Now that I’ve written my first review, I suppose it’s time to discuss the musical which got the ball rolling on my passion for musical theater: Hamilton. At the risk of sounding cliche, I’ll say it anyway. This show is amazing and revolutionary; it’s famous and for good reason. By now, I’ve heard many people call Hamilton “overrated” and “old news” because sometimes, it seems Hamilton is all everyone can talk about. I love all musicals, so I can understand why some people feel Hamilton is unfairly placed on a pedestal above equally and rightfully as amazing musicals. However, I think it’s worth one’s time to give Hamilton a chance, or should I say a shot? 

Unlike other musicals that are split apart by scenes and songs, Hamilton is almost entirely told through song. In other words, if you know the soundtrack, then you know the whole musical. The first 7 songs, from “Alexander Hamilton” through “You’ll Be Back” are all tame. There are no particularly surprising sounds or lighting, aside from the music being loud at particular moments, namely in “Alexander Hamilton” and “My Shot,” which are generally upbeat songs already. 

The next song, “Right Hand Man” is the first song with gunshots, but they are recorded, embedded in the soundtrack, and not live. In other words, the booms in the soundtrack, sound the same in the theater, just slightly more magnified. After George Washington yells, “We are out-gunned, out-manned, out-numbered, out-planned,” there is yelling along with the recorded sound of gunshots and bombs as well as flashing lights to simulate the battlefield. Throughout the song, Washington uses that same chorus followed by the same sound and lighting effects. Following Hamilton’s declaration, “Hamilton won’t abandon ship. Yo, let’s steal their cannons,” the same “bomb” effect occurs. After that, the same pattern continues a few subsequent times, each lyric ending with an “and” is subsequently followed by a boom. The final time Washington and the chorus sing, “We are outgunned, outmanned… outnumbered out-planned,” there is no bomb effect. However, after Hamilton sings, “We’ll need some spies on the inside. Some king’s men who might let some things slide,” there is a boom. The booms stop once Hamilton sings, “Till we rise to the occasion of our new nation, sir!” Finally, the song ends with the chorus singing “And his right-hand man,” and one last boom as a finale. 

The next few songs are quiet up until “Stay Alive,” in which there is another bomb effect following the lyric, sung by Hamilton and John Laurens, “He shits the bed at the Battle of Monmouth.” The booming stops after Washington yells “Hamilton!” The next song, “The Ten Duel Commandments” is fairly quiet until the end when Laurens shoots a gun in a duel at Charles Lee. As with the bombs, I want to emphasize that the gun seen on stage is a prop gun, meaning it can’t shoot. The noise heard is recorded, not live.

The next loud song is the “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” although the majority of the surprising noises are just moments where the music rises suddenly in volume. “Yorktown” is the last song before the end of Act I with any loud noises. 

In Act II, the first song with somewhat surprising sounds is “The Room Where It Happens,” in which Aaron Burr sings “Click, boom” twice over the course of the song while simultaneously, a gunshot noise can be heard in the background. The first time, it happens is after Burr sings, “But we never really know what got discussed.” The second time, it happens is at the end of the song, after Burr sings, “I wanna be in the room.” 

Next up is “Blow Us All Away.” At the end, Philip Hamilton finds himself in a duel with George Eacker who insulted his father, Alexander Hamilton. At the count of what was supposed to be ten, Philip is shot at the count of seven. Skip a few more songs, and it is now the penultimate number, “The World Was Wide Enough.” After the chorus counts to ten and sings, “Number ten, paces, fire!” there is a gunshot that is partially cut off by white noise. After Hamilton’s final soliloquy, Burr, instantly regretting his mistake shouts, “Wait!” But the damage is done, and the gun has been shot. Thus, Hamilton concludes on a bittersweet note with “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story.”