Guns, ships, and hip hop? “Hamilton, an American musical” is a diverse story about founding father, Alexander Hamilton. The musical is unlike many debuted before. It’s one of passion, war, and rap cabinet battles. “Hamilton” is a stellar show, and if given the opportunity, it is a must see for this century.
Inspired by a biography of Alexander Hamilton, Lin Manuel Miranda began writing the musical when he was on break from his other show he wrote, “In the Heights”. Initially, Miranda was asked to perform a piece from “In the Heights” at the White House in 2009. Instead, he decided to debut “Alexander Hamilton” to the Obamas. He spent the next year on “My Shot”, another staple addition to the 46 song show.
The show is on its first national tour and is showing at the Buell Theater until April 1. The story begins with Hamilton (Austin Scott) arriving in New York City talking about ‘not throwing away his shot’. He speaks to his idol, Aaron Burr (Nicholas Christopher) about his ideas for a new form of American government. We are introduced to many other acquaintances of Hamilton and Burr, including Lafayette, Mulligan, and Laurens.They continuously make comments to Hamilton about his journey and process.
A unique aspect of the show is the lack of cast. Many of the main characters (besides the ensemble) are a different person in the second act. Because they were not part of that history, they can eliminate a character from the first act and introduce them in the second. For example, the actor who played Hercules Mulligan in the first act is James Madison in the second act. There is no real dialogue outside of the music, which makes it a phenomenal art piece.
Although it is a show one should not go through life without seeing, getting tickets is a long shot. “Hamilton” came out in 2015 and has been in high viewing demand ever since. According to Harvard Business Review, the average price of a resale ticket to see the show is $1,000. The “Hamilton” cast announced their national tour and that there would be certain steps to get tickets. For shows at the Buell, there was an online waiting room on the day they went on sale. According to 9News Denver, there was upwards of 100,000 people in the online waiting room. People were assigned a random number and if it got to your number, you would have a short time to obtain your limit of four tickets. Somehow, we got tickets for March 7. The tickets were $165 each, for two upper balcony seats.
Anticipated for months, I expected the seats to be poor quality and thought I would need binoculars. To my surprise, the view was not half bad. In fact, it was phenomenal to be able to see a view of the whole intricacy of the stage.The sound was wonderful and all the words were clearly heard. Besides the fact that the actors’ faces were not clear, I would still recommend these seats simply based on their price and availability.
The show is a little bit scandalous. From sexual innuendos and vulgar rap battles, to cheating, “Hamilton” has it all. At least, has it all for those 13 and up. There are many F-bombs and it is not a show for those who are sensitive to crude humor and violence. Besides this, “Hamilton” is a fantastic show. Rightly so, “Hamilton” won 11 Tony Awards in 2016. Try your luck in the “Hamilton” lottery until March 31 to see it before it leaves Denver!
Jennah Klein, Staff Reporter
