HAMILTON

HAMILTON is a filmed recording of the musical performed at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City. The film was edited together from footage of three complete performances filmed in June 2016. The production is based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which was inspired by the biography Alexander Hamilton written by Ron Chernow and first published in 2004.

Alexander Hamilton was one of the seven Founding Fathers of the United States, a group of political leaders who united the colonies and fought against Great Britain to win independence. The seven Founding Fathers were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton, who became the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.

Lin-Manuel Miranda composed all the music and lyrics for HAMILTON and starred as Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Kail, who directed the original Broadway musical and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, also directed this film version.

Hamilton received outstanding reviews from its debut at the Public Theater, Off-Broadway on 17 February 2015. The show then moved to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway on 6 August 2015, where it continued to receive tremendous acclaim. Advance ticket sales were phenomenal, generating over $30 million in presale revenue before the show even officially opened. Audiences had to wait more than 11 months to see Hamilton.

Tickets ranged from $179 to $849 for those who could purchase them through official channels. Resale tickets for premium seats on major ticketing websites were priced from $1,254 up to $3,650.

On 12 June 2016, Hamilton received 16 Tony Award nominations and won 11 awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. The musical also won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

In November 2016, Hamilton made history by becoming the first Broadway show ever to earn $3.3 million in just eight performances in a single week.

Hamilton was originally scheduled for theatrical release on 15 October 2021. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walt Disney Pictures decided to release it on Disney+ on 3 July 2020.

What makes this musical special is its use of hip hop to drive the narrative, seamlessly blended with other musical genres including R&B, pop, soul, and traditional show tunes. Additionally, the production made the deliberate choice not to cast white actors as the Founding Fathers and other significant historical figures.

While watching the musical on television may not capture the same atmosphere as seeing it live in the theater, the Disney+ version features the original cast that many people missed the chance to see, and includes camera angles that wouldn’t be possible in a live theater setting.

There are extreme close-ups where you can see beads of sweat and saliva spraying, making viewers feel even closer to the performers than they would be sitting in an actual theater.

The audio recording is exceptionally clear, capturing even the audience’s laughter and applause, making it feel like you’re actually sitting in the theater. Everything is perfectly controlled, without the usual distractions of people talking, screaming, or coughing that you’d encounter in a normal theater experience.

I absolutely love King George III in this version (played by Jonathan Groff). Personally, I don’t think anyone else could possess such a unique charm to make this role so endearing while singing it so beautifully. Jonathan Groff was perfect for this part.