April 12, 2017 was one of the best days of my life. On this glorious, glorious day, I had the honor to see a Chicago performance of Hamilton: the Musical.
Let me tell you, it was the coolest experience of my life. I was buzzing the entire time, and it took a lot not to freak out while I was sitting in my seat (though I'm pretty sure I still freaked out a bit.)
I've loved Hamilton ever since my theatre teacher played the soundtrack for me way back in 2015. Something about the music and the haunting story resonated within me and never really went away. Since then, I’ve learned every single lyric and even more of the story, and I’ve dreamed about seeing it live. I can now say that I have, which is such a cool thing.
Seeing it live was everything I had hoped it would be and then some. Watching the story come to life and being able to see each character as they changed and evolved was extraordinary. The blocking and the set and the costumes were all absolutely gorgeous and just added to the overall quality of the show.
My favorite part of the show, however, didn't completely come from something that happened onstage, though there were some amazing parts. (“The Room Where It Happens” and “Right Hand Man” are my favorite songs, so I loved them. Any time Jefferson or King George were onstage was also amazing!) No, my favorite part of the show came from seeing how different everything was.
Up until now, the only thing I’ve had to go off of has been the original Broadway cast recording. When you listen to something like that over and over again, you get used to how things are said and the emphasis behind certain words or ideas. I listened to the Broadway cast so much that I got completely used to how they sang things and their characters, so being able to see an entirely different cast was really cool. It shows the true magic of theatre. Two different actors can play the same character with different intentions and motives and the entire performance changes. It's really quite a feat.
The entire Chicago cast was absolutely spectacular, but there are a few people I’d like to shoutout just because they were that amazing.
Obviously, I need to pay a little respect to Miguel Cervantes, who played the role of Alexander Hamilton. His portrayal of this hot-headed, arrogant founding father was spot on, and I found myself laughing along with him and his antics. He was an absolute delight to watch onstage and a sweetheart when I met him after the show (I know. I'm still freaking out about it.)
One of the people who truly captured the attention of every audience member was Daniel Breaker (Aaron Burr). Breaker joined the cast of Hamilton Chicago on April 11 following the departure of Wayne Brady, but you wouldn't guess he's only been doing this show a few times. He seems so comfortable onstage, not only in the role but with his fellow cast members. He did an absolutely phenomenal job showing the shift between being friends and then enemies with Hamilton. It's also super cool to me that this is the same man who played Donkey in the Broadway cast of Shrek the Musical. I can now say I’ve met Burr and Donkey (still freaking out about that one too).
The next person was definitely a favorite among the audience members, in particular with my parents. Alexander Gemignani (King George) stole the hearts of every person in attendance with every move he made, no matter how small it was. Every stomp or lip pout was met with laughter every time and Gemignani seemed to be having the time of his life. The portrayal of the character was very close to what I had in mind whenever I listened to Jonathan Groff’s songs, so good job Alexander Gemignani!
Someone I want to pay a special homage to is Aubin Wise, the woman who played Angelica Schuyler. She isn't the actress who always plays Angelica, but she did an amazing job of hitting the high notes Angelica sings as well as capturing Angelica’s no-nonsense attitude. I’ll admit I was disappointed when I heard Karen Olivo would not be performing as Angelica on the night I attended the performance, but Aubin completely blew me out of the water and changed my mind the second she opened her mouth. She stole the show for me every single time she was onstage.
Again, all of the cast was absolutely amazing, those are just the people that stood out to me. I just have one more person who completely grabbed my heart and became my favorite in the entire show, and he wasn't one of the named characters everyone would think of when they think of Hamilton.
His name is José Amor, and he was an ensemble member as well as the minor role of Samuel Seabury. His work as an ensemble member was captivating, and I couldn't take my eyes off of him anytime he was onstage. His reactions to the action going on and the way he told the story through his facial expressions as well as his movements was completely gorgeous and he truly showed what it means to be an ensemble member. He was my favorite by far.
All in all, seeing the show was the best experience of my life. I wish I could see it every single night for the rest of my life, but at least I still have the original cast recording. If you ever get the chance to see this amazing work of art, please take the chance. You won't regret it.
