[Review] Hamilton (6/10)

Title - Hamilton
Studio - RadicalMedia
Starring - Lin Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan
Writer - Lin-Manuel Miranda
Director - Thomas Kail
Release - 3 July 2020

So guess what doesn't live up to its hype?

Out of all the stage musicals I've seen, I have to say, Hamilton has the weakest story after Cats (and Cats never had one to begin with).

First off, the production itself was unimpressive. It's just a barren stage with steps going up to a platform that spanned across the whole stage. The only other thing that would be brought in was a third set of steps that connected to the middle-back of the stage. Plus the revolving floors. It's not an expensive production. Nothing wrong with that, I just thought it had something more.

Second, I was always baffled when dancers came in out of context from the story that the actors were telling. It felt like scenes from the TV series Glee where out of nowhere musicians and dancers and instruments would pop out and take you out of reality.

And the biggest mistake Miranda made was not to linger on the big, emotional stuff. There was a scene when Leslie Odom Jr., who was perfect from his acting to singing, started a song about his son, and Miranda's character joined him in this beautiful duet; only to be cut short suddenly as they transitioned to a next scene.

And avoiding spoilers as much as I can, when one major character died, there was no emotional weight because the scene was again cut short abruptly. It's as if Miranda was deliberately avoiding any weighty and emotional pull that would bring tears to the audience.

Hamilton made a lot of mistakes in this story, amidst all his good, but with the big mistakes, there was never any consequences shown; and as an audience, I just could not get behind his character because I was not able to emphatize with him - making the whole viewing experience disconnected.

And for Renee Elise Goldsberry's character to keep praising her love for her sister, and to keep singing about her sister's kindness; while betraying her over and over without consequences again, was baffling. What was the point of that subplot?

The only saving grace for the whole thing were the songs. Miranda gave every number a fresh take, melodies that you don't usually hear on the musical stage and yet they fit into the story.

And then there's Jonathan Groff, who was criminally underused. He came out on stage less than five times I believe, and sang 3 times but the same song, just a little different each time. However, every time he came out to sing, he was gold.

All the leads were actually were a great watch. They made all the other shortcomings tolerable.