Newcity Stage

Theater, Dance, Comedy and Performance in Chicago

“Hamilton” Still Brings Hope in America’s Age of Caligula The production moved its planned spring run to Chicago after Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center. It's a tonic in a troubled time.

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by Mary Wisniewski
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Actors in 18th-century costumes perform onstage; one group stands in a line with arms linked and legs raised, while two men in blue coats stand apart. Others watch from a wooden balcony above. The scene is dimly lit.

Broadway in Chicago’s “Hamilton”/Photo: Joan Marcus

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The MAGA takeover of Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center has been a travesty, but there’s a silver lining. The producers of “Hamilton” moved the musical’s planned spring run at the Center to Chicago’s CIBC Theatre. Lucky us.

It has been ten years since I saw “Hamilton” in Chicago, and while I loved it then, I worried that its luster may have dimmed over time. I feared that it might seem naïve and overly optimistic, now that the nation Hamilton helped to establish is becoming more like Rome under Caligula.

I was relieved to find the 2015 Lin-Manuel Miranda hit has aged beautifully. The tunes and lyrics are still witty and wonderful. The young cast is strong, with great dancing and choral work. And surprisingly, the show made me more hopeful about the country, in the year of its 250th anniversary.

As most theatergoers know by now, “Hamilton” is the musical biography of Alexander Hamilton—Revolutionary War hero, statesman, and handsome guy on the $10 bill. Based on the Ron Chernow biography, the show became one of the most successful hits in Broadway history—winning eleven Tony awards and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. With a score drawn from hip-hop, R&B, soul, pop and Broadway show tunes, the show shook the gilt and plaster dust off our revolutionary heroes and showed them as young, rash, scheming, argumentative and often wrong.

But the show wouldn’t be a classic if all it did was use modern music and a diverse cast to retell history. It transcends by turning the story of Hamilton’s life into one about life itself—it’s about love and death, ambition and prejudice, the joy and pain of parenthood, and how you change from youth to middle-age. It’s also a story about storytelling—the characters know that “history has its eyes” on them, and that they can’t control what is said about them when they’re gone.

A theater cast in historical costumes performs on stage with dramatic lighting, arms outstretched. Wooden scaffolding and brick walls form the set, resembling an 18th-century scene.

Broadway in Chicago’s “Hamilton”/Photo: Joan Marcus

Directed by Thomas Kail, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, the show stars Tyler Fauntleroy in the title role and Jimmie “JJ” Jeter as Hamilton’s rival and killer, Aaron Burr. Fauntleroy has a gorgeous voice and the right charisma and swagger for the brash “immigrant, orphan, son of a whore”—it’s fun to see him get right in George Washington’s face. He’s particularly effective in the sadder second act, as Hamilton learns that revolution was easier than governing, and living harder than dying.

As Burr, Jeter is appropriately upright, hesitant and almost mechanical in his motions, showing his reserve. It’s his story as much as Hamilton’s—he’s cautious and secretive about life and politics, while Hamilton charges forward, wearing his opinions on his sleeve. Jeter is good at the slow build. When he started the song “Wait For It,” he seemed too soft, but that just made his passionate crescendo in the song’s second half more effective. In the raucous “The Room Where It Happens,” Jeter shows Burr’s desperation to play a bigger part, circling the table to which he wasn’t invited like a lost soul.

As Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, Amanda Simone Lee was a little hard to understand in her early scenes, though her voice was always lovely. Perhaps this was a microphone problem—whatever it was, it was overcome. Her performance of “Burn” and “It’s Quiet Uptown” brought chills.

As Washington, Gary native A.D. Weaver is a big man with a big voice, bringing gravity and titanic force to “One Last Time.” Dealing with Washington’s willingness to step away from power, the song hit differently this time, now that it has become so tough to get old politicians off the public stage. The Hamilton/Lafayette line “Immigrants, we get the job done” also hit harder than it did ten years ago—the opening night audience whooped and cheered.

Nathan Haydel, who plays both soldier John Laurens and Hamilton’s son Philip, brought a sweet joy and vulnerability to both roles, adding unexpected depth. As the foppish King George III, Matt Bittner is both comically petulant and a little scary, like a malevolent Davy Jones. Lily Soto’s singing as Maria Reynolds is rich and deeply emotional, though I found her physical portrayal of Maria more needy than seductive. Playing the alpha Schuyler sister, Angelica, Marja Harmon delivered her rapid-fire lyrics with precision, pathos and intelligence.

This is a fine production of a real American masterpiece, and a tonic in a troubled time. The play more than holds up. It has become a classic, the greatest U.S. musical of the twenty-first century. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s time to open the piggy bank and catch it while you can. You can also try the digital lottery, which offers $10 tickets for every show. It’s worth a shot.

Broadway in Chicago presents “Hamilton” at CIBC Theatre through April 26. Tickets available here.