Hamilton at DPAC Is Not Just a Must-See Musical, It Is a Cultural Phenomenon!
This article first appeared in Triangle Review on 19 May 2022.
All our usual free parking spots were full, so we had to park at Pompieri Pizza and walk to the Durham Performing Arts Center for DPAC's performance of Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2016 multiple Tony Award®- and 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama-winning Broadway musical Hamilton: An American Musical, based on Ron Chernow's acclaimed 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton. As we waited in the security line, I enjoyed the fashion display of my fellow audience members -- young couples, old couples, parents, grandparents, young kids, old kids. The audience spanned generations, which is always a good sign as far as I'm concerned. And it looked like it was going to be a full house.
As I joined the happy crowds of people on the other side of the entrance doors and walked across the expansive red carpet toward concessions, it was hard not to imagine myself at a glamorous Broadway opening night. Remembering that I was in my hometown of Durham, NC, made it that much sweeter.
An eight-year-old sat with his parents behind me, surrounded by tweens and teens with their parents, everyone chatting excitedly so that the theater literally buzzed with anticipation. This was not just a performance. It was an event.
The set was a giant Colonial Williamsburg-like red brick wall, with ropes and pullies and little arched alcoves, cave-like and lit as if by candles. It was impressively vast and solid and quite magical, thanks to scenic designer David Korins, associate scenic designer Rod Lemmond, lighting designer Howell Binkley, and those who brought their vision to fruition on the DPAC stage.
Peter Matthew Smith opened the musical as King George III, delivering the campy energy that the majority of the audience was waiting for. My husband -- who was probably the only person in the audience who had never seen any of Hamilton before -- leaned over and whispered, "There are way too many people who are just excited to take part in this cultural phenomenon."
"I can't wait to hear 'The Room Where It Happens,'" I said excitedly.
And so it went.
Which is to say wonderfully.
Josh Tower delivered Aaron Burr's rap as well as song with entertaining aptitude and a beautiful tenor. Edred Utomi was at his best as Alexander Hamilton in his rap-contest-like debates with Thomas Jefferson (David Park), and Utomi's duets with Josh Tower (Aaron Burr) were quite lovely.
There were 34 actors(!), and their talent was nowhere more prevalent than when they were all singing and dancing together. "Rise Up," "Ten Duel Commandments," " Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" -- co-dance captains Karlee Ferreira and Desmond Nunn led the chorus through seamless transitions and group numbers, their bodies moving in synchrony with their powerfully harmonious vocals. Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler and dance supervisor Michael Mindlin clearly know what they're doing.
The instrumental music accompanying the dances was so well played that I didn't remember it was live until the third song -- a real treat, thanks to the manifestation of Alex Lacamoire's orchestrations by conductor Patrick Fanning, associate music director Austin Deadman, music associate Noah Landis, and associate music supervisor Matt Gallagher, not to mention the musicians in the orchestra.
The male actors all showed mastery -- and contagious enjoyment -- in their street-like deliveries of Lin-Manuel Miranda's rap dialogue during the super-fun Continental Congress scenes. During singing moments, the velvety low voice (but surprisingly broad register) of Paul Oakley Stovall as George Washington was a highlight.
Every piece was made better when the women joined in -- the group "Look Around" scenes were energetic and vocally impeccable. In her solos, Zoe Jensen's voice mirrored the purity with which she played Hamilton's wife Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. Jensen's Oliva Newton-John-like rendition of "Helpless" could have been right out of Grease, and her passionate (but very different) deliveries of "That Would Be Enough" and "Burn" were suitable for the screen. Meanwhile, Cherry Torres' surprisingly deep (even in the high notes), vibrato-filled rendition of Eliza's sister Angelica Schuyler's "Satisfied" made me feel like I was at a concert rather than a musical. It was a feeling that the set lighting, expertly implemented by lighting designers Ryan O'Gara and Joel Britt, emulated throughout the production.
Among other highlights, Deejay Young makes for a sweet, sometimes R&B, James Madison; and Yana Perrault's Lauryn Hill-like delivery of Hamilton's mistress Maria Reynolds in "Say No to This" was like watching the filming of a professional music video. And, to my delight, the whole ensemble delivered on "The Room Where It Happens."
This is a huge production, and to see it performed to such delight of the audience, more of whom seem to be mouthing the words with each successive song, is a cultural experience. Production stage manager Eric H. Mayer and stage managers Wendy Blackburn Eastland and Abby L. Powers deserve a long rest when this show's run ends (on Sunday, June 5th)!
Peter Matthew Smith starred as King George III in the Angelica National Tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton (photo by Joan Marcus)
