: Hamilton Takes Boston by Storm – A Revolutionary Musical Experience

The world sensation musical Hamilton has landed in Boston, bringing its fun blend of hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway to the Citizens Opera House. Hamilton has been shocking its audiences with its beautiful performance, showcasing the life and legacy of American founding father Alexander Hamilton.

The Story Behind the Musical

Hamilton tells the story of Alexander Hamilton’s journey from being a young immigrant to becoming a key figure in America’s history. With its diverse cast and modern take on historical events, Hamilton has become a cultural phenomenon, resonating with audiences worldwide. According to Samba TV in 2020, 2.86 million households streamed Hamilton within its first two weeks on Disney+. The musical features book, music, and direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, musical supervision and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda – the man who made it happen.

Set

The set for this musical was absolutely stunning. It looked like an exact replica of the original stage and I was extremely impressed. This production had the part of the stage that came out and was moved to the center for Hamilton to run up later in the musical. I was more shocked when I saw that they had the rotating circle in the center of the stage. Those who have seen the original know exactly what I’m talking about here — it plays a very crucial role in the original that adds a bunch of suspense and character to the musical. Without it, Hamilton wouldn’t have been as great but Broadway in Boston’s production was able to make the rotating circle and it will definitely pay off. I was overall very impressed with the attention to detail here, from the rotating stage to the moveable stair case, to even the doors that were all so similar to the original and made me feel like I was watching the original.

Dance

While walking into the performance, I believed Hamilton was going to be a basic reenactment that would have nothing on the original. I was proven incredibly wrong…

To start off, I want to say that The Ensemble was absolutely captivating, and, dare I say, better than the original. I could feel the passion radiating off them. I could feel how ardent they were, especially trying not to do the original wrong in any way shape or form. They were so cohesive and yet different. It’s almost like by watching them I could see who they were as people and how they were all different people who had the same goal.

Vocals

The vocals were absolutely beautiful, they had me so captivated, and three people really did stand out to me; Burr (Deon’te Goodman), Angelica (Marja Harmon), and Hamilton (Tyler Fauntleroy). For those who have watched Hamilton, you know a good portion of the songs are group-sung so you don’t really get to hear specific vocals and know their true potential. However, these three had a few solo’s in some songs that had me genuinely questioning if they were better than the original.

First was Angelica, especially in “Satisfied.” In this song, Harmon’s Angelica had lots of passion and had more power in her song — it sounded like she was proving she deserved to have that role. Contrasted to the original “Satisfied,” Angelica sounds more like she is having a regular conversation. Now, I don’t think this was better than the original but I do think this is a very good reenactment.

Second was Burr; he did so well in so many of his scenes. He had a lot of solos, so I’m not surprised he did well but he did extremely well. In the song “Wait For It,” he honestly did better than the original. He had so much passion. When the beat dropped, he seemed to have much more anger in his voice. The song was first about Burr but he later turns it about Hamilton, showing his ever-burning jealousy for Hamilton, and Burr showed that very well in a way that was better than the original.

Last of my favorites for vocals is Hamilton (Tyler Fauntleroy), this Hamilton has a softer voice than the original. While he did very well, I don’t think I can say hands down that he was better than the original. However, with his softer voice, it was very different and refreshing to hear. In the original, you can hear how his voice is deeper and more solid which comes with age. However, Fauntleroy’s Hamilton has a voice which connects to his younger age which pairs very well with the character, especially for younger Hamilton’s songs like “My Shot.”

Acting

Well, yes, musicals are mainly comprised of music and songs, it is also equally as important that you are a good actor or else it won’t look good on stage. There were many people who were such great actors and really fit the role they were tested for which made this production 10 times better. First, I want to start off with reiterating that The Ensemble was absolutely amazing — they’re dancing? Beautiful. Now, for acting, I want to say my top favorites were John Laurens/Philip Hamilton (Nathan Haydel), the King (Matt Bittner), and Eliza (Lauren Mariasoosay). 

It was something about seeing Haydel’s Philip/Laurens being played on stage that was so youthful and perfect for the character. Laurens was the person of the friend group who was always the most immature and childlike in a good way. Seeing this person play them really did emphasize that childlike behavior and in a way and made me like Laurens so much more. Later, Alexander’s son Philip is played by the same person and he found a way to play Philip perfectly, honestly better than the original. He had so much youth and energy to him that made him really jump off the stage and especially during the scene where Philip was speaking rhymes to his father and his mother; it was absolutely an amazing scene, and I think they definitely did the original good.

The next character I want to point out is King George III. I believe Bittner’s King was played way better than the original. The point of the King in the musical is to be this snarky/controlling/variety character and while the original played it very well, I think this production did it way better. There were so many scenes where during the song where there was a pause or break the King made a face and it was absolute comedy.

Lastly, there is Eliza. Now I don’t think Mariasoosay’s vocals are better than the original. However, I think her vocals were amazing. I don’t think the scenes where Eliza was breaking down after her son died were as good as the original as well; but, I will say in the song “Burn,” Eliza was portrayed as more angry inside which was really refreshing to see, especially because in the original, she’s sad she’s hurt and betrayed. In this version, it showed that while yes she was sad and hurt, she was angry, which was different to see and it was pleasant to hear as well. It allowed for me as a listener to realize that there’s more than one perspective to the scene. The scene doesn’t need to be one way; there’s many ways to act it and it really does give the watchers something new to look at, especially if they are people who have seen the original before.