Juan Arturo Brennan: Hamilton. And then?

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A man of many talents, Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) is remembered as one of the legendary Founding Fathers of the American nation. A truly complex character, he is the subject of the musical simply titled Hamilton, with book, lyrics, music, and starring performance by another man of many talents, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Premiered in 2015 in New York, Hamilton was a monumental critical and box office success; it received 16 Tony Award nominations and 11 Tony Awards, as well as a Pulitzer Prize, among many other accolades. In 2016, Thomas Kail filmed the eponymous movie during three live performances at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Also multi-award-winning, the film was streamed starting in 2020 and is scheduled for a theatrical release in 2025. A few weeks ago, Hamilton was briefly shown in Mexico, where it went completely ignored and unnoticed.

The piece begins with a prologue dedicated to Hamilton's origins, history, and past. The central part of the play then begins in the emblematic year of 1776 and unfolds, especially in its opening moments, as an endless parade of American heroes, while also offering an open eulogy to the concept of "the United States." From that beginning, the text proceeds with support from an insistent and sometimes forced rhyme; one of its few merits is that at times the words are delivered in that spoken-word form known as Sprechgesang, and frequently adopt the cadences of rap. As is often the case in these stage productions centered on a prominent figure, the story progresses along the parallel paths of Hamilton's public revolutionary activity and his private life, including his indiscretions, infidelities, and misdeeds.

And not everything is Hamilton's conflict with the forces opposing independence; it also explores the dissent within the rebel ranks, Aaron Burr's fierce envy of Hamilton (spoiler: he ends up killing him in a duel), as well as the rivalry between sisters Eliza and Angelica Schuyler over the eponymous hero. Overall, the text and action tend to converge in praise of the founding American Dream , and the whole thing has only a handful of redeeming moments, which in any case seem to stem from an attempt to align itself with the political correctness of the moment (ours, not Alexander Hamilton's): the place given to the Black community in that process, the formation of a biracial army, certain pro-immigrant and anti-slavery rhetoric, and a couple of moments of attention to the female figure. The final part of Hamilton, which takes place after independence has been achieved, is dedicated to tangled speeches about the construction of the new nation and the creation of a constitution.

After attending the Hamilton screening (with only two other people in the theater), I was left feeling cold and indifferent. Above all, I perceived that Lin-Manuel Miranda's talent seems to be somewhat scattered. His texts are very simple, and while they have some well-applied touches of humor and sarcasm, they don't quite gel with the quality of a good theatrical performance. Musically, Hamilton suffers from a barely effective score, lacking appeal, and, above all, without a single truly memorable melody. (I felt the same way, at the time, with Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables, whose music I immediately forgot.) I would perhaps highlight a fun and breezy aria sung by the character of King George III of England. It doesn't help that Hamilton's constant presence on stage and on screen is sustained by Miranda's unattractive singing voice; in fact, I can't recall a particularly outstanding singer in the entire cast of Kail's film. A musical without good music and good voices goes nowhere; which is why I'm surprised by the monumental success the play had in the theater. I must assume, in any case, that the film's resounding failure in Mexico was due to the fact that Hamilton deals with a theme and a character that are very foreign to mainstream audiences and, in fact, to our entire culture. It's a complete non-starter, then.