Masterful 'Hamilton' returns for extended run at Chicago's Nederlander Theatre
“Hamilton” — ★ ★ ★ ★
Three years and eight months after it departed Chicago, “Hamilton” has returned.
Embraced by audiences and acclaimed by critics during its initial run, Lin-Manuel Miranda's bio-musical about Founding Father and first treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton was a hot ticket from 2016 to 2020.
It likely will be again. And for good reason. “Hamilton,” which was inspired by Ron Chernow's 2004 Hamilton biography, is a masterful theatrical work about young revolutionaries uniting in pursuit of a common cause, forging a new nation and learning how to govern. It celebrates immigrants and risk-takers. It's about camaraderie and courage. In short, “Hamilton” is the story of America told through West Indies immigrant Alexander Hamilton, played by the terrific Pierre Jean Gonzalez with a combination of righteous passion, desperation and disarming impudence.
The brilliant, ambitious Hamilton arrives in New York in 1776 where he encounters like-minded young rebels who share an enthusiasm for nation building and an eagerness to fight the British. They include the idealistic John Laurens (Tyler Fauntleroy), a tailor named Hercules Mulligan (Eddie Ortega) and the Marquis de Lafayette (Jared Howelton).
Aaron Burr (a subtle, nicely contained Deon'te Goodman), Hamilton's more cautious rival, remains on the sidelines justifying his equivocation as discretion. Really, he's an opportunist hedging his bets, and Goodman deftly conveys that inner conflict in the insistent “Wait for It” and the showstopping “The Room Where it Happens.”
If Fauntleroy's Laurens is the musical's social conscience and Marcus Choi's commanding George Washington is its moral authority, Howelton's preening Thomas Jefferson is the velvet-clad dandy (the period costumes designed by Paul Tazewell). That leaves Neil Haskell's smug, deliciously pompous King George as the peevish child who spends his time taunting his former subjects, convinced they will reject independence and return to the commonwealth.
But “Hamilton” goes beyond history lessons and early American politics. The musical is also a love story, one that involves sacrifice, betrayal, grief and reconciliation. That latter is reflected in exquisite detail in the achingly lovely “It's Quiet Uptown.” Beautifully sung by Lencia Kebede's Angelica Schuyler with the ensemble, it brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.
Nikisha Williams plays Hamilton's loving wife, Eliza, who, in a pique, writes herself out of her husband's narrative in the emotional “Burn.” Jene Sese is Maria Reynolds, whose seduction of Hamilton nearly upends his marriage. Eliza's selfless older sister Angelica, Hamilton's intellectual soul mate, sacrifices her happiness for her sister's.
I expect more than a few audience members will leave humming Miranda's Tony Award-winning score, which pairs hip-hop, pop and R&B (along with a splash of boogie-woogie and 1960s Brit-pop) with witty lyrics whose impertinence befits the impetuous young rebels of the first act and their sardonic older selves in the second.
Everyone and everything in this briskly paced show feels as if it's in constant motion thanks to designer Andy Korins' revolving set. A sense of momentum animates director Thomas Kail's imaginative staging, which has a sense of urgency that carries over to choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler's pulsing, hip-hop-inspired choreography. Time marches on. History recedes. But we tell the stories. And we remember.
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Location: James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago, (800) 775-2000, broadwayinchicago.com
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 30. Also 1:30 p.m. Sept. 27 and Oct. 4 and 11. No 1:30 p.m. show Sept. 20
Tickets: $39-$357 and up
Running time: About 2 hours, 45 minutes with intermission
Rating: For teens and older; contains mature subject matter, language, some violence and sexual situations