Hamilton is an extremely popular musical blending hip-hop and R&B with traditional musical theatre styles to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the key founding fathers of the United States. Hamilton is currently playing at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, as well as at other locations around the world. I had the amazing opportunity to see Hamilton two weeks ago and many Australians will flock to see the show whilst it's here in Melbourne. However, many of these audiences will have already seen the show. How? Hamilton first premiered on Broadway in July 2015. The show was professionally filmed a year later with the original Broadway cast. In the darkest moments of 2020, the recording was released onto the streaming platform Disney+ when theatre couldn't be experienced live. I have watched this recording many times and have even learnt the full drum score making me very familiar with the show. With this recording being so popular with fans around the world, does the Australian cast live up to the expectations?

Now, this review is not going to be trying to convince you to go and see Hamilton; if you are capable of doing so, you should just go and see Hamilton instead of reading about it. If you need some convincing, then you could try reading my Compared review of Hamilton and Newsies. Or you could just take my word for it that this show is amazing! This review is instead going to be looking at what the recording is like compared to a live show.

To make this review a lot shorter, I could just say that nothing compares to a live show. Which is true. There is nothing like the feeling of going to the theatre. There is a big difference between watching a recording of a show on a tv and watching actors perfrom the show live in front of your eyes. However, there are some other benefits of watching a recording as opposed to the show live.

A camera is not yet able to capture the spectacular lighting that exists in musicals. The lighting in Hamilton really is stunning and although the recording tries to make the viewing experience as close as possible to the live experience, it doesn't quite give the show full credit. Something else that has to be considered is that Hamilton wasn't made to be a movie; it was intended to be performed on a stage in front of a live audience. However, Hamilton was filmed like a movie with the camera moving around the actors. This resulted in the at-home audience missing out on the big picture. Hamilton was directed in a way that it appears that the show is one moving organism. Watching the movie makes it a lot harder to catch the full movement of all the dancers and results in missing out on what a live audience would experience. On the other hand, having a camera move amongst the cast makes it easier to spot smaller details and catch the more subtle movements of the actors which is generally lost from an audience member's perspective.

One of the biggest benefits of watching the Disney+ recording is that we can actually see the original cast perform without having to turn back time, fly to America and pay the big price for a ticket to see Hamilton on Broadway. The original Broadway cast essentially made their characters and their portrayal of them has become so iconic. It is something that was going to be most dangerous to the Australian production. It definitely took some getting used to the different voices singing the songs which I have listened to endlessly with the original cast on Spotify. However, once I recovered from the (expected) shock of these new voices, it was much easier to appreciate their performances. For the most part, it wasn't about whether the original cast did it better; they were different. They each interpreted the role differently and in some aspects, I preferred the original cast and in others, the Australian cast. Sure, if I had to choose whether I'd want to see the Australian cast or the original Broadway cast perform the show live, I would most likely choose the Broadway cast. But if I listened to the Australian cast as much as I have listened to the Broadway cast then I may start to prefer the Australians.

However, I can call out two Australian actors who weren't just different to the original cast; they were potentially better. These were Jason Arrow as Alexander Hamilton and Brent Ashley Hill as King George III. Not only did they make some choices that differed to the originals, but I would say that the Australian's performances were stronger. This is not to say that Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jonathan Groff (the original actors) performed badly; after seeing Hamilton for the first time on Disney+, I didn't think that anyone would be able to do any better than these originals. I was proven wrong.

If you are going to go and see Hamilton, I wouldn't say that you have to see the Disney+ version first. I would certainly suggest that, if you can, watch both versions at some point. If you've seen the Disney+ version multiple times, then the live version is not going to be ruined. On the other hand, it isn't necessary to see the recorded version before seing the live version. However, I would suggest that you listen to the Hamilton album and become somewhat familiar with the story prior to seeing the show as it can be difficult to follow along if this is not done. Once again, this is not a necessity but can make the experience more enjoyable.

If you asked me whether I'd prefer to go and see Hamilton live again or watch the recorded version, I would of course say the live version. No matter how good a recording is, it cannot live up to the feeling of seeing a live musical. However, I would still probably watch the Disney+ version anyway. There are so many great things about the recorded version, such as the ability to notice smaller details and the incredible original cast, that I have decided to give both versions the same rating: 9.5/10. They both have different things about them that I love so much so I have come to the easy conclusion that they are different.

HAMILTON (Disney+ recording of Original Broadway Cast)

Director: Thomas Kail

Book, music and lyrics by: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Starring: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos

Year released: 2020

My rating: 9.5/10

Compared with...

HAMILTON (Australian cast performed at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne)

Director: Thomas Kail

Book, music and lyrics by: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Starring: Jason Arrow, Shewit Belay (standby for Chloé Zuel), Jimmie "J.J" Jeter (standby for Lyndon Watts), Akina Edmonds, Victory Ndukwe, Brent Ashley Hill, Matu Ngaropo, Elandrah Eramiha, Shaka Cook, Julian Kuo

Year performed: 2022

My rating: 9.5/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 24/04/2022