NYFF Review: ‘Hamilton’s America’

On Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, The Knockturnal took its shot at seeing the premiere of “Hamilton’s America,” directed by Alex Horwitz, at the The New York Film Festival in the Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

For everyone who’s lost the $10 lottery every day (sometimes twice a day) to see the Broadway hip hop juggernaut Hamilton, for everyone who’s fallen down the rabbit hole of each new performance, #HAM4HAM appearance, and highlight real on YouTube, you won’t want to throw away your (free!) shot at taking a closer look at how this masterpiece came to be. And if you didn’t know this was something you should be paying attention to already, now you know.

Hamilton’s America expertly weaves together the electric live performances, passionate (yet often exhausted) cast interviews during the musical’s creation, and illustrated recaps of the historical events propelled by our first treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton, that, when framed artistically the way multi-Tony-award and Grammy award winning Lin-Manuel Miranda has done, leap off the page and are brought to life. Or as director Tommy Kail put it, they are “brought out of sepia tone” to become more “vital and vibrant.”

It’s driven home even further just how much Miranda identifies with Hamilton, who he claims reached out of Ron Chernow’s biography and “chose him.” He immediately drew the parallels between Hamilton’s struggle to build a life in America from leaving behind St. Croix with nothing, and his own father’s story as an immigrant from Puerto Rico, who got involved in local politics under Mayor Ed Koch after first driving a taxi cab. “I’m just playing my dad,” he mused, “down to the hair.”

You can feel the stunning weight of mixed anticipation and relief as Miranda sits down in mutual admiration with all of his creative inspirations, from Stephen Sondheim and John Wiedman (Assassins) to Nas and The Roots. He got virtual seals of approval from both the Broadway vets, who have made careers out of “drowning in research” to give new life to a long-dead story, and even from the latter hip hop greats, where “real recognize real” in hip hop and by discussing how important it is to be able to represent where they came from through their writing.

You’ll marvel at how the lines from the song, “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down),” mirror where Miranda was in his own life while writing and finishing the musical. While his “entire life was under construction” setting up a new apartment with his first son on the way, he was pressured to push through and deliver his six-year old project on deadline.

“Gotta go, gotta get the job done, gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son.”

In fact, Miranda has started a new nation. A nation of people interested in Broadway musicals, and in the minute details of our history. A nation where politicians on either side of the aisle like President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, can agree on the magnitude this artistic endeavor’s impact, and be willing to participate in the same project to discuss it, which in turn left an audience finally able appreciate the leaders who have come and gone—President Bush got a huge laugh after his revelation on how it can take a while to get the credit deserved throughout the retelling of history.

Never-before-seen performances on stage (if you’ve already consumed all that the Internet has to offer, but I won’t spoil which) and at the White House will certainly titillate your senses and whet your appetite to see more. Watching Christopher Jackson sing “One Last Time” emulating our first President George Washington in concert, with our latest President Obama looking on and nodding in appreciation. not long before he’ll take his own leave, will make you feel all the feels.

These nuggets will also generously help you visualize more of the staging and facial expressions you miss as you listen and cry to the soundtrack on your commute through “the greatest city in the world,” eventually missing your stop or the entrance to your building (I’ve only done that once or twice).

It’s true, some viewers will never be satisfied that certain fan favorite numbers don’t make it onto the screen yet, which is understandably done to fan the mystique and surprise of the physical performances and stage design. It also keeps the film focused on continuing to weave Hamilton’s legacy into the current zeitgeist, rather than untangling all the other spools of thread that make up in his lengthy tapestry.

How director Alex Horwitz managed to choose just 82 minutes of footage out of 100 hours of filming to help continue the story of Alexander Hamilton’s life and legacy, which now bleeds into today’s society is unfathomable. He could have made two more films, which this captivated audience would have eaten up.

Be sure to catch this installment of PBS’ “Great Performances” series on Oct. 21, 2016 at 9 p.m.

Image courtesy of RADICALMEDIA.