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Hamilton, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, was first performed in 2015 and has since skyrocketed to public acclaim. It now boasts international tours and even a filmed version on Disney+. 

The musical follows the life of ‘Founding Father’ Alexander Hamilton, from his migration to America, to his involvement in the American Revolutionary Wars, to his political career, and finally to his dramatic death at the hands of Aaron Burr. 

In my opinion, Hamilton is one of the greats of modern musicals. I have been lucky enough to see it on the West End – before that point, I had limited knowledge of the musical at all. Since then, the Hamilton soundtrack has never left my album rotation! So, what about Hamilton makes it so great?

Hamilton is not your average musical. The style largely features hip-hop and rap, churning through dense, contextual lyrics at an incredible pace. The strong, catchy lyrics are a huge success, and die-hard fans rejoice in attempting to recite all the lyrics. I particularly like the recurring melodic and lyrical motifs throughout the musical that link characters and events by theme. 

Miranda’s writing is complex because it shines a light not just on the eponymous Hamilton, but also on the surrounding characters. Aaron Burr is, in my opinion, one of the best characters in the musical. His motivations and frustrations are shared, and it is through him that the majority of the musical is narrated. One of my favourite songs is ‘Wait for It’, which explores his psychology and tracks through stages of “love”, “death”, and “life”. The original casting, Leslie Odom Jr, was incredible as Aaron Burr, and his strong characterisation allows the audience to sympathise with him, even though we know that in the end, it is him who murders Hamilton in a duel. The musical is as much about Burr as about Hamilton.

Another of my favourite characters is George Washington, originally played by Christopher Jackson. Washington has a tangible presence throughout the musical. Contextually, he was intrinsic to the success of the American Revolution as commander of the forces and eventually he became the first President of the United States. ‘One Last Time’ is my favourite song from the entire musical. It is a poignant song that focuses on the writing of Washington’s ‘Farewell Address’. Jackson’s performance of this song has some of the strongest vocals of the musical.

One of the main standouts of the musical is its approach to American history and politics. It tracks the American Revolutionary War (1775-83) that was fought between North American colonies and British forces, leading to American independence and the consequential formation of the United States of America. Alexander Hamilton was an often forgotten ‘Founding Father’, responsible for supporting the ratification of the constitution and serving as the first US secretary of the treasury. Hamilton honours his legacy, promoting a history that people are unlikely to have encountered before. It is an overwhelmingly patriotic musical, celebrating America’s independence and the greatness of the new society that they created. 

Hamilton cannot be separated from political discourse. With its messaging of revolution, it is no surprise that it has been adopted as a vehicle for protests; for instance, Miranda’s lyrics were quoted during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020. The relevance of the musical to modern issues was made clear when it was used as a vehicle to comment on Donald Trump’s administration. When Vice-President-Elect Mike Pence watched a production of Hamilton on Broadway in 2016, Brandon Victor Dixon, who played Aaron Burr, addressed Pence in a speech after the show, stating, “we are the diverse Americans who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us”. Trump (unsurprisingly) tweeted in response, calling for an apology, to which Dixon responded, “If people are coming to see Hamilton to leave their politics behind, you came to the wrong show.” 

Hamilton has provoked controversy over its subjective interpretation of American history, most notably its approach to the issue of slavery. The musical makes repeated references to the fight to end slavery, for instance John Laurens’s line in ‘My Shot’ – “But we’ll never be truly free/ Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me”. Laurens himself was an abolitionist who attempted to recruit enslaved people to fight in the Revolutionary War for their independence. These types of lines are often supported by the central characters. 

This is a point of contention because it seems to paint historical figures as supportive of this struggle, when in reality this was not generally the case. Hamilton makes references to freeing slaves, and yet he married into the Schuyler family, a family built on the wealth of slavery. Philip Schuyler (the Schuyler sisters’ father) was a notable US Senator and major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War – he was also a prominent slave owner. This led to his statue being removed from the front of Albany’s City Hall. By marrying into this family, Hamilton would obviously benefit from slave labour. 

Furthermore, by using blind casting, this complicates the often-blurry legacy of these historical figures. The historical characters in the musical were white and most had slaves at some point, so the blind casting approach, while important for on-stage representation, somewhat washes over their problematic legacy. Nevertheless, I believe this does not detract from the overwhelmingly positive approach to casting, which allows for a reclamation of American history. Characters are casted without regard to the race of the real historical figure, allowing for equal casting opportunities. Moreover, it importantly allows for representation, so that people attending the theatre can see people who look like them on stage. 

Hamilton manages to achieve two things: it is both a masterfully written, complex musical, and it functions as a powerful political statement on American politics in the past and present. I would encourage everyone to watch it.