Featured image from IMDb.

“Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?.” For Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, that answer is Broadway, and the captivating musical that bears his name.

The original cast video recording of the hit musical Hamilton, released last Friday on Disney+.

From the musical genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda, and based off of the Ron Chernow biography on the Founding Father- Hamilton follows the life of Alexander Hamilton, as he finds his shot in Colonial America and makes his mark on the birth of our country.

Alexander Hamilton, prior to this musical, was arguably the most overlooked and undervalued Founding Father in popular culture. His face adorns our Ten-Dollar Bills, yet very few knew who he was or what he did. He was so obscure to the general public, that the Treasury Department actually planned on replacing him as the face on the Ten-Dollar Bill in 2015, but the incredible popularity of Hamilton single-handedly brought that change to a stop.

First premiering in 2015, Hamilton is known for, among many things, its phenomenal soundtrack, which Miranda spent nearly 10 years working on, and even presented to former President Obama at the White House in 2009.

The recording of the original Broadway cast was filmed in 2016, when they were still in the show. Originally intended for a theatrical release in 2021, Miranda announced that it would come to Disney+ on July 3rd, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

Review:

Hamilton is the pinnacle of modern storytelling, and since it eschews traditional casting, it truly is, in the words of Miranda, “America then, told by America now.”  With its use of creative set design and lighting, in addition to stellar choreography, and the catchiest lyrics and hip-hop score that you’re guaranteed to be singing out loud the next day, Hamilton is a theatrical Mona Lisa which stands out as one of the best musicals of all time, and unarguably the best one of the decade.

Five years after its premiere, it still holds up as a groundbreaking and heart-wrenching story of determination and seizing one’s shot, and in Alexander Hamilton, we see the quintessential personification of the American Dream this country was founded upon. This musical does what modern history failed to do, in that it shows some spotlight on a key figure who was often overlooked. This breath-taking musical does the story of Alexander Hamilton justice, and I have no doubt the Founding Fathers would take great pride in Hamilton, if not jealousy, since they can’t experience this surreal opportunity themselves. Hamilton is an absolute masterpiece of historical proportions.

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