The Theatre: Her Majesty's Theatre, Exhibition Street
Stars: 5
It started out as a fraught Wednesday. Doctors appointments to be arranged, work to do, you name it, it had to be done.
Then the message came through. "Want a ticket to Hamilton? I have two spares due to the 'spicy flu'. Let me know."
As somebody known to go to the opening of an envelope, and after a rather shitty few weeks at work and the knowledge that I was seeing the surgeon about having my gall bladder yanked that afternoon, it sounded like a good thing to me. Besides, a free theatre ticket (okay, it will cost me a nice lunch sometime down the track. Kitt didn't want the tickets to go to waste) So, of course I arranged for my downstairs neighbour to feed the cat, and I stayed in town to find some dinner, and then go meet Kitt and her friends.
And very pleased that I went along. I also wasn't expecting excellent centre Dress Circle seats. I think I owe Kitt two lunches.
Anyway, this is phenomenal.
Even going in blind and knowing little about the show.
I've had friends rave about the brilliance of Lin Manuel Miranda and Hamilton in the past, but chose to not watch the Broadway version that's on Disney Plus.
But I loved every minute of this. Every, freaking, minute.
There's so much to like about this.
The story is unexpected in many ways, telling of the often forgotten forefather, Alexander Hamilton, who was the illegitimate son of a prostitute who rose to become one of the most powerful and influential men in America. The musical gives a potted history of his life as he rises up the ranks, marries, sets up the American Treasury, has a fall from grace and eventually dies.
The music is a blend of R&B, hip hop, jazz and Broadway. The full orchestra are just amazing. The dance numbers are beyond compare.
For somebody who's not normally a lover of musicals, this one is very smart, great fun and just plain, good entertainment. The dancers are mesmerising - their skill and athleticism second to none. Of the cast, a wonderful mix of ethnicities, there were a few standouts, but they were all EXCELLENT.
The Australian company is led by Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton, Chloé Zuel as Eliza Hamilton, Lyndon Watts as Aaron Burr, Akina Edmonds as Angelica Schuyler, Matu Ngaropoas George Washington, Victory Ndukwe as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson, Shaka Cook as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison, Marty Alix as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton, Elandrah Eramiha as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, and Brent Hill as King George III.
For me, my favourite, apart from Hamilton and the odious Nathan Burr, was King George III, who's wonderfully campy and just great fun stole my heart. I've had his signature song out of my head all day, driving my workmates mad.
What I wasn't expecting was that this is not only entertaining, but incredibly intelligent musical theatre. Not only is this very funny in places, it has a huge heart. The songs are wordy. A friend said that he'd watched this on Disney Plus with the subtitles on to get the best out of the story. I don't think you'd need to, but I know I'd get a bit from a second viewing via the streaming service.
You could say I'm raving about this because I got a free ticket. I'm not. I'd happily pay top dollar to see this again.
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