During this past Fourth of July holiday weekend, Alexander Hamilton, for a time the forgotten Founding Father, sealed his posthumous future as a pop culture superstar.
Sure, his portrait still graces the $10 bill. But he was about to be displaced by one of several great American women when a Broadway musical made him a cult hero 216 years after his death by gun duel.
Hamilton, a New Yorker most of his life, also left his mark on the post-Revolutionary War history written in Annapolis, which for a year, 1783-84, was de facto capital of the United States as well as of Maryland. The Continental Congress met in the State House. Though Hamilton resigned the Congress in 1783 to open a law practice, he also took part in the Annapolis review of the Treaty of Paris signing, in which he held the British in violation concerning returning captured black slaves to the new United States of America. Though he considered himself an abolitionist, a clean break with Great Britain was far more important to him.
Today, the Treaty of Paris restaurant and King of France Tavern remain centerpieces of historic Annapolis as you pass through State Circle on your way toward City Dock. And at the docks, memorial statuary to Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” marks the right-off-the-ship venue where slaves were auctioned.
Hamilton’s most significant impact on the future of the nation, possibly second only to his brilliance in establishing the nation’s financial system, was achieved at the Annapolis Convention of 1786. It took place at Mann’s Tavern, where Hamilton likely lodged as well. The site of the tavern, destroyed by fire in 1919, is marked by a plaque on Conduit Street. Its significance is invaluable. The Annapolis Convention led directly to the Constitutional Convention a year later. Thanks in large part to Hamilton, who abhorred the weak Articles of Confederation and Continental Congress that ruled the fledgling nation, the resulting Constitution established an executive branch sharing checks-and-balances power with a bicameral Congress and federal court system. To this day, presidents, members of Congress, and jurists pledge allegiance to that document—some more honestly than others.
Whatever Hamilton’s status as a Founding Father, he would be of interest mostly to history junkies alone but for a thick biography by Ron Chernow that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to create “Hamilton,” the musical.
Now, thanks to Disney Plus streaming service and, yes, to COVID-19, “Hamilton” is more widely available than ever. Until March of this year, when shutdowns commenced across the U.S., audiences still crammed every seat on Broadway at $800 a pop, more or less, and earlier national tours to Kennedy Center in D.C. and the Hippodrome in Baltimore went for $400. Now you can see a filmed version taken from two performances by the original cast for a $6.99 monthly subscription. (Previously, the film wasn’t to be released until October 2021. Maybe we’ll have a vaccine by then.)
Of course, seeing a show live cannot be duplicated. But that’s not possible now nor for the foreseeable future as Broadway (and other live indoor theater) is closed for at least the rest of the year. Thomas Krall, who directed the Broadway production, directed the film as well. Closeups enhance the dramatic and, with one character, in particular, comic expressions that are difficult, if not impossible, to appreciate from a distant seat. Switching among an array of camera angles, including long shots and overhead glimpses of the stage’s slowly revolving turntable, keeps the recorded viewpoints from growing static.
While the narrative adheres closely to Hamilton’s life and career, Manuel has taken notable liberties, some for dramatic effect and others to make the lead character more empathetic. Although Hamilton wrote and spoke in favor of abolitionist causes, he also conducted slave transactions involving his New York in-laws.
Although Annapolis is not directly referenced in the show’s lyrics—maybe it’s too difficult a rhyme—Hamilton’s impassioned pleas for a strong constitution to replace the ineffectual Articles of Confederation is captured in the song “Non-Stop” in which Hamilton and Burr debate the future. “Who’s your client,” Burr asks, after his rival, Hamilton turns to practice law and Washington resigns his commission in Annapolis in 1783. His bronze statue stands today in the State House chamber, where he delivered the speech that made him a civilian and later our first president. In reply to Burr, Hamilton names his “client:” “The Constitution,” which he fought to bring about in a leadership role at the Annapolis Convention three years later.
The musical spans Hamilton’s life from cradle to grave, opening with the lines, sung by Burr: “How does a bastard son of a whore . . . grow up to be a hero and a scholar.” Those words lend a hint to the motivation that made him so relentlessly driven. Consumed with promoting ratification of the Constitution through the Federalist Papers, workaholic Hamilton forsakes his wife and sister-in-law, Eliza, and Angelica, both in love with him, for a married woman of convenience. The resulting self-confessed scandal ultimately proves fatal.
Much of Act II of this historically dense and emotionally gripping musical is devoted to Hamilton’s personal life reflected in Manuel’s visceral intensity, even without a soaring vocal capacity. (I’ll withhold crucial details of Hamilton’s life to avoid spoilers. Except for what we already know: The former Secretary of the Treasury was killed in a duel with Vice President Burr on July 11, 1804, at the approximate age of 48. His Caribbean birth date is not definitively known.)
For those who may consider themselves allergic to hip-hop, be assured that this is not exclusively a rap musical. And while there are a couple of Disney-deleted lyrics, the content is far more cerebral than censorious. Even in this story of war, independence, and tragedy, there’s also show tune comic relief. Jonathan Groff, as King George III, representing the very distinct minority of white actors among the original cast, warns his rebellious subjects that “when push comes to shove, I will kill your family and friends to show my love.” Especially at this time in our national discourse, it’s so rich that each slave-owning Founding Father is played by a black man: Christopher Jackson as a paternal George Washington, Daveed Diggs as a dandy Thomas Jefferson, Leslie Odom Jr. as a puckish Aaron Burr. Philippa Soo, as Hamilton’s wife, is Asian-American, while her sister, Renee Elise Goldsberry, as Angelica, is African-American.
Soo brings the show to a perfect and devastatingly emotional end. In her climactic portion of the closing song, “Who Lives Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?” we’re given a peek into her character’s widowhood future. Soo fleetingly alludes to the founding by Eliza Schuyler Hamilton of one among the first privately run orphanages in the new nation. It operates to this day, making Eliza a Founding Mother of the USA.
Steve Parks is a retired journalist and theater critic now living in Maryland.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.