Thomas Kail's film of 'Hamilton' is a stolid, stirring visual record of the original Broadway production starring Lin-Manuel Miranda.
As the Revolutionary War nears its climax in “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s great American barnstormer of a musical, Gen. George Washington orders a hotheaded young aide to return home and cool his heels. Fiercely ambitious and eager to command troops of his own, Alexander Hamilton — still years away from becoming the first Treasury secretary or co-authoring the Federalist Papers — is disappointed by this forced respite from duty.
That remains entirely apparent in this straightforward, stirring visual record of the original Broadway production, which was filmed over two June 2016 performances directed by the multitasking Thomas Kail. For those of us who have never seen the stage show, and have compensated by, it’s a particular pleasure to be figuratively ushered into the live Richard Rodgers Theater audience, whose applause you often hear and whose presence you sometimes glimpse in passing.
This is a work that understands the improbability of its own existence and success — and assuredly shrugs it off, much as the low-born, high-minded Hamilton must have had to do at some point.
It’s no knock to observe that the camera coverage is mostly fluid and functional, given the tight timing of the shoot, the size of the ensemble and the fact that the play really is the thing here. Declan Quinn’s photography complements rather than obscures Kail’s stagecraft, and allows you to enjoy the dynamism of Howell Binkley’s lighting and of Andy Blankenbuehler’s frame-spilling choreography.
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