Impossible to overstate the case for Hamilton

I guess it’s impossible to over-state the case for Hamilton, and what a bargain to watch the original-cast film on DisneyPlus for just $7. All of the hype and anticipation is justified; this is just probably the greatest Broadway play of all time and the most exciting, imaginative, informative, and moving theatrical production most of us will ever see. Start w/ the sheer audacity and brilliance of telling the life story of the till-then little known “Founding Father,” Alexander Hamilton, known to most as the face on the $10 and as, yawn, the firsts secretary of the treasury (all chronicled in the source book by Ron Chernow) and to do the show in period dress but with multi-racial cast and scored almost entirely to a rap/hip–hop beat. The concept seems almost laughably impossible at first, but you’re brought into the show in the first 30 seconds, if you had any doubt. Huge props to creator/writer/director/co-producer/star Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose score/book is rich with imagery, surprising rhymes and riffs, totally engrossing from the first moments through to the mournful (and then uplifting) final moments. The songs are great, the choreography and staging likewise, and the plot surprisingly engrossing, as we get caught up on (and informed about) the life and times of prominent Americans during the Revolution and in the years toward the formation of the Constitution and the first presidencies. Sure, this could be boring and pedantic, but LMM makes the show lively, provocative, and always on edge – we’re brought into the historical realities, and then constantly reminded that this show, with Latino Hamilton and w/ Black actors as Washington, Jefferson, Lafayette, Burr, et al. is a re-imagining with messages for today about our multiracial society and its failure still to make good on the optimism and promises of the first heady days of revolution, independence, and self-governance. Do I have any quibbles? Yeah, I guess: Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, has a really sweet voice, but she’s too often overwhelmed by the lively orchestration. Otherwise, a totally captivating and enjoyable show, which most of us will want to see at least one more time before signing off from the weird DisneyPlus service (which, inexplicably, at the conclusion of the show but up a screen saying that “because you liked Hamilton” I would probably next want to watch The Sound of Music. Say, what?)