Hamilton - Victoria Palace Theatre - Saturday 4th February 2023

Wendy
Feb 5, 2023
3 min read

How does a b*stard, orphan, son of a whore and a scotsman end up in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean? Well with an emotional rollercoaster of a show over 2 hours and 45 minutes, I found out! Hamilton is one of the most popular shows of the 21st Century and did it live up to the hype?

Short answer... YES!

Long answer... Read on!

Where to start with this review... I honestly have racked my brains to try and put in to words the AMAZING experience I had watching this show on Saturday. From the moment it started, every single aspect of this production blew me away, from the choreography, to the lighting, to the musicians and to the incredible cast.

So I think the best place to start is to say that I've never, EVER in my life said this about a cast/production, but this current London cast were infinitely better than the original cast on Broadway and on Disney Plus.

That doesn't take away from how incredible the original cast were and are! It just shows how captivating, engaging and powerful this cast are with everything they do.

Every single member of the cast were top notch but there were 2 performances that needed a special shout out. Shan Ako as Eliza Schuyler was practically perfect. Her voice is incredibly powerful yet soft at the same time and her emotional performance during two particularly moving parts of the show literally made me sob.

Also, I think is to be expected... but Reuben Joseph as Alexander Hamilton was in every way the leading man this show needs and deserves. He definitely reminded me of Lin in the original cast recording but elevated that to the next level. Truly a master performer!

The ensemble of Hamilton all deserve another shout out! They swiftly move set pieces, provide the atmosphere and ambience and perform some stellar choreography throughout the whole show and one detail I noticed is that they're always on stage, pretty much! They linger in the wings in the tense moments and provide warming feelings during the emotional parts. Ensemble cast members are always the backbone of a show but in Hamilton it feels a little more important and they all do an immense job.

It's a very simple set throughout the whole show with one main moving part and the rest of it staying static with a few pieces flying in an out during different scenes. It works really well and it shows how hard the cast work to use a few wooden items and a few chairs to tell a very intricate story. I think sometimes, the big productions by the likes of Disney can focus too much on the technical areas of the show including the set and the WOW moments instead of focusing on the story telling/performance aspect of it. This was the complete opposite and definitely shows it can be done well, when done right.

This is pretty much the set throughout the whole show!

I don't want to delve too much into the story as I don't want to spoil any part of it (WATCH IT ON DISNEY PLUS!!!!) but I will say that watching it live hits differently.

The last show that made me overly emotional at the curtain call was Miss Saigon back in 2014 and nothing has done that since... until this!

I definitely think that Shan Ako, Reuben Joseph and Maya Britto (Angelica Schuyler (WEST END DEBUT!!!!!!!)) delivering the emotional, moving masterclasses in performing helped me become a blubbering wreck but I will say... I'm not mad it happened!