By Jesslyn Soegito

Prior to the closure of Broadway performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton tickets retailed at approximately $400 while premiere seats were double the price. Inaccessible at large, the cost of tickets was an economic barrier for most of society, especially the student community. Imagine my surprise when Disney+ announced that it would make the filmed version of Hamilton available for streaming. While I have all sorts of complaints for Disney+, the inclusion of the Tony and Pulitzer award-winning musical isn’t one of them. Hamilton, which premiered in the last days of the Obama administration, quickly skyrocketed to commercial and critical success. It’s not hard to see why.

With a whopping runtime of 161 minutes, one might wonder how a musical, of all things, could hold your attention for so long. But Hamilton is, in a word, refreshing. A dramatic re-imagining of the life of the first US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, the Broadway show is a pastiche of colonial history and urban culture. With its songs boasting rapid fire, tongue-twisting raps and riffs, Hamilton repackages a history lesson in hip-hop form that is sure to entice adults and children alike. It’s both an innovative time capsule and an education on the titular founding father’s politics, as Hamilton seeks to challenge pre-existing cultures wrapped in humour across different styles of R&B and jazz.

If you’re like me and have listened to the soundtrack prior to seeing the show, you’ll know that there are more than a few expletives. To obtain a PG-13 rating befitting MPAA’s policies and Bob Iger’s behemoth of a company, Lin Manuel Miranda (the lyrical genius behind Hamilton) has allowed minimal changes to be made for censorship reasons. Otherwise, the footage of Hamilton you’ll see on Disney+ is a near exact replica of the original play, filmed at the Richard Rogers Theatre with every track included from the original 2016 line-up. It’s the closest most of us will come to watching the real thing, a miracle of what streaming platforms can democratise.

Of course, there are several trade-offs. For instance, the ambience of a full orchestra in a live theatre is inimitable, and while bright costumes such as the Schuyler sisters’ dresses are meant to signify which characters are which on a far-off stage, it makes for a viewing chock-full of colour coding that isn’t entirely necessary in the filmed version. However, what’s afforded by the camera work is truly an added benefit that a live experience would lack. From sweeping aerial views to close-up scrutiny of facial expressions that allows the acting to be communicated more profoundly than it ever could from a distance, Hamilton’s live capture presents more hits than misses. Viewers of the film are enabled to get up close and personal beyond the limits of even the most coveted seat in the Broadway run. What once might have been lost – the mad King George III (Jonathan Groff) visibly spitting the lyrics to “You’ll Be Back”, Angelica’s yearning (Renée Elise Goldsberry) or Hamilton’s tears (Miranda) as he shares an anguished, lovelorn moment with Eliza (Phillipa Soo) – is visible clear as day onscreen.

Hamilton’s production value and lyrical quality remains unquestionable, not to mention wholly unique in context by subverting the expectations of a traditional Broadway production, with well-rounded performances across the board (Daveed Diggs’ Lafayette and Jefferson deserves a special mention). Yet the implications of its content may have aged rather sensitively as of late. Recent times have seen American exceptionalism challenged by race relations hitting a nadir, largely accelerated by the unlawful shooting of George Floyd in Minneapolis this past June. In an age of protest against the relentless pattern of massacres, police brutality and injustice against minorities, how can one enjoy a story such as Hamilton, which documents the groundwork laid for these systems of power?

Released across the 4th of July weekend, the play retains significance in the face of the Black Lives Matter movement. The relevance of its dialogue to the current political moment prompts conversation on American idealism and what it means to be a patriot. It’s important to remember that Hamilton is a romanticised ode to the American origin story, rather than a strictly factual adaptation. Its characters are meant to be loose, sympathetic portrayals, and while the narrative sufficiently paints broad strokes of historical accuracy, the factual reality of the emotionally charged play is not entirely what you are led to believe. The founding fathers largely believed in the inherent superiority of the white race, and the Hamilton of history married into a family where he participated in the ownership and trade of slaves, despite of his personally-held beliefs.

Yet Hamilton pokes fun at colonialism, sings heartily about abolishing slavery, and expresses appreciation and empathy for the immigrant underclass’ contributions and struggles at the onset of the Revolutionary War. While one may choose to see the play for the idealistic, perhaps naive re-imagining it may be, one also cannot deny that it is a culturally resonant piece of art – a channel to provide hope, even with its key tenets filtered through the lens of a pathos driven, well-intentioned artist. Miranda’s vision fuses a love story, an ill-fated rivalry and a tale of self-reconciliation, and begs audiences to ask themselves – what will be the legacy they leave behind?

It’s a question that demands promise, change and commitment. A question Miranda has answered himself by promoting much needed diversity in musical theatre, and not just as a practice of tokenism. Rather, his deliberate choices in the casting of the show aim to spark recognition for the value and talent to be found in Black, Asian, and Latin communities, with the leading roles of the play almost entirely represented by people of colour. There’s never been a more racially diverse cast in a mainstream Broadway title. The implications of this makes a stimulating teaching aide for children, furthers respect for the immigrant populous, and prompts viewers to inspect the ramifications of history… all through rapping bureaucrats. If anything, Hamilton may inform impressionable youths of anti-racist sentiment better than most materials could in its opening sequence alone, reminding viewers of the harmful segregation and violence committed against people of colour and how one should strive to act.

While it may require a suspension of disbelief for those well versed in American history, Hamilton is an energetic spectacle entrenched in passion from start to finish. It hits the mark with its one in a million approach to classical Broadway; musically rich and wholly entertaining.

Hamilton is currently available for streaming on Disney+.