Hamilton

HAMILTON THE MUSICAL

After being lucky enough to have the Hamilton cast come to the college to do a Q&A with us and the level 3's, we were even luckier to get front row tickets to see the show and have a further Q&A on November 6th. This was a really exciting opportunity for us all and the performance was inexplicably more amazing then I could have imagined, not only did they put on a world class performance - but I also left feeling like I had gained so much personally and from the view of a performing arts student.

Hamilton is a musical inspired by one of Americas greatest founding fathers - immigrant Alexander Hamilton. It is told in just two acts and tells the remarkable story of Hamilton and his journey from the bottom to becoming George Washington's right hand man and the personal and political problems that he had to overcome. 

Lin-Manuel Miranda is the playwright who after reading Hamilton's biography could see that there was potential to create a musical. So, he started working on it and in 2009 was invited to perform a different piece at the Whitehorse. However, he decided to perform a song from his creation ' The Hamilton Mix tape ' which is now the opening number for ' Hamilton ' .

It took a while to cast and build the London show to what it is now, Rachelle Ann Go who plays Eliza Hamilton and Curtis Angus who is pat of the ensemble had to audition several times. Casting - especially for such a big production like Hamilton can be a long process especially as it is being performed across the world so they explained that It can be hard to get all of the relevant people in the same room at the same time.  It took both of them over sixteen months before they finally found out whether they had been given their role and thankfully their patience and persistence paid off.

They began rehearsing in October 2017 and they all had to work really hard to put the show together. This involved rehearsing for eight hours a day and spending two weeks learning the music and vocal scores. Hamilton uses a mixture of hip hop and classical ballads to tell the story of Hamilton's life in a way that is different to any other play which makes it more appealing to a wider audience range - influenced by Lin - Manuel's musical upbringing.  

The costumes for Hamilton were designed by Paul Tazewell , whose job it was to design costumes that would help tell the story visually. the first thing that he had to decide with the creative team was whether they would stick to creating costumes identical to the time period - as the American revolution  is a well known time so accuracy was important or whether they would try to modernise the costumes. in order to make this decision, he collected images of high society 18th century people and forefathers as well as a range of contemporary images from the time and made a decision to combine the two to create costumes that had the important eighteenth century feel but with modern elements.


There where also a surprising amount of skill and effort that is required to be part of a production this scale, this includes:

• Remembering lines / lyrics
• stage directions/ cues and dance routines with the right Laban movement (characteristics of movements)and energy behind it 
• Time management and organisational skills - you cannot be late to rehearsals or performances
• the ability to work with a range of people, some you may not like - as your ability to work well with others and network is key In the industry 
• leading a disciplined life style - what you do outside of work may effect your ability or energy in tomorrows rehearsal/ performance.
• awareness of what is going on in the stage space - you need to be aware of what is happening on stage so you can react accordingly
• Not corpsing and being able to stay in character through out - all parts of the stage are visible and even if you are not  centre stage or the spotlight is not on you , you can be seen! an example of this is when Giles Terara ( who plays Mr Burr ) had a runny nose on stage, but  had to be particular and in character in the way he pulled out a tissue and wiped his nose. 

 My review of the show

If I'm being honest, I wasn't particularly looking forward to going to see Hamilton because I felt like it was going to be boring seeing as its set during the American revolution. However, from the moment the opening number ' Hamilton ' began, I knew that I was going to in for a real treat and pleasantly surprised. The opening song is a fast paced and energy filled song that outlines Hamilton's early life and gives you a hint as to what is to come, this was a brilliant way to grab the audiences attention and immediately changes your expectation of a boring historical play.

The performance was made even better by the brilliant actors who performed in the show. They were all so talented and professional. I was amazed by the concentration and dedication they had put into their performance. Also, I was very impressed by the rest of the ensemble because even when they weren't directly on stage they would still enter and exit the stage in character.

I was even more impressed by the set design and costumes for the show. As well as the acting needing to be brilliant, I think it is really important that the visuals match the energy of the performers and I think that was definitely achieved. They did an amazing job at making the stage look realistic and the costumes really conveyed the historical period the play is set in. 

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this play and I felt very happy and grateful that college had given us this opportunity so go and see it. It was very inspiring for me to watch and I felt very privileged to be able to have a Q&A with the actors again afterwards. There was so much to learn and take from watching Hamilton and even more after being able to chat with the cast. This was definitely one of the most amazing and memorable shows I have seen and I would recommend it to anyone.