iThe final ‘Hamilton’ show with three of the leads retiring was always going to be a heartbreaker. For the cast, the audience, the fans who could not get tickets. Outside, the crowds that came just to watch the spectacle were larger than some theatres manage to pull inside. Tickets had been going on the secondary market for up to $34,000.00 a pair.
What on earth could begin to justify such profligacy? The audience inside the theatre, the fortunate few, could have told you – as Christopher Jackson’s George Washington sings with such power ‘History has its eyes on you’. The sense of adulation over ‘Hamilton’ is more than hype. It has lasted, and the audience in the theatre had come to see history in the making. This was the theatrical equivalent of watching Laurence Olivier perform ‘Henry V’ – more than just even a brilliant show, the 8pm Saturday 9th performance would not just see the final performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda in the title role on Broadway; it was the last performance with two of the other leads, Tony award winning Leslie Odom Jr, and Phillipa Soo, who play Aaron Burr and Eliza Hamilton. A musical is a collaborative art form, and while fans will get to see Mr. Miranda perform the title role again, it was the finality of the original crew together that made this particular play such an historical event.
And America seemed ready to offer the perfect backdrop. Just as ‘Hamilton’ mixes contemporary culture and historical fluency, the audience at the final show was its own melting pot; ticket lottery winners, media professionals in half of the seats, moneyed folks who paid through the nose, and celebrities, family and statesmen. I found myself at the bar buying a packet of M&Ms right next to the director Spike Lee (whom they comped a bottle of water). Rosie O’ Donnell and J Lo were there; from the world of news, Charlie Rose:
and, more importantly, the rumours ran round the theatre that Miranda’s father was there to watch his outro. All of these, except Mr. Miranda Sr., were trumped by applause in the theatre for the arrival of the Secretary of State, John Kerry. A large number of Secret Service professionals swarmed around the Richard Rogers theatre. Mr. Kerry, with his trademark white hair, obliged the gawking pre-curtain crowd by standing in his seat to talk to friends for quite some time, so that everybody could photograph him.
I had accompanied my husband to the matinee show on the same day, since Heat Street was sending a young reviewer. We had been so fortunate as to see the truly original cast of ‘Hamilton’ – with Brian D’Arcy James as King George – at the Public Theatre, because my husband loves plays, and donates to keep the Public alive. Turns out it’s one of the best investments in the city. I went along that first time reluctantly – a rap musical about the founder of the Treasury, ok then – but knew from the first song that the concept was going to work. By the time they got to ‘Cabinet Battle’ I was blown away and asked if I could see the show again. I would up seeing it six times, and learned the soundtrack. Like many ‘Hamilton’ fans I do not normally enjoy the theatre. But the arc of the play is incandescent, the songs and performances sublime; it seemed right to be there for the last ‘Hamilton’ after having been there for one of the first ones.
The matinee and final show both seemed like farewells. When Miranda walked off in the matinee, my daughter told me, he had tears in his eyes. She naively said she gave him a thumbs’ up to cheer him up. I hope he saw it. Phillipa Soo’s Eliza was perfection in that performance. She sang her part with that delicate, light touch she is known for; she soared in ‘Burn’. Soo acted just as superbly in the 8pm, but I felt for her; her throat seemed slightly hoarse, she could not hit all the soaring crescendos she normally covers. And yet she triumphed. The house was with her.
By contrast, Leslie Odom Jr, the all-conquering Tony award winner, was at his very, very best. The 8pm audience jumped to its feet multiple times for mid-show ovations, including ‘the Room where it happens’. Odom’s ‘Wait for It’ was spectacular poetry; Miranda could not have asked for a more exquisite vocal line. There were a few actor interactions on stage that acknowledged the situation. After the Hamiltons’ wedding, when Alexander tells Burr he didn’t think he’d make it, and Burr says ‘to be sure’, the audience is normally negative; that is the acting beat; but at this show, the audience applauded warmly just to see Odom in the scene, and he couldn’t help smiling. The cast are friends, and it shows.
Miranda was alive. There was no sadness at the 8pm. He crackled with joy. If we listened for extra meaning, we got only the best of the show; Anthony Ramos says ‘And every day’s a test of our cameraderie and bravery’ and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s eyes lit up; onstage and off, he appeared to be saying. In the 2pm matinee show, Miranda and Jackson both cried during ‘One Last Time’. But on their actual last time, they sang the number with renewed power.
It was Phillipa Soo whose dying breath – played as a gasp of surprise and glory, as an entrance to ‘the other side’ – ended the show. But there was one other player of note on Saturday night. A word for ‘the bullet’, chorus member Ariana de Bose. De Bose was also leaving. I had come to notice her amazing dancing; she is physically immensely strong, and has a speaking line or two with Anthony Ramos – but De Bose is a great example of how ‘Hamilton’ is layered and textured. Audiences notice her as the bullet that passes in slow motion from Burr’s gun to Hamilton’s heart. However, she also plays bullets during the rest of the play, bullets that go slowly past Hamilton, that miss him by a whisker, that pass over his head. Silently, de Bose acts the future, she acts danger, she acts fate. It is the same chorus member who does this; there is only one bullet, it is a role proper to de Bose, and she is thus the thread of time and destiny running towards Hamilton as the musical progresses. De Bose is mostly silent, but not scenery. She is poetry in motion and she held the play – and the gun – together. She IS the shot that is not thrown away. In that role, de Bose was tension, perfected, in both shows on Saturday. As the final curtain came down, Miranda, Odom Jr, Soo, and de Bose – the four leaving members – took their bows together. The company player was as one with the three leads. Walking back to the line for her bows de Bose passed her hands over her face, visibly moved by the companionship and friendship and by the audience’s love of her art. She was wonderful and important. She will be missed in the production by all who have seen it up to now.
The performance of the play had no misses, only hits. Daveed Diggs and Christopher Jackson own their wonderful parts nightly. Jackson varies his delivery more than any other actor in the cast. He can say ‘Winning is easy, young man- governing’s harder’ fifty different ways, with fifty different emphases. Diggs is lightning fast as a rapper and when I saw the show the prior week with an understudy, the heart was cut out of the play. He also has huge flair; Lafayette and Jefferson are essentially having sex with the audience half the time; he’s the only actor in the cast that can upstage Miranda. Okieriete Onadowan owns Hercules Mulligan – best verse in the script – and then shifts gear perfectly to sombre Madison; Anthony Ramos is the young blood of the set, literally, as a nine year old, then a dueling punk, but first as John Laurens, promising freedom from slavery for African-Americans.
The final curtain call is reviewed elsewhere. But what a moment it was. Look:
It was a privilege to see this performance, which ultimately was a performance – not like any other – but not a message, not a speech, a regular, ass-kicking ‘Hamilton’ performance. ‘God help and forgive me,’ says Mr. Miranda onstage, ‘I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me,’ and, so he has. Catch the show if you can. It will still be brilliant even after the first stars have moved on.