This Hamilton is still protean, but he’s as much a thinker as he is a doer.
He’s not a betrayer or seducer - thus he’s a easy mark for Samantha Marie Ware’s memorably soulful Maria Reynolds - and he looks most at ease wearing glasses and sitting behind a desk. The musicality of the actor’s voice is exceptional, and when he sings “I never thought I’d live past twenty” in “My Shot,” the combination of consternation and earnest relief in his voice is hard to resist.īut it’s interesting to note how still Cervantes’ Hamilton often is. Where Miranda’s Hamilton was insistent, insecure and quick to anger, Cervantes’ version of the man is anxious and watchful. Physically, the actor gives Hamilton a coiled intensity, especially in the first act, when the hard-charging immigrant is building his reputation as one of the rising stars of the American revolution. His Hamilton ponders and listens he yearns more than he burns. The most notable aspect of Cervantes’ performance is its attentiveness.
In that sense, the entire production - directed by Thomas Kail, who staged it on Broadway - reflects the considered approach of Miguel Cervantes, who offers a very different Hamilton than that of musical’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who played the title role in the Broadway production until he exited the show in July. And of course, Chicago knows all about bruising political battles residents of the city Carl Sandburg called “the hog butcher for the world” are intimately familiar with how the sausage gets made.īut this is a “Hamilton” in which considered restraint often prevails, except in rare moments when anguished emotions break through the barriers of polite behavior. It’s a mistake to assume that Midwesterners don’t appreciate irony the laughter that erupted every time Burr raised a skeptical eyebrow is proof of that. Given its location, perhaps it’s especially appropriate that the Chicago take on “Hamilton” is both forthright and sincere.
Like our nation’s first president, Kirkland is a tall man who towers over his compatriots, all of whom are believably prepared to follow him into battle.
This “sit-down” production should get comfortable: It’s likely to be around for a while.Ĭhicago’s “Hamilton” may have also created a few new stars: Joshua Henry practically burned down the room where it happened, so impressive were his star turns as Aaron Burr Chris De’Sean Lee was both mellifluous and hilarious in his twin roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson and Jonathan Kirkland’s George Washington was an imposing and charismatic presence. The Broadway theater that provides “Hamilton’s” New York home has its charms, but it is more squat and compact than the lofty, airy PrivateBank Theatre, and the cast of the Chicago version of the show certainly has the vocal power and panache to fill every inch of it. Given the chance to create an entirely new version of “ Hamilton” for Chicago, the show’s creative team assembled an impressive array of performers who wring a great deal of comedy and a number of electric moments from the musical.
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