This past week, the popular musical “Hamilton” came to Birmingham and had multiple sold-out shows in the BJCC theater. Wednesday night was opening night for the cast, and the line outside the theater was about a hundred yards long before the gates opened at 6:30 p.m.
The beautiful writing of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit play has never been in question, but this particular Wednesday show was particularly reliant on the already acclaimed plot and score of this show. While anyone who gets the opportunity to see Hamilton should consider themselves lucky, as it is one of the best shows on Broadway, this cast and show will never be able to live up to what it was when it first arrived on the scene. To see this performance by anyone is a blessing, but the Wednesday night cast was far from perfection.
The show’s first issue was the audio in the BJCC theater. It was hard to tell exactly what the issue was with the audio other than that the voices of the cast sounded like they were drowned out. This could have been due to poor mixing, but it also sounded like the voices of the cast were tired; everyone’s voice sounded a little quiet. The weather or the travel could have been responsible, but it was likely an issue with production, which was run by Hudson Theatrical Associates. The show was conducted by Kat Sherrel.
Edred Utomi starred in this show as Alexander Hamilton, and he brought his own kind of mentality to the role that was different from actors of the past. Utomi’s interpretation of the character was much calmer and more collected than others, and he approached the role with much more swagger than his predecessors. Aside from one mistake during “The Story of Tonight”, in which Utomi accidentally knocked a prop cup off of the table which made a loud ding sound through the theater, Utomi’s performance was phenomenal.
Utomi said he was “So very honored to be telling this story.”
The women of “Hamilton” have always been iconic, best known for their booming and powerful voices shown best in the song “The Schuyler Sisters.” They were simply phenomenal in their Wednesday night performance. Stephanie Umoh played Angelica Schuyler, one of the hardest roles to play in this show, and had some trouble keeping pace with the speedy delivery of her role, but was overall a solid interpretation of the iconic character. At some points in her performance, it could be seen how draining this role was. With all of the fast-paced lyrical delivery, combined with the portions where she has to belt long notes with passion and authority, must have been draining on her voice.
Eliza Hamilton, played by Alysha Deslorieux, had one of the best performances in the entire show. The only performance that may have been as impressive as hers was Carvens Lissaint’s performance as George Washington. Both of these performances were practically flawless. The emotion displayed by Deslorieux really drew the audience into the show, and the beautiful voice of Lissaint was one of the few voices that sounded strong throughout the entirety of the show. This is Lissaint’s return to Hamilton as the award-winning actor and poet, who most recently was performing in short films and television, showed off his skill in Wednesday’s performance.
One of the best-written and most liked roles in “Hamilton” is the comedic relief role of King George III, which was played by Byrson Bruce. From the beginning of the play when King George invites the viewer to enjoy his show, to the funny little movements Bruce brought the role, King George commanded everyone’s attention and applause as he does in every “Hamilton” production. Bruce is typically a stand-by, but he has performed in many different roles in the cast, including Hamilton, Burr, and Lafayette/Jefferson.
Two of the more underwhelming performances of the show were David Park and Tyler Belo. David Park, who played Lafayette and Jefferson, had a hard time keeping pace with the quick lyrical delivery of both roles.
He was average on his delivery and he struggled to project his voice. The role of Jefferson better suited Park than the role of Lafayette did.
Tyler Belo, who played Hercules Mulligan and James Madison, did about as much as he could with those characters. He neither excelled in his role or disappointed. When Belo was playing Mulligan, he almost made a brutal mistake when he leapt ever so close to the edge of the stage. Luckily he did not fall off the stage, as that would have been a nightmare for everyone involved.
Jorrel Javier, who is typically a part of the ensemble, got the opportunity to play John Lawrence and Philip Hamilton. The role of Philip Hamilton was well-suited for him as his voice can reach higher, more childish octaves, and he physically has a baby face. In that same aspect, the audience lost some of the ironic humor of a fully grown adult playing a child in “Take a Break.” As for his role as John Lawrence, he seemed like he was having trouble with hitting certain lower notes, but he did a phenomenal job projecting his voice.
The most disappointing performance of the Wednesday night show was Josh Tower’s interpretation of the co-starring role, Aaron Burr. Tower lacked the theatrical show-host-like characteristics that make Burr’s character so iconic.
This is, in fact, surprising, as the playbill stated that he was “Involved in early workshops of Hamilton as GW (George Washington).”
While his overall performance was not amazing, he progressively got better throughout the show. In the first act, the audience response to one of the most iconic Hamilton songs, “Wait for It,” was cowardly in comparison to most of the audience reactions.
As he progressed through the show, the character started to suit him better as Burr became more angry with Hamilton. The audience reaction to the “The Room Where It Happened” was probably the most impressive reaction to any song in the show. The audience absolutely boomed as Tower’s voice rang out strong and authoritatively through the theater. However, overall, this one song did not help his case, as the rest of his performance was simply forgettable.
Overall, the show was a bucket list item watch, as this is one of the best written pieces of modern literature. There is no denying the cultural effect or significance or “Hamilton,” and this was just another pitstop on its tour. It may not have been the most impressive show, but nevertheless it was a show that is always worth watching, regardless of sound system or less-than-perfect performances. The writing of Lin-Manuel Miranda is what got through to the audience and made this viewing experience worthwhile. It does not matter who fills what role because of how well each role is written.
Editor-in-Chief
