Hamilton Review | By: Jermayne Myrick

Written By: Jermayne Myrick | Designed By: Megan Marshall After five years of Broadway performances, Hamilton, an American musical, has launched on the Disney+ platform. Unlike any other Broadway musical, Hamilton keeps young Americans and students engaged through frequent and rapid changes in the energy of the pace, pitch, and tone of the music; the way it is either rapped, sung, or recited; and the intensity of dancing, physical emotions, lighting or even a spinning stage. Composer Lin-Manuel Miranda portrays the life of often-forgotten founding father Alexander Hamilton as a young, gritty immigrant who is eager to leave his stamp on history, while struggling to form a brotherhood with other founding fathers and people in power—which ultimately gets him shot and killed. In telling his story, Miranda was also accompanied by fellow actors Daveed Diggs (Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson), Jonathan Groff (King George), Christopher Jackson (George Washington), Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan/James Madison), Anthony Ramos (John Laurens/Philip Hamilton), and actresses Jasmine Cephas Jones (Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds), Phillipa Soo (Eliza Hamilton) and Renee Elise Goldberry (Angelica Schuyler). Since Hamilton’s Broadway premiere in 2015 at The Public Theatre in New York City, not one seat at the show has been left empty. Miranda was actually struggling to host the musical because the venue was not large enough to fit the amount of people who wanted tickets. In my opinion, Hamilton is a must-see production especially pertaining to the state of revolution that our country is in. With the Black Lives Matter protests going on, I believe that the Hamilton production will encourage young Americans to be pioneers of their own story, to take history into their own hands and to choose to stand together for something or fall divided, at least I hope. I identify as an African-American male and an avid listener and consumer of rap, hip-hop and R&B music. Hamilton piqued my curiosity in both the history of Alexander Hamilton, the production itself and its Hamilton relevance to America today. I believe that anyone who loves rap, hip-hop, American history, or has a burning desire to be involved in making America better will love this production. One of my favorite scenes was “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down).” The scene served as a feature introduction of the

Review first men who allied with Hamilton: Hercules Mulligan, an IrishAmerican tailor and Sons of Liberty Spy for George Washington during the American Revolutionary War; John Laurens, an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War best known for his criticism of slavery and his efforts to help recruit slaves to fight for their freedom as U.S. soldiers; and Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War and commanded American troops in several battles, including the Siege of Yorktown. The aggressive rap lyrics and intense music helped to create a high-paced action scene that grouped these men as revolutionary war heroes. My favorite part of this scene was the feature introduction of Hercules Mulligan (Okieriete Onaodowan), the most physically massive of the war heroes. Although profane, his aggressive lyrics—accompanied by his emphatic energy, and that of the music—painted Hercules Mulligan as a very rugged man. The toughness and determination displayed by Onaodowan in this piece is a completely generic experience, and it conveys, to a great extent, the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda to intentionally make the lyrics and the music to allow Onaodowan to portray a white Sons of Liberty Spy as such a ferocious Black male. This is the brilliance of Hamilton to be able to display a look of America then, told by America now, that is very empowering for Black people and America as a nation. Until this day, America has been a country divided, missing the mark on how to include minorities and people of color into American history and society, but Hamilton the musical has been opening viewer’s eyes to the fact that “history has its eyes on you,” and each of us can be a part of making America a better place if we all stand for the cause. Tickets to see Hamilton ranged from $89 to $399, but with its recent launch on Disney+, the production can be seen for a monthly subscription fee of $6.99. Since the musical was made more affordable and accessible on Disney+, many more people will have the opportunity to experience the greatness of the musical from the comfort of their own homes. While it may not be as luxurious as going to a live show in New York City, watching Hamilton on Disney+ is very entertaining, and people basically get a frontrow ticket. After viewing, viewers will have the opportunity to be a chief constituent of who lives, who dies, and who tells their story.