Hamilton

Hamilton is about so much more than just Alexander Hamilton’s life (or should I say Eliza Hamilton’s life). Ten years later, this show still delivers. This was only my fourth time seeing Hamilton live, and it was my first time seeing it in New York. It was actually not on my radar to see it in New York, as I have seen it so many times on Disney+, but multiple friends told me, “you must see it at the venue where it all started.” Ok, technically that would be Off-Broadway at The Public Theater, but we will let that detail slide and consider Richard Rodger’s Theatre to be the room where it happened.

The first time I saw Hamilton was the national tour in Seattle in early 2018. It did not disappoint. In 2020, I was beyond excited for the Disney+ premiere to launch, and I watched it at least twice that day, including as a part of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s online watch party. Even though it was on TV and not live, wow, this original cast was so good. I have no idea how many times I have watched Hamilton on Disney+ or have listened to the original cast recording. Many times.

In August 2022, I would see the national tour a second time, also in Seattle, and to my surprise, I did not enjoy this production. It is possible I had too high of expectations after watching the original cast.

Therefore, when I saw the national tour in Seattle a third time, in February 2025, I lowered my expectations, and I made sure I did not watch the Disney+ version soon before the show. I walked into the theatre, and I actually teared up seeing the set. I suspect it is because of just how emotional of a time it was in 2020 when this show was a rare bright spot. I absolutely loved the cast and the performance in Seattle earlier this year. My only complaint was squeaky shoes that distracted from the beautiful music. Choreography is supposed to add to the experience, not distract from it. We will unfortunately come back to this Hamilton squeaky shoes issue in a moment.

I also was so fortunate to experience the original cast performing live at The Tony Awards last month, and this was one of my favorite moments of the evening. What a treat.

Tonight, I was surrounded by people who had never seen the show live before, and this was their first time ever seeing it except for on Disney+. This creates for an exciting experience for everyone.

Before I get into the cast, I want to first comment about the lighting, costumes, and choreography. When the show started, the first thing I noticed was the beautiful costumes, which does not really make sense, since I just saw this show in February. I assume the national tour costumes are similar, so why did they jump out at me tonight? What I concluded is that it is because the lighting is so much better in the Broadway production that it made the incredible costumes pop even more. I really enjoyed the lighting, and I have never before really noticed the lighting in the national tour of Hamilton (except for when King George changes the color). If someone asks me why to see Hamilton on Broadway, I will mention the lighting.

Next is the choreography, which seemed so much better to me than in the tour. After the show, I asked a cast member if the tour choreography is the same or different, and she said, “it is supposed to be the same.” It is possible my reaction was again influenced by the lighting or maybe even by the venue. I really liked the choreography with one major exception: squeaky shoes. “Helpless” is too beautiful of a song to have it ruined by squeaky shoes. I do not know if the squeaky shoes are a costume problem, a stage movement skills issue, or something else, but it needs to be addressed. Out of the hundreds of shows I have seen, this is only the second time ever I have heard squeaky shoes on stage in a professional production. During intermission, I checked my notes to see what the other show was. It was Hamilton! The national tour in Seattle in February 2025 had the exact same problem. Kudos to the cast members who continue singing their hearts out while trying to ignore annoying squeaky shoes on stage. This is just unacceptable in a Broadway production. Now despite this distraction, the show being overall excellent even with squeaky dancers speaks to just how good it is.

As for sound, there were just a few minor sound issues throughout the show, and the sound engineering was otherwise good. When the issues occurred, they were quickly addressed and solved, which is a sign of a skilled sound engineer.

I browsed through the cast list and noticed that at my show, Aaron Burr, sir, would be played by understudy Alex Nicholson, whose bio states he was the standby in the national tour and primarily in the ensemble. Alex is actually the understudy for multiple principal characters, which always impresses me. It is hard enough to learn one character let alone several. Since I have never seen Leslie Odom, Jr. perform live in the role, I can say Alex is the best Aaron Burr, sir, I have seen. I really enjoyed his performance.

Another very important role in the show is King George, and perhaps no other role has such high expectations from the audience to deliver comedy. Similarly, because I have never seen Jonathan Groff in the role live, I can also say Jarrod Spector is the best King George I have ever seen. The crowd seemed to love him. What I appreciate is that while Jarrod put his own spin on the character, he did not stray too far away from the original character, like I have seen other King Georges do on tour. Most of us in the audience are not looking for a fresh Hamilton; we want the Hamilton we know. The Hamilton national tour in Seattle in February 2025, while very enjoyable, had too many actors modifying their characters and their songs too much. I was happy this was not the case on Broadway. Jarrod was excellent in the role and was so funny. He also had outstanding vocals. For readers in Seattle, you might recognize his name. Jarrod played Steven Spielberg in the 2022 World Premiere of Bruce at Seattle Rep.

Bryson Bruce was the next standout in his roles as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson. The latter character is of course the crowd favorite, and Bryson definitely brought the thunder. One thing I noticed that was different from the prior performances I have seen is that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, played by Ebrin. R. Stanley (who also played Hercules Mulligan), had much more chemistry and friendship. Dare I say Bryson and Ebrin had even more chemistry than the original cast members? The relationship between Jefferson and Madison on Tuesday night was one of my favorite parts of the performance. Their synergy was outstanding, and their stage chemistry worked really well. Ebrin was therefore also a standout performer for me in Tuesday night’s show. Bryson and Ebrin have raised the bar for what I will now look for in the friendship between Jefferson and Madison.

A few days ago in the middle of the night, I had the thought, “oh no, I hope I didn’t book Christopher Jackson in Hell’s Kitchen the night before Hamilton, because that cannot be fair to the current George Washington.” Thankfully, no, Hell’s Kitchen is coming up later this week, but actually it would not have mattered. The casting of Tamar Greene really worked for me, and his booming yet beautiful voice made so much sense for George Washington. He’s a very different GW than Christopher Jackson, and they both work very well just in different ways. The way Tamar projected in certain parts of his songs was really powerful.

Samuel Seabury is a character’s name I had to look up, because this is the first time I have ever thought of this character. Tonight’s performance by Thayne Jasperson is the first time I have ever seen this character get so many laughs. Thayne did put a new spin on the character, which I do not always like actors to do, but in this case, Thayne made an otherwise entertaining scene even better and very funny. You could debate either way which version of the character is better, but in 2025, we need the extra laughs. Perhaps because it was unexpected, it was one of the funnier moments of Act 1. I really enjoyed Thayne’s acting.

Last but not least, Trey Curtis was excellent as Alexander Hamilton, Alexander Ferguson did great as Phillip Schuyler and other characters, JJ Niemann was a fantastic Charles Lee, and I enjoyed the performances of Stephanie Umoh (Angelica), Morgan Anita Wood (Eliza), Cherry Torres (Peggy and Maria), and the rest of this cast. Anyone I did not specifically mention also did a solid job, as there were no weak performers in this show. I also want to again emphasize just how good this ensemble is, and I found myself frequently watching the dancers, which is yet another perk of watching the show live instead of on TV.

The show has aged well, and it is still a great time ten years later. And yes, it is definitely worth seeing in New York even if you have already seen the tour.

See more show reviews from 2025.