Review: Hamilton at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Birdy and friends headed to the Edinburgh Festival Theatre to Hamilton, a booked over a year in advance, which meant she’d had to wait for it wait for it WAIT FOR IT… and it was 100% worth it.

Hamilton is one of my favourite musicals, but before tonight, I had never once seen it performed live. Being a big fan of the Disney+ recorded version, and a regular listener of the soundtrack, I was so ready for this show!

One of the most successful musicals of our time, a historic retelling of one of the founding fathers of the United States of America – but still not entirely without its issues as some friends have pointed out – I didn’t know what to expect from a different cast, but it didn’t matter. This is HAMILTON.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Did I mention I love Hamilton?)

The vibe

I found myself in the room where it happens, and I got so very excited when I saw the familiar Hamilton rotating stage setup – it was starting to feel real, many people around me were excited, and for me the vibe was instantly set!

It also helped that we happened to be seated in the front row of the dress circle, with some of the best views in the house (big props to Jackie for taking care of that side of things).

Let’s take a second to look at this lovely promo video that’s been provided for us; this should give you a bit of a better idea when it comes to setting the scene.

A lot of Hamilton‘s vibe is down to the pure musical genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda, and this Hamilton show was no different to any other.

Many people in the audience have seen this show multiple times already, including the crowd I was there with. They know all the songs, they know all their favourite moments, so OF COURSE this show was going to give them everything they needed.

From the first line, the audience is captivated first by the music, the actors revolving around the stage – each with their own place, their own moves in perfect harmony with each other. (NOTE: Upon leaving at the end of the performance, I heard an audience member behind me point out the numbers on the stage – and their friend complaining that they’d spoiled the magic).

To be honest, this was the least I expected of a Hamilton show… let’s just say we all got what we wanted and we wanted what we got. But anyway, it’s 1776 in New York City, and having learned a bit more about Alexander and are just being introduced to some of the main players… Show time, show time!

The performance

I wasn’t let down in the slightest by the performances of this incredibly powerful cast – despite having learned afterwards that the Alexander Hamilton we saw tonight was actually down as ‘Alternate Alexander Hamilton‘ played by Jonathan Hermosa-Lopez, rather than Shaq Taylor.

I would never have been able to tell, as Hermosa-Lopez did such an incredible job as Hamilton and shone alongside the likes of Sam Oladeinde‘s Aaron Burr, Maya Britto‘s Eliza Hamilton, Aisha Jawando‘s Angelica, Daniel Boys as King George, and Billy Nevers in the double role of Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson.

One thing I really liked about this show was seeing the actors’ slightly different spins on some of the lines, the different intonations, the extra bits of movement they added to their lines – they really all found ways of making the roles their own, and I appreciated that.

The female cast members all gave incredibly powerful performances, with the two moments standing out to me most being Jawando’s Satisfied, and Britto’s Burn.

The second half of Hamilton is always quite difficult to watch, but seeing the events happening live on stage added an extra rawness I really wasn’t ready for. Britto’s piercing scream in particular really got to me, and that type of reaction is something I consider to be the mark of great theatre.

Of course, there was also the comic relief element courtesy of King George, and Boys did a fantastic job of filling Jonathan Groff‘s boots, turning out to be every bit the King George we needed and deserved – with some extra added pauses for effect and anticipation.

Nevers as Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson was one of my favourites of the night, because he brought the thunder in both roles, but especially as the vivacious Jefferson in his purple velvet coat. (I heard each Jefferson gets to choose their own tailoring elements, I wonder if that’s true)

Also, kudos to the ensemble cast who kept things ticking over smoothly and did some beautiful background work – the show simply wouldn’t be the same without them.

Overall

This was a really fabulous production of Hamilton, and as my first time seeing the musical live, unforgettable. What an experience! I would happily go back and watch this cast again.

Let’s just say that unlike Angelica, I was more than satisfied by the outcome of this show, and everyone went home happy. Standing ovations all round!

The Festival Theatre proved to be a great location to see the show (although I knew it would be), and I’ll probably be back for many more shows in future.